With students at Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) making a return to class sessions this past week, the stressors of academic and social life came back with it, throwing a host of New Years triggers at youth who were recently in a comfortable holiday break environment.
To combat the seasonal depression and year-round anxieties of school life, the district’s mental health resources were bolstered right before the winter break via a telehealth partnership with Hazel Health. One of the nation’s top K-12 telehealth providers, Hazel provides student therapy services to district sites with no cost to parents or guardians, giving students the chance to access virtual therapy sessions either during school hours or at home.
The Hazel partnership was offered by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) after the district participated in a LACOE needs assessment, and while telehealth was not the district’s top need, SMMUSD Mental Health Coordinator Shuli Lotan notes that it is a complementary option they took on as an extra resource. Outside of Hazel, the district has partnerships with local private nonprofit therapy agencies such as Family Service Of Santa Monica, Providence Saint John’s Health Center and Social & Emotional Wellness Initiative.
"We wanted to make it very clear to all of our providers that this is not to replace the wonderful services that they provide in person, [this is] a backup option, because at a lot of our schools, we are full, [and] there’s a lot of mental health needs … we are thinking this might be a really good backup option for kids who really need something but just can’t find it outside of school," Lotan said.
After referral and consent from a parent, Hazel matches students with a therapist and schedules an appointment, which can be done on school grounds in a confidential setting or at home on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Students are able to work out a weekly time to miss class with teachers in order to have a therapy session, much like the district’s in-person services.
Each SMMUSD site receives an iPad device for the virtual sessions, and training on the Hazel sessions is given for "referrers" (such as secondary school counselors, school nurses and administration) as well as the "initiator," the person that helps the student enter a session. As of early January, at least two SMMUSD sites have already connected students to Hazel services. The "initiator" can also connect with a therapist if a student says something "concerning" during a session, such as talk of self-harm, and there are protocols in place about who can be contacted in such a reporting situation.
A "pro" of the partnership, Lotan said, was the fact that all Hazel mental health providers are licensed professionals in their field, which she says is a "rare thing" to find. She notes that sessions will likely be most effective for older elementary through high school students, as the "little ones" in the district are better suited for in-person "play therapy" sessions. In a flier shared on the district website, Hazel states that therapists aid students in situations and emotions like anxiety, depression, grief and loss, self-esteem, academic stress and bullying.
One drawback is that the Hazel partnership with students is shorter-term, typically running between six and eight sessions before a discharge from the therapy program. Lotan thinks that this "can work really well for some students who just need some coping skills," but that those with "deeper trauma" may need something longer-term.
Another mental health resource on the horizon will be more tangible than a virtual visit, as the LACOE needs assessment led to the agency offering funding for wellness spaces at school sites. A wellness space is a dedicated room where individual or group therapy can take place, and can also serve as a space where students (or staff) can go for a moment of decompression. Each school site has a different definition for what their wellness space should be, and most sites in Santa Monica have submitted proposals and budgets on either creation of, or improvement upon existing, spaces. Proposal assessment is underway by district officials, with Lotan stating that potential approval on the projects will be heard by March.
"Each of our campuses is going to have a dedicated wellness room, which is really nice," Lotan said. "I think that in terms of just the physical environment of a school or a therapy at school specifically, it can really make a difference to have a nice space … to have funding to really improve those spaces."
