The Chilliwack School District will receive a grant from the province to help focus on mental health initiatives for teachers, students and parents.
The $31,000 grant is part of a $3 million commitment announced Feb. 4 by three ministries in partnership — education, mental health and addictions, and children and family development. The intent is to support new school-based mental health programs that focus on prevention, wellness promotion and early intervention.
Locally, the focus will be on social and emotional learning, mental health literacy, trauma-informed practice, and Indigenous perspectives.
“With access to new mental health programs in schools, students will get the help they need when they need it,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Education. “This is essential as we all work together to strengthen mental health and addictions care in British Columbia. Educators, students and parents are clear that we need to help schools better identify early warning signs and provide ongoing support to youth with mental health issues.”
Students deserve to feel safe and supported. That’s why we’re investing $3M in new student #mentalhealth programs, expanding #erase and launching anxiety prevention workshops in schools. #bced #scmhc2019 #erase @SafeEducationBC @DarcyJudy @KatrineConroy http://t.co/1vm9t1jL7M
— Rob Fleming (@Rob_Fleming) February 4, 2019
The ministries involved have been working to build a seamless system of care. In Chilliwack, that takes shape in the way Chilliwack secondary and the Neighbourhood Learning Centre have been working together. There is a medical and mental health support just down the hallway for students, with counsellors at the school knowledgeable about how to connect students in need of help.
This funding announcement is targeted at younger students, at the Kindergarten to Grade 7 level.
The MCFD has worked in collaboration with Anxiety Canada to create new grades K-7 anxiety prevention workshops and classroom resources for B.C. educators as part of EASE (Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators). EASE workshops launched in late January and will run through May. They are provided at no cost to B.C. teachers, school counsellors and other educators and are available in two developmental levels, grades K-3 and 4-7. The workshops will support educators to integrate EASE anxiety prevention strategies into their everyday classroom routines, according to a government press release.
Rohan Arul-Pragasam, acting superintendent in Chilliwack, said each district has its own timeline for the programs.
The funding announcement came with some statistics about mental health.• 40% of students with mental health issues also struggle with substance use.
• Mental well-being is a key area of the new provincial Physical and Health Education curriculum.
• Approximately 84,000 school-aged children (one in eight students) experience one or more mental-health disorders at any given time. Only one-third receives the specialized treatment they need.
• The completion rate for students with mental illness/behaviour designations in 2016-17 was 55.7%, which was 28.3% below the provincial rate.
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