The U.S. Department of Justice awarded Educational Service District 112 a $1 million grant to bolster mental health and case coordination programs in Clark County’s nine public school districts. The money is expected to fund three therapist positions that will work with students involved in the juvenile justice system or those identified by respective districts as “high-risk.” Each therapist is expected to serve between 30 and 35 students per year.
A spokesperson for ESD 112 said Wednesday the funding is critical to remove barriers to behavioral health treatment among the region’s most at-risk children. A 2014 study from The State of Mental Health in America found between 65 and 70 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system met the criteria for a mental health disorder, a rate three times higher than that of the general youth population.
The grant was one piece of over $11 million in funding awarded to various institutions in Washington to “combat community violence, especially youth violence.”
