Rep. Bobby Scott on Friday proposed $400,000 in federal funding to hire more emergency responders.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board (CSB) plans to expand mental health services following last year’s shooting of teacher Abby Zwirner by a 6-year-old student at Rich Neck Elementary School in Newport News.
Rep. Bobby Scott visited the group on Friday morning to present it with $400,000 secured in a federal grant. The group is funded through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, and staff say they plan to use the money to hire more trained staff in case of a crisis.
Rep. Scott is the ranking Democrat on the House Education and Labor Committee, and he said there are always repercussions when a school shooting occurs.
“When a shooting occurs, the grades of students in that school go down. It affects the students,” he explained.
He added that the shooting in Rich Neck highlighted the need for more responsive services that don’t hinder other behavioral health departments.
“We need staff who can act immediately without interrupting ongoing services,” Scott said.
Newport News Mayor Philip Jones said the city is still recovering from the trauma of Jan. 6, 2023.
“It was a tough day for our city, and one we’re still recovering from,” the mayor said. He also agreed with Mayor Scott about the need to expand mental health services when tragedies occur, saying, “After Rich Neck, we need to further strengthen our victim support services and our capacity to support our mental health department.”
Daphne Cunningham of the Hampton-Newport News CSB helped with the grant application, and said the organization had been providing services for several weeks when a student shot and killed Zwerner.
“We opened up an emergency phone line from Jan. 6 through the end of February,” Cunningham said. “People could call that line and we could arrange services for them, adults and children.”
But Cunningham said the shooting has taken resources away from other areas, something the organization hopes to avoid in the future.
“What we wanted to do as a result of everything that’s happened was to avoid laying off existing staff and to figure out how to get information out to the community,” Cunningham explained.
The Community Services Board was founded in 1971 to provide mental health services, substance abuse disorder services and support for people with developmental disabilities, and Cunningham emphasized that the organization already operates a number of mental health resources, but this funding will expand their reach.
CSB plans to hire crisis counselors who will be available immediately if an emergency occurs, and it will have community trainers to educate people about resources available in daily life and after traumatic events.
Scott fully supports these changes, saying he wants “staff to be able to respond immediately without disrupting ongoing services.”
