Student success takes a village, and Collective Care Teams — made up of school counselors, school nurses, school psychologists and school social workers — are fighting to build that village in every school in the state.
“There’s a huge student mental health crisis right now that COVID only exacerbated,” explained Kelly Caci, school psychologist, Newburgh Teachers Association. “People are surprised when I say I do suicide assessments at the elementary level at least once or twice a year. Kids are struggling with poverty and with traumas and all those things add difficulties in terms of just trying to function.”
Caci was among a few dozen other NYSUT members and leaders in Albany for Collective Care Team Lobby Day. The New York State School Social Workers’ Association, New York State School Counselor Association, New York Association of School Psychologists, and New York State Association of School Nurses each sent four members to raise awareness of what each team member does and why each is vitally important to ensure that every student’s needs are met.
“Legislators need to see the person behind the job explaining what their job entails,” said Connie Griffin, school nurse, Valley Central TA. “I’ve been a nurse for 31 years and I know the impact that school nurses make every day on things like attendance and getting healthcare for students. Sometimes we’re their primary care providers. We find resources that they can use, maybe to see an eye specialist to get a pair of glasses, or to go to a food bank, or to get housing. But a school nurse can’t do everything.”
From basic mental health to intensive therapy to chronic disease management, Collective Care Teams work together, within clearly defined roles, to provide a wide range of services.
“While some of our functions overlap, we’re not interchangeable,” Caci said. “We all have unique disciplines and expertise, and we are all necessary within a school building in order to promote social, emotional and physical health for students.”
Speaking in meetings with legislators, the teams shared stories from their various schools across New York of how this collaborative approach has been tremendously successful.
“We all bring something different to the table,” said Wendy Castiglia, NYSSSWA president and a member of the Hamburg TA. “There was a fourth-grade student who started showing very significant mental health concerns with hallucinatory-type behaviors. As the school social worker, I often ended up seeing him in my office, but I also worked very closely with the nurse because he took medication. With the help of the school psychologist, we were able to get him a personal aid when he went to middle school, and the school counselor
there helped translate for teachers how to best support him with accommodations in the classroom. Together, they helped him and his family transition to a different program better suited to his specific needs and now he’s very successful.”
NYSUT is advocating for several bills including legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Jackson and Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas that would require the State Education Department to develop school health and mental health professionals-to-student ratios in public schools (S.5024/A.610).
“This bill is one of our top priorities,” said NYSUT President Melinda Person. “We want our health and mental health professionals to know that your union is fighting for you every single day not only at your local level, but at the state level.”
They’re also pushing for a bill that would mandate all public school districts and BOCES to employ at least one registered professional nurse in each school building (S.6779).
For more information, training and support, and to stay up to date on future networking opportunities, join NYSUT’s Mental Health Network and School Nurse Connection.
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