ETHS launches mental health support program
Evanston Township High School is rolling out a pilot program with a mental health support service called Referral GPS to ensure mental health resources are available to all ETHS students, regardless of their family's economic and health insurance status.
The program is set to launch Monday, says Referral GPS founder Amit Thaker, who presented the program to the ETHS board of education this week.
Thaker said his company works with every school district in Lake County and has partnerships with over 90 mental health organizations across the metro area with thousands of treatment providers.
The company will work with ETHS counselors and social workers to help refer students and parents to mental health resources.
School social workers will have access to a database to help connect parents and Referral GPS will help families make appointments, get discounts if needed and follow up with families to make sure needs are met, Thaker said.
"What we're trying to do is meet the parents where they're at," Thaker said.
ETHS Board Member Leah Piekarz said as a former school counselor, she believes "School counselors have the absolute will to do this, they just don't have the time."
"In communities like your guys', we're resource rich, we're just coordination poor," Thaker said, comparing Evanston to Naperville, another school district Thaker's company works with.
Thaker said Referral GPS gets federal, state and private funding and works with school districts to find an equitable fee. The program at ETHS is a pilot for now to see what the usage is like in the district.
"What we want to do is make it completely agnostic to the families," Thaker said.
He added his company works directly with mental health providers to assist low-income and under or uninsured families in obtaining services.
ETHS Superintendent Marcus Campbell said the district established a "care fund" to help families in difficult economic positions.
The approved FY2025 budget allocates $150,000 for "contract services" under the district's "support services fund" which in part will support the pilot program, according to ETHS Communications Director Reine Hanna. The fund will also support other initiatives.
"We're excited about the potential of this partnership to support students and families, and we'll carefully evaluate its impact during the pilot phase," Hanna said. "We will asses its effectiveness to determine whether to extend the program, and any additional costs would depend on the scope of future implementation."
