Elizabeth Atwood

Frederick County Public Schools supports students using Trauma Therapy

May 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By Braden Weinel Frederick County Public Schools is turning to a new form of counseling that draws on trauma research to best reach the mental health needs of students. FCPS hired two trauma therapists to work with students starting in the 2022-2023 school year. School staff members can refer a student to meet with a trauma therapist during the school day after getting permission from the student’s parent or guardian. Lynn Davis, coordinator of Mental Health Services for FCPS, said that a teacher or other staff member may be alerted of trauma that a student has faced or is facing from previous knowledge, in conjunction with difficulties in mood, attendance, academic decline and/or other behaviors. All schools in Frederick County have guidance counselors that deal with generalized counseling matters such as bullying and coping skills. Davis said the FCPS staff started to notice that generalized counseling wasn’t impacting students’ mental health in the way they had hoped. “When a child’s been exposed to multiple traumatic stressors,...

Frederick’s Park and Recreation Department, nonprofits use nature to aid mental health

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By Aden Sievert Frederick County Parks and Recreation Department uses nature and outdoor activities as prescriptions to help relieve stress, combat obesity, and improve overall well-being. In 2014, former Frederick County recreation manager and current chief of recreation services in Baltimore County, Amy Vagnoni, was at the forefront of the Docs in the Park initiative, this is an opportunity for doctors to prescribe nature for clients. Frederick County and Frederick City Parks and Recreation partnered with Frederick County Health Department to create “Docs in the Park”. The initiative began to combat some of Frederick's more complicated challenges such as nature deficit disorder, obesity and physical inactivity. Their mission was to create a healthier Frederick County. Docs in the Park works hand in hand with Park Rx America. Park Rx prescribes people nature to combat chronic disease. Based out of Washington D.C. it has around 350 parks mapped around Washington and nearly 300 in Frederick that are rated so people can visit their prescribed park....

Frederick Police Department’s Crisis Response Team Provides a Law Enforcement Alternative

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By Hannah Armstrong The Frederick City Police has created a three-person mobile mental health unit to help citizens facing mental health crises. The unit, called the crisis car, contains a co-responder crisis team intended to help deescalate situations where individuals may be facing mental health crises. The crisis car team launched in July of 2021 as a pilot program to respond to mental health emergencies, said Samantha Long, Frederick City Police’s public information officer. “Our chief of police at FPD, Chief Lando, decided we needed an approach to addressing mental health due to an increased amount of calls involving mental health and substance abuse,” Long said. The crisis car was created in partnership with Frederick’s Division of Fire and Rescue Services as well as Shepherd Pratt, which is a large nonprofit that specializes in mental health issues. The crisis car contains a crisis response team made up of three individuals: a Frederick police officer, a paramedic from Frederick Division of Fire and Rescue Services, and a...

Tragedies prompt expansion of the Critical Incident Stress Management team

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By: Rachel Kucharski The budget for the Critical Incident Stress Management team increases over the past two years due to the death of three firefighters. Over this time the firefighters have suffered a line-of-duty death, a firefighter suicide, and active fire death due to COVID. Because of these incidents, it was crucial that the budget needed to grow to renew the focus and funding. Thomas Coe said, “Fortunately with the support of Frederick County Government leaders these programs have become a priority and we are actively working to build on our existing programs to support the need in Fire/Rescue as well as support our other public safety allied agencies.” According to the National Interagency Fire Center, Critical Incident Stress Management is “the selection and implementation of the most appropriate crisis intervention tactics to best respond to the needs of the situation at hand.” The reason for the CISM team is to offer peer-based support to EMS, firefighters, law enforcement, dispatch centers, and other...

New Crisis Stabilization Center to Open This Summer

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By Elizabeth Connelly A walk-in, 24-hour crisis stabilization center is being built in Frederick County to connect individuals with mental health and substance use issues to the services they need The center's purpose is to connect individuals with mental health and substance use issues to services and also ease the burden on the county’s first responders and hospital by diverting these individuals away from the emergency room because statistically 20% of emergency room visits are mental or behavioral health related according to a county news release. The center will be operated by the Mental Health Association under the direction of the County Health Department. There will be licensed clinical and medical providers, peer support specialists and navigators, and masters and bachelors level mental health professionals. As a part of the federal omnibus bill Frederick County will receive $1.8 million to be put toward local projects in Frederick, Including $699,000 will be put toward Frederick County’s new center. “The Local Behavioral Health Authority (housed in...

