Steamboat Springs is a community well known for its services and amenities. As we all know, living in a mountain town doesn’t mean compromising on critical services or driving hundreds of miles to receive them. This includes mental health services. Steamboat is a community committed to mental health and that commitment extends to the Steamboat Springs School District (SSSD).

SSSD received a Colorado Department of Education (CDE) grant to enhance its mental health services. Last spring, we were excited to share that we received a grant from the CDE that allowed us to hire Shelby DeWolfe as our Behavioral Health and Restorative Practices Coordinator. This position is responsible for implementing proactive and responsive restorative practices to foster safe, supportive, and positive school cultures districtwide, and it has been even more critical than we anticipated.

There is a shortage of mental health professionals. As the need for mental health services in our schools has increased due, in large part to the pandemic, it has become harder to find mental health professionals, especially those willing to move to Steamboat. SSSD currently has 5.5 unfilled counseling roles. Given this shortage, counseling staff have stepped up. Ms. Schenk and Ms. Maul have both returned to school counselor roles to ensure Steamboat Springs Middle School has a counselor in the building at all times and Ms. DeWolfe is serving as the counselor for Yampa Valley High School in addition to her district coordinator role. Expanding the caseloads of current counselors where we can is just a small part of a larger, creative strategy that Ms. DeWolfe and our counselors have put into motion to increase our capacity to support students’ mental health needs.

We’re working with outside providers to supplement services. SSSD is working closely with Mind Springs Health, which is providing us with as much support as possible while facing its own staffing shortages. We’re also working with local private providers and national telehealth providers. Telehealth mental health services were extremely successful for some students and their families in the first year of the pandemic, when services were available mainly online. Expanding to telehealth takes some pressure off local providers and allows our students to get the services they need.

We’re hiring! Do you know someone locally (or someone who wants to move to Steamboat) who has a degree in school counseling, social work, or is a certified counselor? Are they looking for a part-time or full-time job—or are they even willing to temporarily come out of retirement? If so, please point them to the employment opportunities section of our website.

In October, we’ll dedicate this newsletter to sharing more about our innovative approach to supporting the mental health of SSSD elementary and middle school students. This will include how our approach helps reduce the need for intensive mental health services in students’ high school years and beyond.