Behavorial Health Initiative Action Team
Action Team Goal
The Enhance the Availability of Navigation and Community Health Worker Support Action Team is working to promote the accessibility of behavioral health services by placing community health workers in local schools to connect families with the needed resources and supports.
Targeted Problem
Many families in our region are unable to get their basic needs met and face numerous challenges accessing physical and behavioral health care and other services and supports. Students are challenged to productively engage in school when faced with these unmet needs. School personnel work hard to meet the student needs, but are often unable to provide the follow-up and other supports needed to connect students and their families to local resources.
Our Collective Work
To address this problem, the Enhance the Availability of Navigation and Community Health Worker Support Action Team has partnered with Community Connections to pilot a CHW in Schools project by placing community health workers in four school districts around the region. See below for more details about the team’s work.
Placing Community Health Workers in Schools
Community Connections placed community health workers in four partner districts: Traverse Heights (sponsored by a Blue Cross/Blue Shields Foundation Grant), Mesick Consolidated Schools, Manton Consolidated Schools (started in 2024), and Central Lake Schools. (ended spring 2023). In the first two school years, 111 families were referred for services, 59 of these families accepted community health worker support and 140 needs were identified. Behavioral health was the largest need identified to date. School personnel in participating schools report that CHWs have provided a much needed service to their students & families, providing the follow-up and resource connections they often do not have time to provide. School personnel also report that with CHWs in their schools, they have more time to offer other counseling and social worker services.
Action Team Members
Since September 2022, four school districts in the Northwest MI region have been engaged in the work of this Action Team. Community health workers from Community Connections have been involved with these schools and their families.
Leader
- Jenifer Murray – NMCHIR Community Connections
Schools
- Central Lake Elementary School
- Manton Consolidated Schools
- Mesick Consolidated Schools
- Traverse Heights Elementary School
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO SUPPORT OUR WORK?
- Advocate for your local school district to start a program to bring community health workers into their schools!
- Refer families to Community Connections.
