BY KARISSA MILLER

Thanks to a $17 million federal grant, every Iredell-Statesville Schools student now has access to a licensed therapist.

District administrators recently touted the benefits of the grant while reviewing the district’s mental health initiatives and goals for this school year.

The RESOLVE grant, which stands for Recruiting and retaining Experienced School-based providers by Offering incentives to Lower anxiety and Violence and increase Emotion management, is funded through the U.S. Department of Education.

The school board voted to accept the five-year grant in February of 2023. It will end December 2027.

As a result of the grant, every I-SS student has access to one of the 18 school-based therapists.

I-SS Chief Student Services Officer Shayla Savage said the district plans to hire three additional therapists, increasing the total to 21.

“Recognizing mental health as an essential factor for student success, I-SS is committed to creating a supportive environment where every student feels valued, heard and safe,” Savage said.

Providing these services distinguishes I-SS, which aims to treat the “whole” health of its student.

The grant helps students who can’t afford therapy, who don’t have transportation to therapy and who have historically not been able to follow through on therapy appointments. Parental consent is required.

Paying dividends

Over the past two years, the school-based therapists have conducted more than 8,300 individual sessions and 700 family sessions.

The therapists provide individual and family therapy sessions. This has led to improvements in discipline outcomes, including:

• Office discipline referrals have decreased by 10 percent;
• Out-of-school suspensions by declined by more than 15 percent;
• In-school suspensions are down by 6 percent; and
• Long-term suspensions have decreased by 46 percent.

Community Partners on Mental Health and Safety

According to I-SS, the following partners are involved in the RESOLVE grant:

• Crosby Scholars provides academic training, financial aid assistance, college application workshops and college tours for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in grades 6-12.

• The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office offers School Resource Officers (SROs) who engage in joint professional development, assist with threat assessments and provide other roles at the school.

• Livingstone College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), helps recruit diverse candidates and provides full scholarships for high school graduates from Iredell-Statesville Schools.

• Partners Health Management delivers on-call mobile mental health services to support the well-being of students.

• TruthGirlz mentor middle and high school girls through discussions aimed at promoting healthy choices and positive relationships.

• Rainbow Kidz offers grief support services for students dealing with the loss of loved ones and community bereavement assistance in schools.

• The Statesville Police Department aids in threat assessments and the development of emergency plans.