Blackstone Valley Tech, Riverside Healthcare Expand Mental Health Resources

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

GoLocalWorcester News Team

Blackstone Valley Tech, Riverside Healthcare expand mental health resources

Blackstone Valley Tech (BVT) and Riverside Community Care are continuing to partner to expanding mental health resources for kids.

Through the partnerships, BVT students are able to access Riverside therapists during school hours every day.

“We are fortunate to have Riverside’s mental health counselors as part of our school community. We’ve seen the number of students dealing with anxiety and depression increase over the years, so it’s important to us to have our Riverside counselors available to help students cope and keep them safe,” said Yvette Whitesell, Director of Student Support Services at BVT.

Expanding Services

As part of their efforts to expand services to not only their patients but all patients in the community, Riverside and BVT partnered to host a Regional Forum that brought together doctors, counselors, psychologists, public policymakers, educators, and police officers to brainstorm additional solutions, discuss concerns, and share strategies.

Among the resources shared are BVT-developed mental health initiatives, including a variety of mindfulness tools and social and emotional learning curriculum and more.

BVT students have access to and participate in these programs during their school day in addition to participating in the Break Free from Depression curriculum and screening. These services are aimed at teaching students healthy coping mechanisms and destigmatizing the need for mental health services.

At the conclusion of the regional forum, participants agreed to meet again in the spring to share resources with each other and discuss additional solutions.