On the heels of another board meeting that included students and parents asking for more mental health assistance, the Chandler Unified School District announced a programming informational …
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On the heels of another board meeting that included students and parents asking for more mental health assistance, the Chandler Unified School District announced a programming informational session.
A resource for mental health, new to the district, is the Hope Institute of Chandler Unified School District. The Hope Institute, based in Ohio, focuses on treating individuals, including our youth, who may have suicidal thoughts or ideation, according to a news release sent out late last week.
The district will host a community informational session on The Hope Institute on Tuesday, April 18, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., in the Arizona College Prep High School cafeteria, 4477 S. Gilbert Road, Chandler, between Ocotillo and Chandler Heights roads.
"This is your opportunity to learn about the services that will be offered," the district said in the news release. "The district is committed to addressing this very important issue."
Brenda Vargas, CUSD's director of counseling and social services, said, in the release, the district has been working diligently with community partners to keep students safe.
“Our partnership with the Hope Institute will be the first of its kind," Vargas said. "This school-based mental health provider will offer intensive resources and support. Any CUSD student in need of these services will be able to receive help within 48 hours and up to 4-5 times a week. All Hope Institute of CUSD clinicians will have suicide-specific treatment training that reduces thoughts of suicide within 5.2 weeks.”
Details are still being finalized with the goal of opening the Arizona location before next school year. The HOPE institute of CUSD is expected to open its doors at the start of the 2023-24 school year in August and will be located at the Perry High School site, 1919 E. Queen Creek Road, Gilbert.
District staff announced, at a February work session that after the Perry High School site is up and running, a second location at a more centrally located campus location will follow.
The district said another new CUSD program, still under development, is called Teen Mental Health First Aid. It’s a peer support- based program that teaches students how to support each other in times of need.
A third resource being made available on district campuses is the Arizona State University Toolkit, which is also a peer-to-peer help training program for students.
Both Teen Mental Health First Aid and the Toolkit are programs are designed to teach students how to listen to one another and how to get an adult involved, the news release states.
“Our students are the future and in CUSD we are dedicated to supporting all areas that empower students to learn including mental and emotional health,” CUSD Superintendent Frank Narducci said in the release. “We are excited to add these new resources to our already robust list of offerings and tools available to students, families, and staff.”
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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