BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
Central District Health reminded students and their families Monday that free mental health resources will be going away after Dec. 31, 2024.
The two-year pilot program has offered free counseling session for students, siblings, parents and guardians in the participating districts. Students and families in Ada County school districts — Boise, Kuna, and West Ada — will still be able to schedule mental health counseling sessions through March 31, 2025.
“This is a confidential and free-to-families resource to help students and families get the mental well-being support they need in order to be successful in school and life,” Dana Menlove, BPA Health chief operating officer, said.
The program, named the Student & Family Assistance Program (SFAP), has been providing mental health services through a partnership with Central District Health, BPA Health and the participating school districts. Nearly 1,000 counseling sessions had been held in the last two years, a Central District Health press release said.
“Thanks to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, we were able to offer this pilot program in the three public school districts in Ada County to address the needs of many families in the area to find free mental health support,” Connor Young, CDH health police analyst, said in the release.
The funds received through this legislation were meant to address the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and originally planned to conclude in 2024. Though applications for alternative funding sources were made, additional funds could not be secured to allow the program to extend beyond the end of 2024, Young said.
According to the Idaho-based BPA Health website, at least one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a metal illness, almost 50% of U.S. youth live with a mental illness and 69,000 Idahoans had suicidal thoughts in the last year.
Through the Ada County school districts will lose the program come 2025, BPA health will still be offering the SFAP program to students and families in the “Twin Falls, Kimberly, Wendell and Nez Perce School Districts.” For Boise students and their families, CDH will continue to offer “affordable counseling services” at its Boise clinic and through telehealth, the release said.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
