St. Mary partners with Hesperia Unified to address mental health issues – VVdailypress.com

The goal of the collaboration is for the school district to establish systems that more quickly respond to student needs, especially those who may be at risk of suicide.

APPLE VALLEY St. Joseph Health, St.Mary has partnered with the Hesperia Unified School District to improve the response to students with mental health issues and those at risk of suicide.

The goal of the partnership, announced Thursday, is for the school district to establish systems that more quickly respond to student needs, especially those who may be at risk of suicide.

The news comes days after actress Mariel Hemingway spoke to a group of High Desert teachers on the topic of mental health among adults and students.

During Hemingways appearance Monday in Victorville, California Teachers Association Representative Dawn Murray told the Daily Press the ongoing discussion and focus on mental health in schools is much needed.

Kevin Mahany, the hospitals director of community health investment, said that St. Mary received a $560,000 grant to help schools educate teachers to identify and reach out to youngsters suffering emotional trauma, and to find swift help for children who come to the hospitals emergency department in crisis.

He added that the districthas a higher than average rate of children in need of referrals to behavioral health specialists and looks to the grant to address illness in preventative ways.

Desert/Mountain Childrens Center has been a valuable partner and resource who gathered these statistics from our local school districts, Mahany said. What were finding is that mental issues are hitting this generation hard and fast. Our teachers need help in understanding that when a child is in trauma, they arent going to learn anything.

Mahany said the top mental issues faced by children include trauma that leads to anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.Hesaid an epidemic existsamong the younger generation, whose members are plagued by thoughts of suicide.

At St. Mary and Desert Valley Hospital, we are seeing an increase in the number of kids in the ER that are in severe crisis with suicidal thoughts or a plan to end their life, Mahany said.

The grant is also bringing together emergency room leaders at St. Mary and Desert Valley hospitals,with local mental health agencies providing childrens care, Mahany said.

The St. Mary grantcomes from the Well Being Trust, founded by Providence St. Joseph Health, the hospitals parent organization, and now an independent not-for-profit organization advocating for mental wellness.

The organizationis investing in a number of mental health programs assisting youth and schools across California.

The St. Mary community investment team, which oversees outreach to vulnerable populations in Apple Valley and surrounding areas, is using the funding in a multi-pronged approach that includes:

Training teachers is important because there is no uniform method of sharing data with those who work with students. Teachers will be empowered to work with students who have been emotionally traumatized, often illustrated when they act out in class. Rather than expel troubled students, teachers, and possibly Desert/Mountain therapists, would help relieve the trauma so the child can focus on learning, a St. Mary report said.

We are fortunate to have Dr. Powell, Mahany said. His specialty is how children learn, and their social and emotional responses. When kids are traumatized, they cant learn. A student experiencing trauma is unable to retain what is being taught.

Reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com, Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.

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St. Mary partners with Hesperia Unified to address mental health issues - VVdailypress.com