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May 17, 2007 - The Times Picayune
Mental health plan aimed at students
By Melinda Morris
Several schools from throughout the area, including seven from East Jefferson, are participating in Project Fleur-de-lis, a free, school-based mental health program for children started in response to Hurricane Katrina.
The participating east bank schools are Archbishop Rummel High School, Our Lady of Divine Providence, St. Ann, St. Angela Merici, St. Benilde, St. Christopher the Martyr and St. Mary Magdalen.
"These schools have tremendous needs. There's a lot of poverty and children not living with a parent. They face tremendous challenges," said Jennifer L. Varela, Fleur-de-lis intervention coordinator.
A total 43 schools in five parishes are enrolled: 34 Catholic, eight charter and one private. More than 5,000 children have been registered with the required parental consent for the program, and more than 170 children were referred by the program's network of 60 school-based counselors for mental health services outside the school setting. Of those, more than 110 of these children were subsequently seen for additional services such as psycho-educational testing, family and individual counseling, and psychiatry, she said.
Through grants, the program offers $1,000 per child for outside services, if needed, she said. After the $1,000 is exhausted, families pay for services based on a sliding scale.
Varela said Dr. Doug Walker, clinical director for Mercy Family Center, founded the program and partnered with Catholic Charities and Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans to launch the project in January 2006.
Stephen Engro, Mercy Family Center's director of development, said financing for the program comes from Catholic Charities USA, United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, Louisiana Public Health Institute, Sisters of Mercy Ministries, Louisiana Charities Trust, Rand Corp., Allegheny Singer-Research Institute, Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, The Booth-Bricker Fund, Almar Foundation, AmeriCares and The Brown Foundation.
"If a student's case is particularly complex, that school counselor will attend at least one meeting per month at Mercy Family Center to discuss the child's case in anonymity, pulling up their electronic notes on the child, describing symptoms from the Child Behavior Checklist, and collaborating with therapists in attendance about treatment ideas," Varela said. "At that point, a determination is made as to whether a referral is needed for outside care within a clinical setting."
Engro said the program's electronic record-keeping system is important. Counselors can follow a child's case throughout the years and look for changes, and the records can be useful if the child moves.
The program also coordinated trauma-based clinical trainings and workshops for school counselors to implement within their school settings.
Fleur-de-lis also provides workshops "designed specifically for parents and teachers, and they focus upon coping skills, relaxation and stress management techniques. We consider this to be 'care for the caregivers,' " Varela said.
Also, "To date we have also provided 12 school counselors to schools that did not previously have the budget for a counselor," Varela said.
The program was mentioned in a report issued in January by the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, titled "Coping with Katrina: Mental Health Services in New Orleans."
The report said that "although the project's short- and long-term future appears promising," Fleur-de-lis has had difficulty attracting qualified staff, especially licensed clinical social workers.
For more information about the program, see its Web site at www.Project-Fleur-de-lis.org or call (504) 596-3084.
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