HJBR Mar/Apr 2024

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE  I  MAR / APR 2024 37 dress these challenges holistically. Across New Orleans, we are uniting various community partners, including health departments, pediatricians, and mental health professionals, to provide comprehensive support to our students. ThriveKids, which is backed by $10 million in funding from the City of New Orleans, is a testament to this collaborative effort. We are not only addressing the mental health needs of students, but also ensuring they have access to basic healthcare services, something that is desperately needed in some of our most underserved areas. This approach underscores the importance of community-wide involvement in support- ing our educational system. Through these partnerships, we aim to ease the burden on schools by providing on-site mental health services, regular health screenings, and improving access to healthcare for students and their families. These initiatives offer a dual benefit: they support students’ overall well-being and allow teachers to refocus on their primary role as educators. Teachers are welcoming this help with open arms. Meet Rodney who moved in with his aunt over the summer because he didn’t feel safe at home. Rodney’s aunt needed help establishing primary care, obtain- ing an eye exam and glasses, as well as securing therapy with a qualified mental health professional. ThriveKids facilitat- ed an appointment with a pediatrician, arranged for an eye exam, and initiated weekly sessions with a counselor housed in his school. During the winter holidays, Rodney’s sister tragically died due to gun Chelsea Moore, MSW, LCSW Director, ThriveKids Student Wellness Program Children’s Hospital New Orleans violence, but, thankfully, his counselor was there as an established support system to offer support and ensure Rodney was able to process and cope with the traumatic loss of his big sister. This collaborative model works for kids like Rodney and many others in the same position and can serve as a blueprint for other cities facing similar challenges. By pooling resources and expertise, we are creating a more supportive environment for our children — one that addresses their needs comprehensively and compassion- ately. The statistics are clear: our schools are overwhelmed with responsibilities that extend far beyond traditional teaching. It’s time for a community-based approach where various stakeholders, including health professionals, community organi- zations, and policymakers, come together to support our schools. This collaborative effort is not just a necessity; it’s our duty to ensure the well-being and success of fu- ture generations. n Chelsea Moore is a licensed clinical social worker and the director of ThriveKids Student Wellness Project at Children’s Hospital of NewOrleans where she leads the school-based social worker team, care coordination team, and outpatient clinicians and provides psychotherapy to pediatric patients. She was the senior social worker for the Children’s Hospital Emergency Department for three years prior to accepting her position with ThriveKids. Chelsea previously worked for the Department of Children and Family Services, Recovery School District and Orleans Parish School Board.She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from Southern University of New Orleans and is passionate about increasing children’s access to healthcare and advocating for targeted interventions to address their unique needs. INthepost-pandemicworld, our education system’s challenges are more pronounced than ever. As the director of ThriveKids at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, I’ve seen first-hand how these challenges extend far beyond traditional academic boundaries. The National Center for Education Sta- tistics reveals that in the 2021-22 school year, an alarming 50% of public-school students were behind grade level in at least one academic subject. This statistic high- lights the academic impact of the pandem- ic and underscores the broader social and emotional toll on our students. To address pandemic-related learning recovery, schools implemented various strategies, including assessment data, summer learning programs, and remedial instruction. Many schools also realized the importance mental health played after the pandemic, with 72% of the schools provid- ing mental health and trauma support to their students. Despite these efforts, only 13% of public schools strongly agreed that they could effectively provide mental health services to all students in need. This brings us to the crux of the issue: schools, and especially our teachers, are being asked to do too much. Beyond ac- ademic instruction, they are now central in addressing mental health crises, school violence, and even basic healthcare needs. Kids in need are falling through the cracks, and teachers don’t have enough time or re- sources to help them. In New Orleans, the tide is changing. Children’s Hospital New Orleans ThriveKids program is among one of the only programs in the nation pi- oneering a collaborative approach to ad-