Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health Supports Youth Behavioral Health with Awards to 9 Idaho School

Nine schools across Idaho, including Glenns Ferry K12,will be able to better support students with behavioral health needs thanks to awards given by the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health. The Technical Assistance Awards will enable the schools to implement the Healthy Minds Partnership, a collaborative effort between schools and behavioral health providers. The premise of the partnership is simple —clinical behavioral healthcare providers are located within schools so students can conveniently access necessary care, thus limiting school absences, making things easier on parents who don’t have to scramble to get kids to appointments, and reducing transportation barriers.“Glenns Ferry K12 is enthusiastic to receive the Healthy Minds Partnership Technical Assistance Award and begin working toward emphasizing behavioral health in our building,” said Rob Spriggs, a principal at the school. “Over the past few years, our building has been working to move toward being more trauma sensitive and providing our students with the resources they need to be successful in and outside the classroom. We believe this partnership will help us better meet the needs of our unique student population.”

The Foundation has provided the technical assistance awards each of the past two years, helping four schools in Eastern Idaho and several schools in Nampa. Some of the students who received behavioral health services at the schools showed an improvement in GPA and attendance, prompting the school districts to offer the Healthy Minds Partnership in additional schools.“We see youth behavioral health as one of Idaho’s most-pressing health needs,” said Kendra Witt-Doyle, Executive Director of the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health. “The Healthy Minds Partnership ensures that Idaho children receive the services they need so they can focus on learning.”Emily Wright, a school counselor at Glenns Ferry K12, said the Healthy Minds Partnership will continue some of the work the school already has done around behavioral health.“In our elementary school, we have implemented a caring classroom community, which is where teachers have morning meetings with students to build relationships and teach them resiliency and develop positive coping skills,” Wright says. “In high school, we have our PILOT Committee designed to build relationships between staff and students. We are doing mood-check Mondays in all high school classrooms to follow up with students, and we have a PILOT Day where students and staff work collaboratively on tasks that better our building and the learning environment for our students.