Catholic Charities, schools offer counseling for students

By Melissa Williams Brown
Contributing Writer

GREENSBURG — Through a collaboration with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Greensburg, the  12 Catholic schools of the Diocese can now provide on-site mental health counselors for students rather than having them referred for outpatient therapy.

Dr. Nancy Rottler, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, says the partnership is a away to remove barriers and challenges students may face in the classroom and at home. “I see this as an effort to support academic success and student development by providing an additional trusted adult to help students build their confidence, develop conflict resolution skills and strengthen their emotional resiliency,” Dr. Rottler said.

“Our mission is to get children into school, provide them with the programs and services they need to develop healthy and happy lives, and assist families in building and maintaining a safe home environment,” said Melaney Hegyes, Managing Director of Catholic Charities.

“A school counselor can offer immediate relief to distressed students when they are struggling at school,” she said. “On-site services eliminate the barriers of transportation and the stigma often associated with utilizing mental health services.”

Robert Baum, Director of Counseling Services for Catholic Charities, notes that an estimated 30% of school-aged children will experience a behavioral, mental or developmental issue in any given year. Nationally, one in 10 young people who are covered under private insurance do not have coverage for mental or emotional difficulties. More than one in 10 young people in the U.S. experience depression that severely impairs their ability to function at school, work or home, or in their social lives.

“The counselor’s focus is to assist all students in acquiring skills they need to be successful, such as social skills and interpersonal skills. This enhanced support will assist the student’s efforts toward mastery of these skills and growth in self-sufficiency as they mature to graduation,” Baum said.

In establishing the Catholic Charities School Based Counseling Program, Catholic Charities and school leaders consulted and collaborated with other Catholic Charities organizations that had established school counseling programs.

“The program implements a curriculum or curriculums based on age of the student to further develop their behavioral and social skills and address emotional and socially unresponsiveness or disconnect, bullying, disrespect and oppositional behaviors, and absenteeism,” Hegyes said.

Baum said staff members look forward to working to improve and uplift the program.

“Their hope is after the first year is completed, they can show the program’s positive effects on students attending Diocesan schools, such as attendance retention, positive experiences, improved academics and the trickledown benefit for diocesan principals, teachers and improved coordination with parents at home,” he said.

This would open up opportunities to expand the time counselors have at schools, allowing more time for group work, skill building, trainings or parental support, he said.

“This would allow parents to have the convenient option for students and family support without leaving Diocesan support,” Baum said. “The feedback from staff, students and families has been extremely positive and aided greatly to the program coming to fruition.”