Durham Public Schools, Alliance Health form partnership to support students' mental health
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Durham Public Schools announced a new partnership with Alliance Health to help support the mental health of students and their families.
The announcement was made on World Mental Health Day at W.G. Pearson Elementary School. Leaders from DPS and Alliance Health showed up to support this new partnership.
Durham Schools Superintendent Dr Anthony Lewis shared his hope for this new partnership. "Expanding access to mental health, we are creating even stronger pathways for our students to thrive in school. We are creating the pathways for them to thrive in their community and in their future opportunities," said Lewis.
The new partnership is called PULSE, prioritizing and uplifting learners through social-emotional empowerment. It's a comprehensive mental health framework that is rooted in partnership and accessibility.
The program was designed to reduce the barriers students face in obtaining mental health services.
"We're deepening our commitment to centering student well-being as the foundation for academic growth and lifelong success," continued Lewis.
"It is very difficult to focus on mastering two-digit multiplication. It is very difficult to focus on identifying the parts of a sentence when your mental health is not healthy. And so that's what we need to focus on first before we can even begin to think about meeting our academic goals," Lewis said.
The Alliance Health School-based Team will work to identify and connect qualifying DPS students to behavioral health services, treatment for substance use disorders, and services and support for intellectual and developmental disabilities.
"There will be a team ready to make sure we connect students and families and address all the crisis situations but also all the ways we keep kids and families on track to learn to grow and to feel their best and do their best," explained Ann Oshel, Senior Vice President of Community Health and Well-Being at Alliance Health.
The crisis portion of the school-based wrap-around mental health program will start district-wide immediately.
The Alliance Durham School-Based Team will start in the southwest region of the district first and then expand district-wide by spring 2026.
The program is funded through a $1.5 million grant from Durham County.
