Mental Health On Agenda
Starting this month, South Fork students will have access to a greater array of mental health offerings than ever before.
Besides an initiative to fund the hiring of a full-time social worker and an as-needed child and adolescent psychiatrist, earlier this summer, East Hampton High School received a large, anonymous donation that will help pay for psychiatric evaluations and counseling services.
“I keep pinching myself. I can’t believe it,” said Adam Fine, the principal of East Hampton High School, in a conversation earlier this week. “The money can’t be used for programming. It’s directly for students in crisis who are faced with significant social and emotional issues and whose families may not be able to afford assessment or follow-up care.”
Because the donor wants to remain anonymous, Mr. Fine couldnot disclose the precise amount, though he described the donation as “significant.”
Generally speaking, a psychiatric evaluation can run upwards of $1,000, with additional follow-up appointments quickly rendering treatment costly — particularly for those families lacking health insurance.
Across South Fork school districts, mental health has taken on increasing significance, particularly since David Hernandez, an East Hampton junior, committed suicide nearly two years ago. In May, a recent high school graduate became the fourth young person on the South Fork to take his or her own life since 2009.
On subsequent high alert, East Hampton administrators have seen an increasing number of psychiatric referrals and hospitalizations as a result. Last year, 15 students at East Hampton High School were hospitalized, according to Mr. Fine and Ralph Naglieri, the school psychologist. Since last week’s start of school, serious mental health issues have continued to surface, with some students requiring hospitalization as a result.
“A lot of things that happened during the summer tend to spill into the start of school,” explained Mr. Fine. “We want to provide students with the appropriate support programs to get them on the right foot during the school year.”
Mr. Fine and Mr. Naglieri are part of the South Fork Behavioral Health Initiative, a task force comprised of state and local legislators, school administrators, and community members to help increase mental health services. The group last met on Aug. 28.
All told, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle jointly secured $150,000 in state money, with Legislator Jay Schneiderman securing an additional $17,500 from the county. East Hampton, Hampton Bays, Sag Harbor, and Southampton School Districts each contributed $5,000 for the coming school year, with each district proposing another $5,000 in aid. In addition, the East Hampton and Southampton Towns have each pledged $25,000. Taken together, anticipated funding for phase one of the proposal totals $257,000.
For the coming school year, the Family Service League, which operates a clinic in East Hampton, will oversee the hiring of the two practitioners. The newly hired social worker will split her time between various schools — from Hampton Bays to Montauk — and will also be available during critical after-school hours for badly needed crisis intervention. The part-time child and adolescent psychiatrist will conduct as-needed consultations.
Still, the need is great and the practitioners are spread too thin. The second phase of the proposal would ensure the hiring of additional social workers and community health workers. It also proposes a mobile unit that could travel to areas of immediate need. The third and final phase would bring Stony Brook psychiatrists to Southampton Hospital as part of an expanded residency program.
Earlier this year, Kristie Golden, the associate director of operations for the neurosciences divisions at Stony Brook University Hospital, ran an analysis of the referral patterns to Stony Brook’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program, which is designed for individuals experiencing a psychiatric crisis. More than an hour’s drive away, it houses the closest psychiatric facility.
“In looking at the data, we found that a number of South Fork towns fell within the top 20 percent of referring zip codes,” said Dr. Golden, who examined the first seven months of the year. She is also a member of the mental health task force.
In future years, both Mr. Fine and Mr. Naglieri dream of opening a clinic, housed directly at the high school. Longwood High School in Middle Island will unveil one such student health center later this month. State-funded and operated at no cost to the school district, the center will help ensure the physical and emotional well-being of its high school population. Third-year residents, one nurse practitioner, and a medical assistant, under the supervision of a Stony Brook University Hospital attending physician, will staff the clinic.
Back in East Hampton, both Mr. Fine and Mr. Naglieri are content with seeing increased services in an area previously constrained by a limited number of qualified practitioners.
“We both had to pinch ourselves at the last two meetings to check to see if the things we were hearing are real,” said Mr. Naglieri. “The message has gotten out there.”
Mr. Fine added, “We have kids in need and people are listening.”