Two Philly schools to have greater access to mental health support

In 2021, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation funded the multi-year initiative with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP, to provide access to mental health care services for every student at Girard College.

The program combined telehealth services from CHOP with school-based support for youth impacted by trauma. The foundation has already committed $2 million to the initiative.

The expansion of the program was announced during a youth mental health summit Thursday at the Constance E. Clayton Education Center.

“About 35% of children who are receiving behavioral health services do so through their schools and those students are more than six times more likely to continue treatment in a school setting that anywhere else,” said Independence Blue Cross CEO Gregory Deavens during the event.

“Through the Philadelphia School Based Mental Health Initiative pilot program that we had at Girard College, we found two-thirds of students said the treatment they received helped them feel and do better,” he said.

“We also found that 60% of students with anxiety and 75% with depression had overall significant improvement in their symptoms as measured by self assessment tests,” he added. “The expansion of this program will triple those numbers.”

State Sen. Anthony Williams said the expansion of the program to two more Philadelphia schools is personal for him.

His mother, was a public school teacher who taught at Anderson and is named after his father. He also worked on legislation around youth mental health.

“The level of violence in Philadelphia is not because we have bad people, it’s because of the people we created,” Williams said.

“A 16-year-old serial killer can only be created by the circumstances that that child is connected to,” he said. “No love, connectivity, family structure and support. Nobody around them to say ‘you exist.’”

“We all can participate and do something to enrich and allow young people to see value in who they are,” he added. “This is an extraordinary beginning because it represents corporate, public, private, nonprofit, moms, dads, teachers, administrators, all collaborating to put out the fire that we have in the City of Philadelphia.”

In July, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a $47.6 billion budget package for fiscal year 2024-25 with $100 million being allocated for school-based mental health counselors and resources for students.

In 2022, 117,000 youth in Pennsylvania experienced a major depressive episode and more than half did not receive any treatment.

In Philadelphia, only 22% of children with a significant mental health condition receive treatment, according to the Independence Blue Cross Foundation.

It is estimated that untreated mental health conditions will cost the United States up to $300 billion annually.

Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer, said she has seen first hand how the lack of resources played a role in students not receiving the treatment they needed.

She has been an educator for 27 years and served in every role from teacher and principal to assistant superintendent.

“When I was a principal, we were surrounded by mental health service agencies, but the students wouldn’t go for many different reasons,” Carrera said. “We also had kids who were interested in speaking with those agencies, but were on the waiting list for two or more months.

“We should have the resources so that every student can talk to someone, screen them regularly, and evaluate their mental health needs,” she added. “There should be access to counselors and therapists on site, when possible, where possible. I’m hopeful that this can be the new norm for all of our schools.”