OKCPS needs $5.5 million to implement mental health plan

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Oklahoma City Public Schools is launching a new program to fight mental illness.

The district needs community partners to step up to help students dealing with substance abuse, depression, and trauma.

“This particular program, Embrace OKC, won’t necessarily change what’s happening in their home, but it will help them deal with what’s happening in their home,” said OKCPS Superintendent Dr. Sean McDaniel. “It will give them resources to reach out to. It will train our teachers on how to recognize things before they go too far, and we can interrupt.”

In a survey of more than 7,000 OKCPS students, 361 said they have attempted suicide within the past 12 months. Half report moderate or high psychological distress.

One in five students feel hopeless and worthless.

Studies show kids who struggle with mental health problems are more likely to skip school, have poorer grades, and be held back. OKCPS wants to make sure those students have a chance at academic success.

The district needs about $5.5 million dollars to fully launch Embrace OKC. The funding will go towards providing more counselors and social workers in schools, training staff on mental health and trauma, mental health treatment programs, and more.

You can find the district’s full mental health plan here.

“So for me, the big picture is, happy, healthy and safe kids,” Dr. McDaniel said. "They can get out of cycles of poverty. They can get out of cycles of dysfunction they find themselves in, as we’re able to link as a community and say we love you and we want to help you out.”

If the district can get funding from community partners to cover the first four years of this new program, OKCPS will then be able to take full financial responsibility for it.

Embrace OKC is also supported by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

The initiative was created by the OKC Schools Compact, which is made up of Oklahoma City Public Schools, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools, United Way of Central Oklahoma, and the City of Oklahoma City.