If you remember going to school many years ago, the school nurse was largely there for gym class injuries or the occasional fight in the halls. Fortunately, our understanding of childhood well-being has improved dramatically since then, and now schools also frequently offer mental healthcare as well as physical healthcare.

Ever since the start of the Covid pandemic, the needs of children in school have skyrocketed. Or, perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that they’ve been drawn into focus. Students want to feel valued, connected, and cared for, and schools are increasingly recognizing that fact.

How do the schools here in the Detroit area handle student mental health? The answer is largely positive, though there’s still room for improvement.

DISCLAIMER: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered medical or psychological advice. The information presented here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any mental health condition or replace professional therapeutic care. Every individual’s experience with trauma and mental health is unique. Please consult with a qualified mental health professional, therapist, or healthcare provider to determine the most appropriate treatment approach for your specific situation. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or emergency, please contact your local emergency services or crisis hotline immediately.

The Breadth of Detroit Schools

The Detroit area is large and sprawling, and there are quite a few schools serving students throughout the region and through southeast Michigan in general. Detroit’s public school district, the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), encompasses over 100 individual schools. DPSCD has unified policies across schools, though the actual implementation of those policies can vary from school to school.

That’s not all, though. This conversation is made all the more difficult by the fact that there are an additional 81 charter schools serving 30,000 students throughout Detroit, with 56 different charter districts managing them. That’s a lot of different organizations with different views, policies, and management styles for their schools.

Because of this, consider this a disclaimer: we’re primarily going to be talking about DPSCD schools in this post. Charter schools may follow similar policies, and some are enforced by state law, but others are left to the individual institution. If your student doesn’t attend a DPSCD school, or if you’re still deciding what school you want your child to attend, it’s worth looking into their policies individually.

As always, while we try to provide the most accurate information we can, we can’t keep up to date on every policy for every school district throughout the region. Always double-check the current state of affairs in your child’s school before making plans around them. If you’re navigating mental health concerns for your student, our child and adolescent services may be a helpful starting point, and you can also review Michigan parents’ rights in teen mental health care to better understand your options.

The Depth of Need for School Support

It’s important to recognize that many students throughout Detroit schools need support, and it’s not always obvious to parents. This isn’t a failing on your part! The symptoms can be difficult to notice; students can often hide what they’re feeling or how they’re struggling, and many symptoms are written off as typical school issues when they aren’t.

Unfortunately, students in Detroit are higher than the national average for rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. While this rate is slowly improving, it’s still a challenge for many families in the Detroit area.

It’s also undeniable that mental health challenges lead to poor engagement with school, and thus poor academic performance. Mental health support is not just for family and home life; it’s integral to success in school and later in life.

There are three main barriers to accessing mental health care through schools.

• Lack of parental permission. Schools need to work with parents to provide support, and without consent, are unable to provide more than the basics. While teenagers aged 15 and up can receive care with more independence, care can’t be provided to children under 14 without parental consent.
• Lack of awareness. While there’s a broad knowledge that schools provide counselors, the impression of what they are and what they do is often limited. As you’ll see later in this post, Detroit schools can provide extensive assistance, much of which parents might not be aware of.
• Lack of recognition of symptoms. Students themselves may recognize they’re struggling, but not why. Parents may not recognize the underlying issues at play. Teachers may have some idea, but have limited exposure to the students outside of the classroom. A lot can slip through the cracks without comprehensive awareness.

Fortunately, all three of these are being addressed, whether it’s through communication and awareness, reporting and feedback with parents and families, or frank discussions with students.

Most students in the Detroit school system who do access services report that they help, so the difficulty largely lies in starting the process at all. Detroit resources for parents can also help bridge that gap when school support alone isn’t enough.

How Comprehensive is School Mental Healthcare in Detroit?

This can be a difficult question to answer.

While Detroit’s public school system is doing its best to handle the needs of students, there are significant roadblocks in the way of appropriate care.

One of the largest is simply a lack of resources. From kindergarten to 8th grade, there’s an average of one school counselor per 500 students in the school system. For high school, the ratio is a little better, but it’s still one counselor for 400 students. Limited funding, limited availability, and limited professionals willing to work for the school system mean it can be difficult for all students to access care even when it’s nominally available.

Certainly, not every student needs mental health support from their school. Some don’t struggle with a mental illness. Others have support from private therapists and counselors at home. Even so, our schools could always use more funding and more support in providing mental healthcare to our children. If you’re concerned your teen may need additional help, it may be worth looking into signs your teen needs a psychiatrist.

What Options Do the Schools Provide?

Broadly, Detroit’s public schools provide a range of options, both institutional and individual.

School Psychological Services

One of the big ways that Detroit area schools support student mental health is through the availability of school psychologists. While ratios may not be ideal, as mentioned above, students are still able to receive care as they need it, and the school system has a good record of success, with no known incidences of students who need care not receiving it.

