Loudoun County Public Schools is helping parents take a more active role in helping their children with everything from anxiety to bullying to thoughts of suicide.
The school district is paying $433,000 for 18 months of services from ParentGuidance.org, which offers a wide range of tools to help families navigate mental health challenges facing children.
LCPS Student Mental Health Services Director Jennifer Evans learned about ParentGuidance.org about a year ago and realized LCPS parents would benefit. She said it bridges the gap between school-based services and formal therapy intervention that many kids might not need.
“This is the in between to help parents navigate some difficult topics with their kids, gain some resources to know what is normal, what is something that I need to seek professional help for," Evans said.
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“We’ve created a set of resources … some of them are do-it-yourself, some of them are group and some of them are individual,” said Anne Brown, president and CEO of Cook Center for Human Connection, the nonprofit that created the website.
An “ask a therapist” section has common questions asked and answered. There are on-demand seminars with therapists covering topics like anxiety, depression, bullying, grief and loss, parent support, and suicide prevention. “My Life is Worth Living” is an animated series focused on suicide prevention designed for parents and kids to watch together.
Parents also can request virtual one-on-one coaching sessions.
Changing Minds
It can affect anyone at any time. It doesn’t discriminate by age, race, gender or income. Yet many of us find that mental health and mental illness are tough topics to talk about. That’s why NBC4 is shining a light on the subject by providing education, information and hope.
“The coaches are kind of that liaison between a therapist, which can help them navigate those challenging conversation and help them know whether they need to seek professional help,” Evans said.
Next schoolyear, a live interactive mental health series will be offered, addressing topics of greatest concern to Loudoun County families.
The site’s only been accessible since late January, but 23,000 people have accessed it already, with more than 60 one-on-one sessions scheduled.
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