Mental Health Awareness Month: It takes a village

Brody and his grandmother received help from Mental Health Navigators. COURTESY PHOTO

For many children, the transition from elementary to middle school can be difficult.

For a child like Brody, 12, who has struggled since pre-school and has been diagnosed with Autism, ADHD and ODD, changing schools was especially difficult after moving from Massachusetts with his grandmother and sole caregiver. Brody struggles with change and has had issues with aggression and inappropriate behaviors. Interventions to help him started when he was about 3 years old.

By September of his first year in middle school, he had already been suspended.

I met Brody and his grandmother after his behavior had become so hard to manage that the school and his grandmother had concerns about his safety and the safety of those around him.

Because she could no longer manage him, his grandmother and Brody rarely left their home or participated in activities they enjoyed. Family members stopped visiting. Isolated, with nowhere else to turn, and sick and needing triple bypass surgery, she felt she had no other choice but to look for placement for Brody in a group home.

Then, Brody was referred to the Mental Health Navigator program. Administered and supervised by Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Kids’ Minds Matter Mental Health Navigator program was established to provide guidance and resources for families and children facing mental and behavioral health challenges.

This specialized program is specifically for the most challenged children struggling in multiple areas — behavior, attendance and grades — or some combination of these. They have not responded to typical school-based interventions for resolving these issues. The goal is to improve the educational outcomes and the functioning of these children and families.

Under the care of the program, the first task was to collaborate with the behavioral team at his school to update his education plan to meet Brody’s needs better.

He was set up at school and at home with a registered behavior technician, who provides one-on-one interventions to help Brody with communication, social and living skills to help reduce problematic behaviors. He was evaluated and found to be on the autism spectrum, which opened additional avenues for support. A new psychiatrist changed his medication.

As Brody’s behavior stabilized, he began attending Kids’ Minds Matter youth groups twice a month and was referred to the Police Athletic League boxing program. His grandmother said she’s no longer looking for a group home for him because they are managing. Brody is now getting A’s in his classes and has begun transitioning to mainstream classes from some of his special education classes.

With the support systems in place, “it’s almost like a light went off,” his grandmother said. “He still has issues, but he’s altogether different. He has received a great deal of attention, and everyone is really supportive.”

But Brody wasn’t the only one the Mental Health Navigator program has helped. His grandmother was given tasks to help with his plan. The goal of our program is to help families become self-sufficient to be able to advocate for and receive support for themselves and their children.

His grandmother says all the people who have helped Brody find success have also helped her. “I feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “He’s always going to need support, but I don’t feel as hopeless as I once was. I feel better knowing he may have a better chance to live a happy, productive life.”

About the Author

Shelby Foit is one of nine Mental Health Navigators in Lee and Collier County schools who helped 137 families in 2023, part of pilot program funded by philanthropy through Kids’ Minds Matter. Ideally, with financial support, every school will have a navigator. To learn more, see kidsmindsmatter.com . ¦

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