(UPDATED) (Radio Iowa) – The State Education Department says 64 schools will receive federal coronavirus funding for mental health services. The Department’s Bradley Niebling says there are a variety of services. “For example, school-based mental health services, things like behavioral health screenings, therapy,” Niebling says. He says the money can also be spent on training for teachers. “Youth mental health and child mental health first aid training,” he says. “So those trainings help educators learn how to identify students who may have some mental health needs going on, and how to refer them for additional help. And finally, districts can use those dollars for suicide prevention training, helping raise awareness around the issues and reducing the stigma around getting help for suicide prevention.”

Niebling says the need for these types of training and programs has increased. “We’ve seen across the country a rise in mental health need for students. Things like isolation, anxiety, depression — and that’s certainly the case here in Iowa as well,” according to Niebling. “So these dollars are really aimed at providing additional help to schools as they try to meet the additional needs that students have had as a result of the pandemic.” He says they had 130 schools apply for the grant funding. He says they made sure the applications met the review criteria to get the money.

Niebling says there is a ten-day appeal period for those schools who did not win a grant, and then the money will go out to the schools. Locally, grants were awarded to…

District Award*

Lewis Central $184,000

Underwood $70,000

Woodbine $38,000