School-based preventative mental health services will shift to Wallace Middle School under an amendment to an agreement with the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. The decision was taken during the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ meeting held on November 28.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors, in their meeting on November 28, approved a move that would relocate behavioral health services from Wallace Elementary to Wallace Middle School in Lake Isabella. The change was officially documented in the meeting’s minutes.

The amended agreement targets students from kindergarten through eighth grade residing in high-need communities. It aims to offer preventative school-based services for youngsters who are at risk of developing mental illness. The original agreement between the Kern County Superintendent of Schools and Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services allowed these organizations to provide these services.

Behavioral health interventions, mentoring programs, outreach efforts, and educational resources comprise the program being implemented under this agreement. Among those selected for inclusion in this program are K-8 students who have faced trauma, students whose attendance records or grades are poor, as well as those who have previously engaged with juvenile justice or Child Welfare Services.

To further enhance its impact, the program also involves educating school staff, parents, and community members at large. The goal is for them to be able to identify signs of mental illness while simultaneously boosting their ability to intervene when necessary. The training may encompass various areas such as parental engagement strategies, mental health first aid techniques, suicide prevention awareness initiatives and trauma-informed care training methods.