PATH Provides Mental Health Services Directly To Students

Three non-profit organizations teamed up to create the program

With so many kids, and often only on counselor in a school, scheduling an appointment can be tough.

And schools are noticing.

One local school counselor says more and more kids are needing her help.

That’s why three non-profit organizations, with help of a Sioux Empire United Way grant, are bringing a counselor to kids at Harrisburg Public Schools.

“We see lots of things with anxiety, a lot of family changes and dynamics at home can come into play, kids that struggle with focus and things like that,” says Harrisburg Freedom Elementary Counselor Andrea Junker.

She says her kids are battling mental health issues at school.

So much so that she’s having a hard time helping them all.

“I struggled to see those students and would go home and feel guilty to not be able to give the kids what they need here at school,” says Junker.

That’s where PATH comes in.

The program created through Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, Family Services Inc. and Volunteer of America Dakotas provides an additional counselor to visit the school and meet students struggling with mental health.

“They are doing the very same thing they would be doing in an office setting if the children came to them,” says LSS Vice President of community services Rebeca Kiesow-Knudsen. “Now they’re just doing it here in the schools. Then there’s the added benefit of collaborating with the school personnel because the schools know what’s going on with the kids, and can really help provide that information that will help their treatment be more affective.”

“A lot of kids enjoy seeing the counselor that we have here, and we’ve all seen huge benefits from it,” says Junker.

Those benefits are showing up in the classroom.

“We see [students] that are able to focus better, even having some new coping strategies that they’re using and attendance is improved as well because of that,” says Junker.

Harrisburg Freedom Elementary, South Middle School and Harrisburg High School are all using the PATH program.