Co-located school mental health services at capacity; STIR workgroups expand outreach

Michelle Johnson of Central Minnesota Mental Health Center reported that the co-located mental health program is at full capacity with no wait lists and that school-based services have staff signed up for summer groups. Staff additions will allow more students to be served in summer programming.

Molly Schroeder said STIR (Stronger Together Inspiring Resilience) has organized small workgroups to broaden participation, its social media presence is increasing, and the group continues to explore hiring an administrative assistant; fiscal host and county involvement have complicated that hiring effort. Members praised staff contributions and noted some turnover in partner organizations.

Sherburne County Public Health representatives noted outreach activities for Mental Health Awareness Month and described co-responder activity; they presented data showing elevated counts of individuals with suicidal thoughts in March and April, information shared for situational awareness. No formal action was taken on the data at the meeting; members discussed potential follow-up invitations for co-responders to present in more detail.

The collaborative plans summer programming and staff appreciation events tied to Mental Health Awareness Month and will continue coordinating capacity and staffing plans with school partners.