When parents miss red flags, burden falls on teachers, schools to catch mental health issues

When children struggle with mental health, it can be difficult to notice.

Sometimes, it’s shrugged off as normal teenage angst or behavioral battles, but other times, the internal war becomes a violent and physical combat sending children to the hospital. If parents and caretakers don’t see warning signs or shrug them off, school officials could be a student’s only safeguard.

“Being a teenager is already full of uncertainty and discovery,” said Joel Broome, a teacher at West Career & Technical Academy. “They push boundaries — with parents, peers, teachers and administrators — in order to test limits and find a space within which to operate. Identifying when a student is having a crisis versus a student having teenage issues is profoundly difficult. The quiet kid in the back of the room may need as much attention as the loud kid in the front. With the district cramming more kids into classrooms, it becomes increasingly difficult to work with kids who may have greater needs.”

Robert Weires, director of psychological services with the Clark County School District, said it’s important for teachers to communicate with students that they are available if they need to talk.

There are also certain things teachers should look for, such as a drastic change in behavioral patterns.

“Even if kids are going through normal teenage moodiness, one of the things we look for is if they are still engaging with their friends,” Weires said. “Sometimes it starts with something as simple as, ‘How is everything going?’ ”

The district also employs 20 social workers in its Wraparound Services Department who work on a referral basis, each serving between 16 and 22 schools. School staff members send in referrals when they feel a student could benefit from the services and support provided by a social worker.

In the 2014-15 school year, there were 1,000 students referred to social workers and more than 600 mental health cases documented.

School social workers are able to refer students to community agencies where appropriate assessments can be completed and proper diagnoses made. Additionally, they provide support groups to students needing mental health support and social-emotional learning activities. Groups are determined by working directly with the school counselor or administrator.

“The focus of the group is based on student need; however, some examples would be self-esteem, anger management, grief and loss, and pregnant and parenting teens,” said Susan Sernoe, director of the Wraparound Services Department.

Social workers also help parents in need of support through parenting programs, by obtaining food, clothing and furniture, and by teaching them how to apply for Medicaid.

Because teachers are seen as the foot soldiers in the classroom, the department offers two different formal teacher trainings: Youth Mental Health First Aid, an eight-hour training that teaches the participants to recognize suicide risk factors and warning signs of various mental health conditions common among adolescents; and SafeTALK, a training that prepares participants to take action by connecting with a person with thoughts of suicide and providing life-saving interventions.

“Having social workers in schools is a great first step,” Sernoe said. “However, additional social workers — either in schools or added to the Wraparound Services Department — would be beneficial. Providing mental health counseling at the school by a licensed professional would also be beneficial, as many students cannot get to a location that provides those services.”

The district regularly facilitates programs from musical theater that promotes anti-bullying to physical health programs and workgroups promoting knowledge and awareness of mental health.

Despite these programs, some parents remain critical of the district.

Ralph Pruett is the father of three children, ages 15, 17 and 20, who struggle with mental health issues. For years, he said he has fought with the district to put his oldest son, 20, who is autistic, into Variety School, which serves special needs students.

“The district doesn’t give a damn about any child with mental illness,” Pruett said. “I fought for years to get my son into Variety. The district waited until he was out of 12th grade before putting him there. Now he’s thriving, but before then, he was hospitalized for suicide attempts. They kept telling me that he was thriving in school. I think I know my child better than they do.”

Pruett said he’s fought with teachers and school administrators who have gone back and forth saying his children belong in a special needs school to saying they’re doing fine in class.

“The district gets extra federal government money when a special needs child is at a particular school,” Pruett said. “They’ll do anything to keep a child there. They don’t care about what’s in the child’s best interest. They’re literally throwaway kids. They don’t do anything with them, and then the parents have to deal with the negative behaviors, like suicide, which two of my kids have tried.”

In 2014, the district formed the Mental Health Transition Team to aid students returning to school after experiencing a crisis-induced hospital stay. The team, which includes two school psychologists, a school nurse and a school counselor, works closely with parents and psychiatric hospitals to develop re-entry plans. The team helped 1,485 students in the 2014-15 school year.

There is also the Department of Student Threat Evaluation and Crisis Response, which is staffed by licensed counselors and school psychologists who assess threats made by students to commit lethal violence or suicide. Workers are able to intervene if they find it necessary.

While mental health issues range from autism to schizophrenia, one issue seems the most prevalent: Depressive disorders.

”Depression is so complicated,” Broome said. “I’ve worked with the whole range of students. I’ve had more than a few students admit to the class that they have attempted suicide. By far, the greatest mental health issue I’ve seen is self-esteem-related issues. Many students, especially as freshmen, are so hyper-concerned with acceptance and comparisons that they can easily work themselves into a rut out of fear of rejection.”

Since school is social, Broome said he focuses on breaking down social barriers so that students accept one another. Still, it can be difficult to pay attention to every student when there are roughly 34 students to every one teacher, he added.

“There is no way of typically identifying kids in crisis,” Broome said. “Sometimes, I’ve just gotten a sense that something isn’t right with a particular student, pulled them aside and found that they’re in desperate need of help. I can’t say that there is a ‘warning sign’ that I look for. I look at everything and make a judgment call. Sometimes I’m right, but sometimes I’m wrong. My biggest fear is the day I miss something and have to answer the question, ‘Why didn’t you do something?’ ”

Visit ccsd.net.

To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.