BOISE, Idaho — Central District Health and BPA Health are partnering to help students and families get access to mental health resources.
The Student and Family Assistance Program (SFAP) includes free counseling sessions for families within the Kuna, West Ada, and Boise school districts. The plan is to make resources available over the summer, a time when it can be harder to pursue mental health support.
“This program has expanded existing youth mental and behavioral health services by including all family members and adding new avenues that didn’t exist before,” said Russell Duke, CDH director. “We are happy to see students and families utilizing this resource.”
The program provides short-term, solutions-focused resources to help with academic pressures; drug and alcohol issues; emotional health such as depression, anxiety or grief; relationship skills; behavior concerns; stress; parenting; anger management; adjusting to change; and other personal problems. The program includes five separate sessions per mental or behavioral issue.
RELATED: CDH and BPA Health offer free summer mental health access
"Recognizing that your mental health is just a part of your health in general. You certainly wouldn't tell someone who had diabetes that they shouldn't take medication or go and see a service provider," said Rebecca Sprague, policy and promotions program manager for Central District Health.
Child therapy can be challenging to access for a number of reasons and this opportunity for thousands to use free therapy is a benefit that one therapist sees as a plus.
"We all have needs, right? And sometimes the people that have the most needs have the fewest resources, so we just want everybody to be able to have access and availability to good resources, good care," said Patricia Johnson, a local marriage and family therapist.
