Canopy Children's Solutions School-Based Mental Wellness Expansion Project - PROJECT ABSTRACT | SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL WELLNESS EXPANSION PROJECT
The Canopy Children’s Solutions (Canopy) School-based Mental Wellness Expansion project aims to decrease the number of children who are receiving crisis services from the existing staff within the school district who may not be trained as mental health therapists. This project expands an existing pilot program with the MS Dept. of Mental Health to provide professional development training and student support services to four (4) Jackson metro area public schools for individuals facing mental health challenges through Canopy’s mental health school program with an estimated impact of serving 3,600 students in the 2023-2024 academic year. Funding will also be used to provide training for 13 Canopy therapists to enhance substance abuse treatment services for individuals in CARES Center direct care.
Canopy is Mississippi’s largest non-profit provider of behavioral health, educational and social service solutions employing more than 500 dedicated team members and serving children and families in all 82 counties.
The pandemic has left schools stretched thin dealing with multiple mental health crises including homicidal and suicidal ideations. In addition to Canopy staff providing new tools to youth and families, they will also offer guidance and training to teachers and faculty. These trainings will involve helping faculty to identify and assist in de-escalation before a crisis exists.
Canopy has developed a three-tiered model to assist school districts in dealing with the increasing prevalence of behavioral and mental health issues, which existed prior to COVID-19, but has been exacerbated by the effects of a global pandemic. Canopy’s model was developed to include the familiar components of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model which is currently utilized within Mississippi’s School Districts for both academic and behavior interventions in school. With the schools tiered approach in mind, Canopy has created a mental and behavioral health solution designed to be integrated into the school system. By incorporating behavioral health solutions into the education system and partnering with the schools directly, Canopy will create a learning environment within the school that will increase social and emotional learning and give a pathway for youth who are struggling due to behavioral and mental health barriers. Canopy has a wealth of knowledge, trainings, and expertise which are at the ready to help students and faculty accomplish long-term goals by creating realistic solutions as well as the identified supports in the school and at home.
Our nation is facing a growing mental health and substance abuse crisis, and Mississippi is high on the list of impacted states. It is conservatively estimated there are over 131,000 children in Mississippi struggling with significant mental health challenges. Of those, 80% do not receive the treatment they need. National estimates indicate that more than 1,300,000 teenagers struggle with substance use and dependence. In 2020, the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics reported that 47 percent of teens will have used an illicit (illegal) substance by the time they graduate from high school, and an estimated 863,000 adolescents need substance abuse/addiction treatment but do not receive it. Sadly, suicide is the second leading cause of death for children ages 10 to 22 in Mississippi. As the occurrence rates continue to increase, the availability of quality resources for these children and families remains extremely limited. Canopy has the privilege of being a resource for those in need of care.
Canopy has shown over the past century that it can quickly and efficiently operationalize and mobilize to effect long term outcomes.
