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, it can actually just overwhelm their ability to cope and you need specialized treatment for that,” Davis said.
Trauma doesn’t just come from personal experiences.
Maya Hochberger-Vigsittaboot, one of the Trauma Therapists for FCPS said trauma can come from things like racism, poverty, school violence, and other issues seen throughout the nation and around the world.
According to the a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29% of high school students across the nation admitted to having poor mental health.
The same CDC report states that students who experience trauma are more likely to have depression, commit suicide, and deal with substance abuse.
More than 40% of high school students say they experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, which is 14% higher than when the CDC first started collecting data in 2011.
The COVID-19 pandemic also may have had a negative effect on childhood trauma and mental health.
The Frederick County Community Health Needs Assessment of 2022 states, “Many people postponed preventive healthcare visits as well as urgent visits, both out of caution and for lack of availability, and that may have far-reaching consequences on the chronic health issues for members of our community.”
Directly following the closure of schools in March 2020, referrals to the Childhood Advocacy Center dropped 50%.
The CAC’s Coronavirus Update video in April of 2020, said there is evidence that shows crises and financial instability leads to an increase in child abuse and neglect and that due to COVID-19, children have lost a lifeline to trusted adults who can report concerns and support students.
Davis said many students didn’t have access to or couldn’t afford specialized treatment on their own. As of 2020, 7.2% of the youth population in Frederick County was living in poverty.
To see a trauma therapist through FCPS, there is no cost.
According to Davis, FCPS’s goal was to hire two more therapists for the 2023-2024 school year, however, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 only allocates funds for two trauma therapists, totaling around $187,000.
The two trauma therapists meet with students from all 68 public schools in the county. To not overwork the therapist, there are limits on how many students can be seen each day.
The hiring of more trauma therapists would allow for each of them to see more students more often.
FCPS uses a program called Greenspace to record information/data of students seeing a trauma therapist. The two trauma therapists have logged a total of 65 students, but only one of which who has completed a Therapeutic Alliance assessment. According to Davis, Therapeutic Alliance is the primary predictor of improvement with treatment.
Davis said that the current Therapeutic Alliance score is an 81%, which is good, however, the sample size is very small and Davis is looking to gather more data over the summer.
Greenspace was also used this year to track progress for students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Out of 220 students, 13% completed assessments. The Therapeutic Alliance Score for these students is a 76% and there was a 53% improved functioning for these students in 5 months.
Hochberger-Vigsittaboot said that things like domestic violence and substance abuse have been around forever but Frederick County families are just now becoming more open to mental health intervention.
Trauma-informed therapy is not new; however, it has become a new counseling method in The Frederick County Public School system.
Heather Quill, Lincoln Elementary School Counselor, brought about the idea for trauma-informed training.
Quill began this new type of counseling program in 2016. She first taught adults and then children.
“The change in our building has been amazing,” Quill said.
One practice that Quill utilizes is the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score of students. The ACE test calculates the amount of trauma in a student’s childhood based on 10 different potential experiences.
Quill said a child’s ACE score can be used to predict longitudinal affects in their mental, emotional and physical health. A higher score indicates a higher risk for health problems later in life.
For example, if a student scores a 4 on the test they have 50% higher chance of becoming a smoker. If a child scores a 6, there is over a 50% higher chance of developing diabetes.
Another tool that Quill and the educators at Lincoln Elementary School have implemented is the emotional temperature.
The emotional temperature is meant to help gauge how students are feeling mentally and emotionally when they come into school.
According to Quill, students will hold up a number of fingers on their hand from one to five. A one means that the student is “on top of the world”. A five means that the student is “about to flip their lid.”
If a student holds up a five, Quill said everyone around will turn their backs to the student and extend a hand. The student may then grab a hand a be escorted to a private and safe place.
Quill was named the 2023 School Counselor of the Year by the Maryland School Counselor Association.
From elementary school to high school, FCPS is integrating trauma therapy to best support its students and staff.