Mental Health and School Collaboration Grant - Illinois Division of Mental Health

The Illinois Division of Mental Health has awarded the Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health a grant in the  amount of $75,000 to coordinate a comprehensive mental health and school collaboration for students in northwest suburban cook county. This grant allows for a school based mental health specialist to serve as the Alexian Brothers Center for Mental Health's chief liasion and coordinator with Elk Grove and Hersey High Schools.

In the beginning stages of the school year, the school based mental health specialist had the opportunity to meet with school staff members to discuss various ways to utilize the partnership. Through these brainstorming sessions the schools came up with ideas on how the grant could be used to promote mental health awareness and social emotional learning among the school population.

In addition to providing individual and group counseling, the mental health specialist assists student services staff by facilitating classroom presentations, organizing guest speakers to come speak about mental health topics, as well as participating in school-wide awareness events. An example of the coordination efforts of this partnership, 382 students participated in Depression and Suicide Awareness trainings presented by Erika's Lighthouse and 238 sophomore students received training on the Stages of Addiction as part of their health class curriculum. The mental health specialist also works with the schools to help with referrals and crisis situations.

We are happy for the opportunity to partner with the Illinois Division of Mental Health with regards to this initiative.