Binghamton University is investing a $9.3 million federal grant into local students’ mental health care.

The U.S. Department of Education recently granted BU Community Schools (BUCS) two five-year grants that will be used to expand mental health services throughout the Southern Tier. More than 50 percent of children in Broome and Tioga counties live in low-income families, according to Laura Bronstein, the dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) and executive director of the Institute for Justice and Well-Being. Low-income students typically have worse mental health, Bronstein said, creating a need for additional social workers in schools in the Southern Tier.

$5.7 million of the grant will fund the Rural Mental Health in Schools Expansion, and the other $3.5 million will fund the Family Partner Program. Altogether, the grant will serve approximately 7,000 students throughout six school districts — Harpursville, Whitney Point, Windsor, Owego-Apalachin, Chenango Forks and Maine-Endwell. According to Naorah Rimkunas, assistant professor of CCPA, these two grants seek to improve students’ learning and development from preschool to 12th grade.

This initiative also aims to improve students’ mental health by training mental health professionals to work in school districts, according to Luann Kida, the executive director of BUCS. She said funds will largely go toward hiring more social workers in schools, who can then supervise CCPA students who have internships in community schools.

“[Master of Social Work (MSW) students] will be hired by BU to serve in the six schools identified in the grant to provide supervision and training to social work students obtaining their degree from [the University],” Kida wrote in an email. “The primary focus of this funding is to train mental health professionals to work in and with schools. These social work internships will meet degree requirements for social work students while helping them to understand school systems and learn successful strategies to engage families.”

The grant money being allocated to the Rural Mental Health in Schools Expansion builds upon BU’s current telemental health project. This project connects an anonymous student seeking a one-time emergency mental health service to another student trained in solution-focused counseling. According to the grant, this $5.7 million will support middle and high school students in four of the six school districts — Harpursville, Whitney Point, Windsor and Owego-Apalachin.

“Social work students all complete internships as part of their education and this grant will open up new internships and stipends for social work students,” Bronstein wrote in an email. “We hope and expect that some of these students will earn jobs in the local community based on their knowledge, skills and experiences after graduation.”

Kate Arlotta, a freshman majoring in social work, has previously worked as a telemental health intern outside of BU. Arlotta commented on her personal experience in that internship.

“In the past, I have interned as a telemental health provider in Long Island,” Arlotta said. “It was a real eye-opening experience of the importance of mental health and the importance of proper training. As a social work major this initiative is a really exciting opportunity — I’m looking forward to expanding on my own skills, but above all everyone deserves to feel happy, healthy and safe, and this initiative will really foster those needs.”

The telemental approach allowed social workers to stay in contact with “hard-to-reach families,” Arlotta said, and helped connect parents to resources to aid in their child’s development. As stated by BingUNews, this approach will be implemented with an in-person approach as well.

Allyson Tracy, a sophomore majoring in psychology, believes it is important to diminish the stigma around mental health.

“We’re living in a time where mental health is still so stigmatized,” Tracey said. “This will provide more access to resources that can help students and make a real impact at such a volatile time in their lives.”