USD 383 offered free 24/7 therapy for students, staff and family

Jul. 17—The Manhattan-Ogden school district may be granted free mental health services from a national over-the-phone therapy program. This service would extent to faculty, students and their families.

Assistant superintendent Nathan Downs said during Wednesday's school board meeting that the district's health insurance provider approached him with the potential to partner with National Telehealth Solutions.

He said other school districts across the country are also pursuing service from the federally-funded program.

"They volunteered to seek out funds on behalf of the school district to see if we would be able to be awarded potential funds to allow for free mental health services for all of our students, as well as our students' families, as well as our staff, as well as our staff's families," Downs said.

He said parents would be able to opt in to these services.

National Telehealth Solutions' website describes itself as "the most comprehensive virtual mental health program for K-12 schools, universities and corporations."

The program is headquartered in Ohio and employs 28,171 licensed counselors.

"It would include 24/7 unlimited mental health counseling, in-person counseling, video counseling, behavioral mental health therapy, also psychiatry and medication management, subclinical coaching, life management services, text therapy, digital cognitive behavioral therapy and pediatric behavioral health," Downs said.

He said the district was offered a three-year funding opportunity at no cost to the school district, for services which would cost around $5 million.

Downs said the next step of the process is to present the plan to the board again in August, secure the funding and plan logistics.

"It seems like it's almost too good to be true, but we've done a lot of research on it and it is a real thing," Downs said. "It's teletherapy for people that don't have access to other resources."

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