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ATHABASCA — The stress caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the past year has had an impact on almost everybody, and while every effort is being made to make their lives as normal as possible, the disruption caused by school closures on students is starting to take its toll.
Aspen View Public Schools' director of student services Shannon Smith told trustees at their Jan. 21 meeting of the challenges her department is facing as youth grapple with the pressures of dealing with school, trying to understand a pandemic, and how suicidal ideation has increased in students.
“Sadly, right now, we are seeing students under a great deal of stress. I think that sort of seems like a ridiculous thing for me even to say because everybody's under a great deal of stress, but they are having an increase in suicidal ideation from kids from the levels of distress that are higher than what (student service workers) would consider typical,” said Smith.
Student service consultants — sometimes called a school councillor depending on how much time they spend in the school — will consult with the teacher or administrator to determine where each student in need should be referred. Sometimes it can be something supported in the classroom and sometimes it requires a referral to another agency.
"So, if the situation is that they can give good advice to the teacher and administration team about ways to support the child with universal supports in the classroom that's how that's handled,” Smith explained. “If they feel that a family school liaison worker through our partnership with FCSS (Family and Community Support Services) is a better fit for the child then that's the referral they'll make (and) if they feel that the child's needs are best met by themselves, with their areas of expertise — and these are all masters level staff — then they will see the child for a set period of visits.”
Smith noted if it is a significant issue that exceeds the mandate of education then the family will be supported with a referral to Alberta Mental Health, a family physician, or to a private therapist with benefit coverage, or in an extreme case, to direct the family to take the child to the hospital.
“So, I don't think that I'm telling you anything you wouldn't expect to hear at this point, but I can say that our people are working really, really hard right from our teachers, our admin teams, and certainly our student supports, as they're made available through the student services department,” Smith said.
And while AVPS takes part in interagency meetings facilitated by FCSS, due to fiscal constraints and changes with delivery models, challenges have been created by the hub and spoke model implemented by the Alberta government in an attempt to save money.
“I have to say that with the change in the model for Children's Services, it used to be that when we made a phone call regarding concerns for a child's safety, we knew who we were talking to,” she said. “But now we may be talking to somebody in Slave Lake, Edson, Lac La Biche. We don't know who we're talking to. So, they've changed their models so that they've spread the intake process across the north-central area. So, that's a bit challenging.”
An early response to the pandemic was for AVPS to create wellness lines at each school for students or parents to call in, but none got a lot of calls. This year however they have one central line and an email address that is manned throughout the school day. After hours calls go to the provincial Kid’s Help Line and e-mails have an auto-reply that includes a number for a crisis line, the Kid’s Help Phone, or urges a call to 911.
“Kids will sometimes leave an e-mail and it won’t be checked again until the next morning at 8:30,” said Smith. “So, there’s now an auto-reply that is very warm. It says ‘thank you for your email,’ ‘you’re important to us,’ ‘if this is an emergency’ and there’s text accessibility to Kid’s Help Phone.”
Next steps will be for AVPS to ensure the message gets out to families and students that help is available with a possible a social media campaign and a pop-up on AVPS-owned devices.
“Essentially, if they open an Aspen View-owned device, such as a laptop or a school assigned computer, and anytime they access our website, that pops up,” said communications officer Ross Hunter.
If you feel you need help, call the Aspen View Wellness Line at 1-855-690-3030, e-mail [email protected], or call the Kid’s Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or text 686868 or call the Alberta Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
