Chinooks Edge School Division, Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools and McMan Central Region have joined forces to determine how a new provincial pilot project could impact students in Central Alberta.
As a result, they have been awarded a $1.4 million dollar grant from the provincial government towards expanding mental health and learning supports in schools.
The pilot project will be in place until December of 2024 and will have five Mental Health Consultants providing direct support to students in both Red Deer Catholic and CESD schools, along with Family Enrichment Workers.
In a news release, CESD Board Chair Holly Bilton says they are extremely grateful that the Alberta Government is taking such bold action on behalf of students, adding that the board had a meeting with the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction last spring to verbalize this priority.
The program will see divisions share mental health staff.
The pilot program will begin immediately.
Read the joint press release below:
For Immediate Release: November 17, 2022 – Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD), Red
Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) and McMan Central Region joined forces to
determine how a new provincial pilot project could impact students throughout Central Alberta.
Their efforts have resulted in a $1.46 million grant, as part of the Alberta Government’s efforts to
expand mental health and learning supports in schools.
“Together we saw a way forward that will make a huge difference to our students,” said Dr.
Marcie Perdue, CESD Associate Superintendent of Student Services whose efforts in nurturing
the partnership and guiding the grant submission led to the successful grant. “I think they saw
the power of this collaboration, because we can essentially support students in all of Central
Alberta. We already have a strong connection with one another and we work in some of the
same communities, so we are able to be innovative in designing how the work will look. Part of
our approach will be sharing staff resources and expertise, which is not common among school
divisions. Our focus was simply on determining how to meet the needs of kids and to be ready
to go as soon as we received word! We have developed a pyramid of supports and a clear path
forward – and we are so excited to get started.”
The pilot project, which will be in place until December 2024, will have five Mental Health
Consultants providing direct support to our students in both divisions, along with three Family
Enrichment Workers through McMan for CESD (as RDCRS already has a different approach in
place). The sharing of existing staff expertise is unique, involving the strong RDCRS
trauma-informed practice and the CESD Social Emotional Wellbeing course for students (SEW
15), among other projects.
“We are very thankful to Alberta Education for the funding for this collaborative project as we
continue to focus on the mental health of our students,” said RDCRS Associate Superintendent
of Inclusion, Jodi Smith. “This grant will allow us to increase mental health resilience amongst
students and families by continuing to offer learning opportunities in the areas of
social-emotional learning. This grant will also help increase access to community mental health
support and services for our most vulnerable students.”
The Chinook’s Edge Board of Trustees has been active in advocating to various levels of
government for their involvement in increased mental health support for students moving
forward.
Innovative Partnership leads to successful $1.4 million Mental Health in Schools grant
“Our Board has been advocating for stronger mental health support for our students, and
students throughout Alberta. We are extremely grateful that the Alberta Government is taking
such bold action on behalf of our kids,” said CESD Board Chair, Holly Bilton. “We had a meeting
with the Minister of Mental Health and Addiction late last spring to verbalize this priority, and the
government has answered with a strong and clear commitment. We are so excited to
collaborate with Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools and McMan Central. Together, we are
confident this will assist us in serving the needs of students.”
The project leads will now begin a recruitment process to fill the five Mental Health Consultants
roles, and begin implementing the planned staff collaborative work. The plan is to have all items
outlined in the grant application in place soon, so the project has a full two-years of pilot
implementation.
“We appreciate that the government has recognized the importance of supporting mental
wellness in schools through the funding of this joint 2-year pilot project,” said RDCRS Board
Chair Anne Marie Watson. “This funding is critical for building capacity among our teachers and
staff to respond to the mental health concerns of students, and for students to gain access to
community mental health support in a timely manner.”
Sherri McAllister, Executive Director McMan Central Region which is providing the Family
Enrichment Workers component, said: “McMan Central is pleased to be working with Chinook’s
Edge School Division on this pilot project to support student and family mental health in a
collaborative and innovative way.”
Comments