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 The Children’s MOSAIC Project, a community-based
partnership between Memorial Behavioral Health and local education
leaders, opens access to mental health services for children by
embedding counselors within a school, where they provide on-site
screenings and therapy sessions during school hours.
Although the first MOSAIC program in Logan County launched prior to
the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the expansion of the program
into seven more schools comes at an important time. In the fall of
2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital
Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry declared an emergency in child and adolescent mental
health.
The isolation, uncertainty and loss experienced during the Covid-19
pandemic had taken an alarming toll on children.
Between March and October of 2020, emergency department visits for
mental health emergencies rose by 24% for children ages five to 11
years and 31% for children ages 12-17 years.
In addition, emergency department visits for suspected suicide
attempts increased 51% among girls ages 12-17 years in early 2021,
compared to the same period in 2019, according to information from
the American Academy of Pediatrics website.
“Response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said Jonathan Ponser,
LCPC, manager of Behavioral Therapy Services for Memorial Behavioral
Health. “A program like this can be a literal lifeline to kids who
are struggling with mental health issues and have very limited
access to mental healthcare services. We have excellent
communication with the schools, and everyone is pulling in the same
direction to support the needs of each student in the program.”
But even though mental illness affects so many children, at least
one-half – others estimate as many as 80% of these children – do not
receive the mental healthcare they need, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
“By eliminating the need for insurance, transportation, copays and
time for traditional appointments, we bring the counseling office to
the client,” said Ponser. “Parents and educators, alike, appreciate
the easy access and ability to take advantage of these mental
healthcare services without removing a child from school to attend
an appointment.”
The MOSAIC – Meaningful Opportunities for Success and Achievement
through Service Integration for Children – program’s expansion means
program counselors and staff now serve Northwest, Washington-Monroe,
Central, West Lincoln-Broadwell, Adams, Chester East Lincoln and New
Holland-Middletown elementary schools, in addition to Lincoln Junior
High School.
The program is funded in part by a grant from the Lincoln Memorial
Foundation, the fundraising arm of Lincoln Memorial Hospital.
So far in the 2021-2022 school year, 95 students have been referred
to services, totaling more than 400 hours of individual or group
counseling, through the MOSAIC program. The program also provides
suicide prevention and crisis assistance training.
Beneath the program’s more obvious benefits – increased
accessibility and convenience to participate in mental healthcare
services – is a less measurable, but real shift in how Logan County
residents view mental health and therapy in general.
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The Children’s MOSAIC program, said Ponser, is
helping to normalize for young people topics associated with mental
health, including the benefits of counseling and support services.
By embedding counselors in schools, where children see them interact
with other students, teachers and staff, MOSAIC program leaders hope
to impart an important message to students: It’s OK to not feel OK.
“We have been able to engage children and families who were in need
of therapy and support, but who were not engaging in counseling
services,” said Ponser. “We’ve had many success stories that involve
young clients struggling with acting-out behavior, anxiety or
depression – going untreated, unaddressed – but, through consistent
interventions by our embedded counselors, we are able to catch these
kids early and provide support to them before their symptoms can
progress and create large problems in their lives.”
The program is also curving the perception of diagnostic criteria
for a specific mental illness. Students don’t have to be mentally
ill to need or qualify for therapy.
“We hope students come to accept counseling as something that could
be beneficial to them no matter what may or may not be happening in
their lives, as opposed to seeing counseling as some mysterious
thing reserved for only very sick people,” said Ponser.
“I’m so encouraged when I hear from school staff and program
therapists and parents, about our clients’ noticeable improvements.
Through the MOSIAC program, our young people are learning strategies
that allow them to socialize and problem-solve effectively and just
be happier in their lives.”
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By
Ellen Woehrmann for Memorial Health