Detroit school psychologists work with families, teachers, school staff, and the children themselves to develop an understanding of each child’s needs and what can be done to assist them.

• School psychologists can conduct evaluations or screeners to understand what a child’s needs are in terms of learning, behavior, and emotional support.
• School psychologists can assist families and teachers in developing strategies to support students, both at school and at home.
• School psychologists can help provide interventions necessary to promote student success individually.
• School psychologists are available in times of crisis to provide safety and support to students in need.

As long as parents consent, school psychologists can provide a wealth of support and resources for students under their purview.

Support for Students with Emotional Impairments

One area where Detroit schools are exceptional is in their support for students with emotional impairments. Students who experience emotional or behavioral challenges that affect their success in school can be evaluated for this program.

When the signs are identified, the school can initiate an evaluation. This evaluation is conducted by professionals, specialists, and educators, who can observe the student, conduct assessments, and solicit input from the student’s family and their teachers.

Once this evaluation is complete, you will meet with the team to review the results and determine if there is a need for, and if programs are available for, treatment for the student. This can range from a set of coping skills and management techniques to day treatment programs that provide a higher level of support.

The goal of these programs is to provide the student with the support and techniques they need to succeed in school and in life. It may be longer-term, ongoing support, or it may be shorter-term programs that go until they complete, and the student is returned to their home school.

Support doesn’t end when a program ends, either. Typically, part of these programs is building both the awareness of the need for treatment and providing resources to assist in obtaining that treatment. The student should be equipped for success when they return, not left back where they started.

School Social Work Services

In addition to school psychologists, Detroit-area schools also offer social work services. Trained social workers partner with the schools to provide support both for students and for their families, which can include a variety of forms of assistance.

• Crisis support, which helps students and their families handle unexpected, difficult situations, both in school and in home life.
• Individual interventions and group interventions aimed at supporting emotional regulation, behavioral control, and building social skills.
• Collaboration with and support of families, particularly with connecting families to resources both in the school system and within the community at large.

There are also specific resources for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as potential scholarships for students who receive assistance, overcome adversity, and demonstrate strong potential.

Social workers in the schools provide support directly to students, and can work with parents or guardians to provide resources for families. Student resources can include counseling, classroom support, personalized IEPs, peer group discussions, family counseling, positive discipline strategies, crisis planning, and school support structures.

Family support is largely centered around communication and connection with resources. School social workers keep in close contact with families with check-ins, meetings, and updates, share positive feedback, help build peer connections, encourage daily progress reports, and can connect families with community resources from all manner of local agencies and programs.

IEP Support

Federal law, through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, mandates that states implement services for handling individualized education programs, or IEPs. IEPs are becoming increasingly commonplace as well, and Detroit schools have full support of them.

Most school services for student mental health are more free-form, evaluating a student and determining what they need in the moment and long-term. IEPs are a little different; they’re more formalized contracts with a set process, state-level standards, and broad support.

IEPs are a complex subject of their own, so if you think your student could use one, talk to your school’s counselors and administrators directly.

Getting Started with Mental Healthcare for Detroit Students

First of all, it’s important to recognize that it’s never too early to get started with mental health support. Particularly in today’s difficult school atmosphere, the stresses of life, the rate of adverse childhood events, and the rates of recognized childhood mental health issues are stark. Getting a child started with care early helps equip them with appropriate coping strategies to regulate their emotions and behavior.

In other words, mental healthcare isn’t just for adults or for teenagers; it can, and should, start as young as it needs to for a child to be set up for success in academics and in life.

What can you do to get started? The best option is to simply talk to your school administration. They can inform you of the policies, the programs, and the people you can connect with for services.

Typically, this will begin with an evaluation. This evaluation can be observational, can include tests for ADHD, ASD, or other disorders, and can determine what the best course of action is for an individual student.

Sometimes, the school may request to initiate this process if they see signs of issues with a student in school. Frequent absences, rule violations and write-ups, altercations with other students, and other signs can lead to this request. Again, as a parent, you need to consent to any evaluation and treatment provided to your child.

Some resources and accommodations can be made in the school, ranging from regular meetings with school psychologists to day treatment programs to a recommendation for an IEP. Beyond that, the school can recommend and connect you with resources and programs outside of the school system.

For example, at BMC-Troy, our office can provide individual therapy, group therapy, EMDR, PIT, and a variety of other care options for both adults and children. We also offer family therapy sessions to help both students and parents learn to handle what life sends your way.

You don’t need to go through your child’s school to work with us. To schedule an appointment, go to bmctroy.com to complete the electronic form for a new patient. We will call you back in 1-2 business days. If you have any questions, call us at 248.528.9000. Your child deserves the best, so they can be equipped for success, and we can help provide that for them. Don’t hesitate to seek the care you both deserve.