Keokuk Community School District has received the Wellmark Foundation’s three-year School-Centered Behavioral Health Grant to bring new in-person mental and behavioral health services to students.
“Schools play a vital role in our communities and school-centered mental and behavioral health services can be a game changer for youth, families and schools,” Laura Jackson, executive vice president of health improvement at Wellmark and chair of The Wellmark Foundation, said. “Iowa youth face significant mental, behavioral and physical health challenges, which can be amplified in rural Iowa towns due to the lack of ready access to quality care.”
The grant will fund a licensed mental/behavioral health professional to be contracted with the school that is authorized to provide individualized in-person therapy and treatment to students in the district. Working families in rural Iowa often face challenges such as taking time off work and school and traveling long distances to access mental and behavioral health care. All but four of Iowa’s rural counties are designated as mental health professional shortage areas, according to the foundation. Now, KCSD will be able to provide students with mental and behavioral health therapy services, similar to how they can visit the school nurse for physical health needs through the grant.
“By working together to close these gaps and address behavioral health challenges early, we can help students develop social and emotional skills that are important to living a long, healthy life,” Jackson added. The Wellmark Foundation’s School-Centered Behavioral Health Grant is available for eligible rural Iowa schools that want to establish lasting mental and behavioral health services for Iowa youth, according to the foundation.
For more information, go to Wellmark.com/SchoolBehavioralHealthGrant.
About Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield: Wellmark, Inc., is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. As a mutual insurance company, we’re owned by our policy holders across Iowa and South Dakota. More than two million people in Iowa and South Dakota are covered by a Wellmark health plan. We work hard every day to make health care better as a trusted, innovative and inclusive leader committed to improving the health of the people and communities we serve. Learn more at Wellmark.com.
About The Wellmark Foundation: The Wellmark Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created by Wellmark, Inc., to help Iowans and South Dakotans lead healthier and more meaningful lives. The Wellmark Foundation is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
