BOISE, Idaho — Central District Health (CDH) and BPA Health have partnered to offer free mental health access for students and families over the summer.
The Boise, Kuna, and West Ada school districts can partake in the Student and Family Assistance Program. 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. Rebecca Sprague who works with CDH says the goal is to bring light mental health needs and get access to more people.
“Recognizing your mental health is a part of your health in general. You certainly wouldn’t tell someone who had diabetes that they shouldn’t take medication or go see a service provider,” said Sprague.
In five months of launching the program from January 1 to May 18, over 200 students and family members accessed the resources.
"I think it's important that we recognize that there are other conditions that maybe you can't see on a test that need to be treated," said Sprague.
For more information on the program, click here.
