SRSD to start mental health pilot project with Shared Health – SteinbachOnline.com

The Seine River School Division (SRSD) will soon be starting a pilot project helping students access mental health and addictions services.

Colin Campbell, superintendent of the SRSD, says the pilot is bring run in collaboration with Shared Health for students in grades 7 to 12, and should start this spring. It’s called Early Response Service.

“SRSD was fortunate enough to be selected to be a part of this pilot project. Through this service, students will receive timelier introductions to care for early mental health and addiction concerns. This project strives to support reduced waitlists, increased cap within the system, and improve access to services across Manitoba,” Campbell says.

There are several services that will be offered as a part of the pilot, he says.

That includes non-diagnostic mental health and addictions screening and assessment, resources and supports, treatments, individual interventions and group based education therapy, referrals to specialized or intensive services, and coordinating and collaborating with other service providers and systems.

Campbell says the school division feels very fortunate to have had its application to the program accepted.

“This will help our students — specifically in these grades — to have greater access. Especially in rural Manitoba, this is a significant benefit to be a part of a pilot project like this. In some of our communities it is very challenging to access some mental health services, and I think this pilot project has potential to be very successful and we’re very happy to be a part of it,” he says.

The superintendent adds, like every school division, SRSD has a demand for mental health and addiction services in its schools.

Each student’s needs will be addressed and handled on a case-by-case basis, he says.

“We have caseloads,” Campbell explains. “So we’ll work with Shared Health to figure out which students, where we want to start. These are students that are experiencing mild to moderate mental health and addictions concerns. That’s really the pocket of individuals that we want to have access to these services.”

Right now, he says they are committed to a one year agreement, and then there will be an evaluation of the project to see how it is working.

Campbell assumes it will continue, as several years would be useful to gauge the program success.