GREENTOWN — Eastern Howard School Corporation is the latest school in Howard County to switch mental health services for certain students from Community Howard Regional Health to 4C Health.
The Eastern Board of Education on Tuesday approved a contract with 4C as a provider to provide mental health skills clinicians to schools starting next school year. They work with students to learn behavioral, coping, and regulatory skills.
4C provides these services free of charge to students on Medicaid. Eastern University may pay a fee to make all students eligible for services.
Superintendent Keith Ritchie said it would cost about $3,000 per semester. Prices are based on student enrollment.
Ritchie said he plans to talk with 4C about making the service available to all students.
Schools identify students who may benefit from mental health services. The family then agrees to it.
“What I want to do is give them a shot this year,” Ritchie told the board. “They give us something close to what we were getting.”
The agreement comes after Community Howard, along with Taylor and Western, notified Eastern that it was ending a partnership that provided similar services for free. Additionally, Community Howard has ended its partnership with these schools for athletic trainer services.
The health network asked the school district to pay for the service.
The school balked at the cost and chose to look elsewhere. In one case, Western is estimated to have spent $474,000 hiring athletic trainers and mental health staff provided by the community.
Ritchie said Eastern had to pay the community $42,000 to keep two skilled clinicians.
A Community Howard spokesperson said earlier this year that schools will need to absorb these salaries due to rising expenses and reimbursements. School officials said they were told that changing laws were part of the reason.
Administrators at the affected Howard County schools have been critical of the community’s decision, saying that while the community won’t pay for the service, it will pay for injuries or mental health issues that require more attention. It claims to be able to refer students to health networks and, as a result, business for hospitals.
The school has also been criticized for the sudden loss of mental health services, even though the school knew the athletic trainer’s contract was coming to an end.
Taylor’s school board approved a similar partnership with 4C in March.
“I think that’s probably the best option at this point,” Ritchie said.
Eastern University has not yet decided on a provider for next year’s athletic trainers.
The Western City School Board is scheduled to vote on contracts for mental health and athletic trainers on Tuesday.
