Indian River School District receives grant to expand mental health supports in schools
DELAWARE – The First State is taking an aggressive approach at tackling mental health issues in schools.
Delaware just won a $9 million federal grant that will help the most vulnerable.
It will fund Project DelAWARE, which is a new partnership between the Delaware Department of Education and Department of Services for Children along with three school districts. It includes one school district in each county:
- Colonial School District in New Castle County
- Capital School District in Kent County
- Indian River School District in Sussex County
Each district will get $1.8 million per year for the next five years.
This is crucial for Indian River School District because as their school population continues to expand, the level of need also increases.
IRSD Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Jay Owens, tells 47 ABC, “We’re going to look closely at where the funds would best impact our students. We’ll look broadly at our district but we’ll probably zero in on a few schools that could best use the resources of the funding.”
Karen Irvin, a licensed clinic counselor for Sussex Central High School says these high schoolers can battle some serious problems. “There’s a drug epidemic in our area that affects students, that affects the kind of home they are growing in. Many of our students are low income families, they are on free and reduced lunch; that just indicates to them that they are growing up and not getting everything that they need.”
But having this grant will offer even more resources such as more training for staff, increasing the amount of counselors and mental health professionals and working with organizations who’ll offer resources for students after school.
In the future, officials say this grant could also be a way to have more wide spread suicide prevention programs as well. We’re told in the next few months, they are going to begin planning where the funds will go.
