Mental health grant to help provide services to young Beatrice Public School students

BEATRICE – Beatrice Public Schools has learned a sizable grant has been provided to the district to address mental health issues of students in prekindergarten through fifth grade….in this post-pandemic time.

BPS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Jackie Nielsen says the grant from the Stronger Community Connections initiative totals $226,000. The money would be used to provide school-based mental health services through a licensed practitioner.

"There are probably a lot of things we have to work through and I know that in conjunction with the hospital, in conjunction with Blue Valley (Behavioral Health) we gathered tons of data to put into this grant application to show need. We are looking at what our community provides. There was a huge need for this additional piece."

Nielsen says the grant will help to pay for the on-site practitioner for two years…giving the district time to decide how to proceed from there.
"In year two, we will start looking at where the data lands...figuring out where we're moving, how our students have been helped....how it's helped our classrooms and how it has helped our building with the community on a bigger perspective. We want to look at those pieces first before we make a decision about year three, four or five."

The grant pays for salary of the practitioner and universal screening. It could also cut the time it takes for a student and their families to access mental health services.  Nielsen says that can help determine the need for intervention. She says in some cases, students and families are facing a waiting list to see a community mental health specialist.

Superintendent Jason Alexander says the arrangement helps address a crisis the nation has experienced, coming out of the coronovirus pandemic.