SCSD to provide mental health services to students

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — SUNY Chancellor John B King Jr. was at Grant Middle School on the city’s northside on Wednesday to announce Syracuse’s first-ever school-based comprehensive mental health program.

“We on a daily basis are supporting students with mental health issues,” said Terri Bowers, Director of Mental Health for Syracuse City School District. “This opportunity for our students to receive really high-quality care with culturally responsive providers, it is going to be so innovative for our community.”

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In partnership with SUNY Upstate, the five-year program will allow all students within the Syracuse City School District to have access to in-person and telehealth services.

“There will be a range of supports and then there will also be Upstate students who will be placed for their clinical hours as they prepare for careers in mental health services at a number of Syracuse schools,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr.

Right now, there are nearly 300 students on a waiting list to receive mental health care services.

“Part of that is because of the workforce shortage and being able to get providers. So through this in creating a pipeline of credentialed providers, we will create a pool of candidates that will be available to everyone in our community,” said Bowers.

“Our students experience a lot. Coming through the doors every day and we know the significant impact on their learning, so having access to these services is really going to help them be able to walk through the door and be able to access learning in ways that they have not been able to do so before,” said Bowers.

The program will start with two multi-office clinics, located at Grant Middle School and McCarthy at Beard Middle School. Nine other school buildings will have two providers over the course of five years.

“We hope to extend to nine satellites. So there will be a number of schools where there will be permanent staff with very ready access to telehealth as well as any other thing they need,” said Dr. Mantosh Dewan, MD, president of Upstate Medical University.

There will also be a child psychiatrist who can provide medications if needed, as well as nurse practitioners.

“I think students in our community face a lot of issues that have resulted in trauma, a lot of childhood adverse experiences that cumulate and how that manifests oftentimes is significant mental health crisis, behavioral incidents, suicidal ideation,” said Bowers.

The program is part of a multimillion-dollar mental health grant. The goal is to increase the number of credentialed school-based mental health services providers for students in the Syracuse City School District.

“We think insurance will cover the majority of people, particularly Medicaid. But yes we’re committed to treating everybody fully and not worrying about the insurance for them,” said Dr. Dewan.

The program is expected to roll out as early as January 2025.

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