GHENT – Western Mental Health Center in Marshall is receiving a state grant of nearly $520,000 to help with services it provides to residents of Lincoln, Lyon, Murray, Redwood, and Yellow Medicine counties.
In all, the Minnesota Department of Human Services indicates it has awarded 57 mental health providers a total of $33 million – $11 million per year for three years – to bring mental health services to over half of Minnesota schools. Grantees offer mental health services in schools, including assessment, treatment and care coordination, teacher consultation and school-wide trainings.
“In recent years, the Minnesota House has made important strides in supporting mental health services in our state,” said Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent. “A major component of that is to make sure we are reaching school-age children in need to give them their best chance to succeed in the classroom and beyond. I will continue working to improve our delivery of student mental health services so we can do our best to address issues early and improve outcomes.”
Since 2015, House Republicans have more than doubled the funding for school-linked mental health grants from $5 million to $11 million annually. An additional $5 million annually the House approved as part of a comprehensive schools safety package was vetoed by the governor earlier this year.
You can see the full list of recipients for the school-linked mental health grants at www.mn.gov/dhs/media/news.
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