CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Department of Education is leading the way in bringing more mental health assistance to students and their families.

The WVDE announced the launch of its new resource, ParentGuidence.org as part of National Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a 24/7 online platform that assists families, educators, and caregivers with mental health wellness and self-care.

WVDE Federal Programs and Support Assistant Superintendent Melanie Purkey said West Virginia is the first to offer the tool statewide which is designed to enhance school communities and human connections.

She said one aspect when looking at students’ mental health the department noticed was the vital role parents, families, and caregivers play in helping support their childs’ mental health. Purkey said this resource will give caregivers the tools they need to fully help their children.

“As much as we try to do for students at school, they are at home two-thirds of the day, and so we wanted to provide a resource for their caregivers that would help them in being able to help students in mental health issues,” Purkey said.

The online resource was provided to WVDE through a three-year contract with the national nonprofit The Cook Center for Human Connection.

Purkey said a grant through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) called an Aware grant also helped get the resource off the ground in the state when it was being utilized by six counties. She said after it was found to be successful in those counties, they decided to take the platform statewide.

ParentGuidence.org will provide free access to a variety of tools including:

. Regular one-on-one parent coaching with cognitive behavioral health coaches

. On-demand parenting sessions taught by licensed therapists

. “Ask a Therapist,” a frequently updated question-and-answer forum

Over 6,000 schools use the platform across the country, offering more than 3.3 million families in 46 states access to the services.

Purkey said it will be a tool educators in the counties can use as well.

“We see this as a tool that we can use to help not only parents and family members but also teachers,” she said.

In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national emergency regarding the shape of children’s’ mental health in the country. 

They noted that child and adolescent healthcare providers are quote, “caring for young people with soaring rates of depression, anxiety, trauma, loneliness, and suicidality that will have lasting impacts on them, their families, and their communities.”

Purkey said West Virginia is certainly not immune to these mental health issues within young people.

She said while the WVDE has been working with school-based mental health for years, they had never seen quite a negative impact a universal circumstance had on students until the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Following the lockdowns that were enforced for two years amid the pandemic, Purkey said students had much more anxiety when they returned to in-person learning, and she said these mental health issues have opened up the door to other problems as well.

“We get a lot of issues with attendance, and parents will say, ‘well, my student says they have anxiety about coming to school and I don’t know how to deal with my student and make them get up and come to school,” she said.

And like the rest of the country, Purkey said the state also faces a shortage of traditional mental health services.

“In West Virginia we have a shortage of mental health providers,” she said. “Many times if you try to get a child in to seek a counselor or to receive mental health services the wait can be months.”

According to the WVDE, over 700,000 people in the state live in communities that do not have enough mental health professionals.

The online resource is expected to reach the states’ underserved communities and will provide a direct line of mental health support, regardless of their financial means.

Purkey said she thinks the resource will be very well-received and impactful for parents and caregivers in addressing and assisting their children’s’ mental health.

“These coaches can help with any kind of situation, if you have issues with small children, teenagers, I think regardless of what kind of relationship you have with a child, as long as you’re some kind of caregiver or family member and you want to help that child, you can participate in the coaching process,” said Purkey.

In addition, counties may customize professional development sessions with The Cook Center to meet individual needs, as well as access nationally recognized programs that feature help with bullying, isolation, and absenteeism at reduced costs.

You can learn more wvde.us or ParentGuidance.org.