FCPS Officials Praise Current System for Charter Schools in Response to the Trump Administration

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

Charter Schools By Kristina Hong In response to the Trump Administration, Frederick County public education officials show praise for their current system involving public charter schools. After much controversy following the 2017 election, President Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to his cabinet as secretary of education. For most, this decision was met with skepticism. “I was not excited about Betsy DeVos as secretary of education because of her lack of experience with public schools,” Brad Young, president of the Frederick County Board of Education said. “I felt there was a much better choice that could have been made.” “I’m concerned about secretary DeVos,” Liz Barnett, vice president of the Board of Education added. “During her confirmation hearings, for example, she did not demonstrate knowledge of special education and civil rights laws… She lacks a genuine understanding of public schools.” One of the education policies the Trump cabinet intends to push involves more private institutions and for-profit public charter schools. Hoping to open doors to better educational...

Frederick City Police Will Not Change

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI38g94ctXw&t=3s By: Brandon Green With President Trump enforcing stronger immigration policies, such as the travel ban and the proposal of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, the Frederick County Police have had no problem implementing stronger procedures. According to the Frederick County Sheriff’s office, the county police are a part of the 287(g) program, which allows trained deputized officers to detain illegal immigrants who committed crimes and give them to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Frederick County Police Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said they want to administer stricter immigration policies and he promotes establishing a stronger relationship with ICE. However, Frederick City Police Chief Edward Hargis believes there is a problem with terrorism and that enforcing stronger immigration policies would be helpful in keeping this country safe. But, the Frederick City Police have not enforced stricter immigration protocol. “From the city police perspective we are not going to block off neighborhoods, that’s not what we're about,” Hargis said. “We know we’re responsible to police a community and you...

Proposed federal budget cuts unlikely to harm renewable energy in Frederick

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBNBHptVBsE By: Tim Sylvia Amidst growing concerns that President Trump and his administration will undo and reverse the renewable energy progress made by previous administrations, it appears that the county’s move towards renewable energy will will remain unchanged. On March 16, the Trump administration released a proposed budget that would cut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and the Department of Energy by 6 percent. The President also signed an executive order on March 28, aimed at creating jobs by expanding energy extraction on public lands and reviewing and potentially removing the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. According to an EPA fact sheet, the Clean Power Plan aims to reduce the carbon emissions of American power plants by 32 percent of their 2005 level by 2030. The executive order has been promoted under the argument that it will bring American jobs back to the energy sector by reducing regulation on non-renewable energy, namely coal. Trump has stressed his belief on the...

Frederick ‘sanctuary city’ effort remains unclear

May 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

By: Kaylene Wright While advocates push to make Frederick a sanctuary city, city officials are unable to decide what actions the city should take around this issue. In February, Safe Haven Frederick, a group of citizens dedicated to making sure that the city is inclusive and safe for all, started a petition to make Frederick a sanctuary city. The petition got more than 500 signatures in its first week. Defining “Sanctuary City” “The idea of a sanctuary city is kind of an elusive thing,” said Frederick Alderman Phil Dacey. “I think it’s a largely political term and there’s no real set amount of policies that you can point to and say ‘these policies make this a sanctuary city.” Generally speaking, a sanctuary city is a city that limits its cooperation with federal authorities in order to protect undocumented immigrants in their jurisdiction. This definition, however, is vague and a lot of people have different definitions. Alderman Michael O’Connor spoke similarly when it came to defining the...

Trump’s Business and Immigration Approach

May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 by Elizabeth Atwood Comment Closed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQGej3MIHfw&feature=youtu.be By: Elmer Diaz As the nation underwent President Trump’s first 100 days in office, it has had an adequate amount of time to reflect, react, and express on his administration. Agencies, organizations, and businesses all over the country have been affected by his policies, proposals, and executive orders. In the city of Frederick, Maryland, these effects have been made clear in a wide range of mixed emotions and expression. Trumps policy on immigration, his proposal of foreign visa restrictions, and his executive order of budget cuts have been the forefront of issues pertaining to school systems and economic development in Frederick. “We have a large student population of international students in our graduate programs,” Hood College President, Andrea Chapdelaine said. “We have seen a drop in the number of applications for next fall.” Trump is proposing restrictions in attaining international visas and this looks to directly affect colleges from recruiting international students and businesses from recruiting international employees. This drop is not only confined...