$3.7M grant to help UC improve mental health in local schools

A $3.75 million federal grant will help the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools and other education partners tackle the growing mental health needs of K-12 students in the region.

The new MEASURES program – short for Cincinnati Mental Health, Education and Successful Urban Relationship Expansion in the Schools – aims to increase the behavioral health workforce and create supportive environments that are inclusive of students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds.

The partnership also involves Central State University, a historically Black university located in Wilberforce, Ohio, near Dayton.

“The need for mental health services in our schools is at an all-time high, and we must ensure we have a workforce capable of meeting the unique challenges facing students today,” said the grant’s co-author Amanda La Guardia, an associate professor in UC’s School of Human Services. 

Ensuring local mental health care MEASURES up

The MEASURES program, funded by a five-year Department of Education grant, seeks to address critical gaps in mental health and education by providing tuition stipends to UC graduate students majoring in school and mental health counseling, school psychology and social work. 

The program will focus on four key goals:

1. Recruitment and support: The program will identify, recruit, select and financially support 45 students (nine per year) from diverse backgrounds to enter the MEASURES program. These students will specialize in school counseling, school-based mental health counseling, school psychology and school social work to address a shortage of school-based mental health providers.
2. Career education: The program will provide local education agencies with career education in mental health, focusing on high-need K-12 secondary populations, to encourage students to pursue careers in behavioral health.
3. Inclusive practices: The program will prepare mental health providers to use evidence-based methods, creating culturally and linguistically responsive, identity-safe environments for students through inclusive practices.
4. Strengthening partnerships: The program will foster stronger collaboration among partners to develop a diverse mental health workforce that reflects the needs of students in urban schools.

Through the partnership with CSU, UC aims to create a pipeline for CSU students to diversify the school-based behavioral health workforce.

Training students in these fields is crucial, according to program administrators, to support students in high-need schools, particularly in diverse CPS communities where the demand for mental health services is growing, according to Dana Harley, co-author and UC professor of social work. 

“This is a strategic approach to preparing future professionals who will be equipped to create culturally inclusive, identity-safe environments in our schools, fostering the mental well-being of all students,” Harley said.