Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program offers outpatient mental health services to community school children and their families.

Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program provides students and their families with mental health services. United Way of Racine County is proud to support the operation of in-school clinics that provide services to the entire neighborhoods of Julian Thomas Community School, Knapp Community School and The Academies of Racine at Mitchell Community School. By providing these services, Children’s Wisconsin has helped improve suspensions at Julian Thomas Community School by 45 percent. They have also seen improvement in MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) scores among patients. Students improved by 92 percent in MAP math and 88 percent in MAP reading. All of these great successes are achieved by making sure we have the healthiest children in the nation. Accessible mental health care helps to make that goal a reality.

What does Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program do overarchingly and on a daily basis?

Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program provides outpatient mental health services to children and families. These services include individual, group and family therapy options. They provide timely, student-specific consultation to school staff and parents on how to support students who are experiencing mental health and other behavioral issues that are impacting school behavior, academic performance and student well-being. Children’s Wisconsin also offers educational opportunities for school staff to gain a better understanding about the mental, emotional and behavioral health needs of children. This includes offering professional development trainings on trauma-informed care, self-care, mental health introduction and specific mental health disorders.

What is the community need that Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program addresses?

The Racine County community deals with a lot of complex trauma. These individuals do not have the resources that they need to process their experiences, including their potential mental and behavioral health needs. Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program addresses the barrier of being able to get immediate care. This program serves community school students and their families.

What is the impact of Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program?

One family reported that they were placed on a waitlist of over six-months for services offered at a clinic in the community. Children's Wisconsin School-Based Mental Health Program allows students and their families to receive services sooner. The school-based clinics decrease the significant wait times that families will experience at other clinics in the community. This allows for treatment and results to occur at a much quicker rate.

Nancy Reed is the School Based Mental Health Manager, Robin Matchett-Schmidt is the School Based Mental Health Supervisor and Reynaldo Ortiz-Maldonado is the Qualified Treatment Trainee for Children's Wisconsin.

Watch our impact spotlights to learn more.