Student Wellness Programs
JUNTOS’ Student Wellness Programs provides mental health services and youth development opportunities for Lennox School District students. Programs and services are offered on school campuses during the school day.
JUNTOS provides Trauma-Focused Mental Health Support through targeted evidence based practices for students and families whose lives have been impacted by trauma. The JUNTOS team of mental health professionals responds to and supports the needs of approximately 150‐200 children and families annually. With specialized training and support from a Certified Trauma Focused consultant, the team intervenes and provides appropriate trauma focused treatment for children and families greatly in need of support. Students receive individual school-based therapy, brief intervention and crisis services, and group therapy.
JUNTOS aims to significantly reduce the signs and symptoms of trauma and PTSD for the scores of students and families it serves. This is monitored by the use and implementation of the TF‐CBT model to fidelity. Trauma Focused CBT targets children who have experienced trauma due to sexual and physical abuse, death, and witnessing violence. Both children and their parents are involved in the therapy sessions. TF‐CBT is an outpatient model of psychotherapy that combines trauma‐sensitive interventions with cognitive behavioral therapy.
TF‐CBT is based in established theory and practice. With TF‐CBT, children and parents learn skills related to addressing the trauma; managing distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and enhancing safety, parenting skills, and family communication. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network recommends TF‐CBT as a “Well Supported and Efficacious” program. It is also identified as a Best Practice for Child Abuse Treatment in “Closing the Quality Chasm in Child Abuse Treatment: Identifying and Disseminating Best Practices” sponsored by the Institute of Medicine.
JUNTOS fills the gap in mental health services that resulted from discontinued grants. JUNTOS serves as a tremendous referral resource for overloaded school counselors and staff. Without JUNTOS, many students would have to be placed on long waiting lists at local mental health agencies, delaying the timely engagement in necessary treatment.
Workshops
Individual Therapy
Individual Therapy is the cornerstone of JUNTOS. Students are referred by Lennox school counselors for individual therapy with JUNTOS’ therapists and MSW interns. JUNTOS prioritizes services for students who are uninsured or are otherwise unable to access other services. Weekly one-hour sessions are provided at a student’s school site during school hours, reducing barriers to accessing services.
Brief Intervention and Crisis Services
Brief Intervention and Crisis Services provide on-site crisis intervention and consultation for students in need of support.
Therapy Groups
Therapy Groups cover topics such as mindfulness, self-regulation, impulse control, grief and loss, and integration into community. Groups are created based on the needs of the students and the school. It enables JUNTOS to be responsive and sensitive to the needs of special groups of students on campuses. The Mindfulness Group focuses on basic principles of mindfulness and how these principles can support student focus, concentration, and self‐regulation. Weekly Integration Groups are support groups that focus on undocumented youth transitioning into the Lennox School District from other countries, providing a safety net for students who often feel isolated, lost, and disconnected.
The goals is to provide Lennox students with comprehensive and responsive Trauma Informed Care and Services that address their needs, decrease symptomology and enable students to co-create and conceptualize their individual goals for increased wellness, wellbeing and greater function.
JUNTOS’ school-based wellness model serves as a foundational platform able to combat the many complex barriers to service provisions that Lennox School District students and families have experienced for generations. District employees witness first hand scores of unsuccessful outside referral efforts, as Lennox residents share the various barriers that render these well-intended referrals unfulfilled. From transportation limitations, to the fear that undocumented status brings to a caretaker unwilling to risk residency status, to the stigma often associated with mental health services. Having JUNTOS provide the clinical services on campus capitalizes on the inherent trust that resides within the school walls and the trust that families instill in the school staff. An outside evaluation of JUNTOS’ program in the Lennox School District has been conducted by Leap and Associates since its inception in 2012. The evaluations revealed that recipients of services continue to overwhelmingly perceive the program as having an overall positive effect on students and families as well as throughout the community at large.
In addition to mental health services, JUNTOS provides and connects students to youth development programs and support.
Last year, JUNTOS created Youth Leadership Councils in Lennox Middle School in response to a need identified by the community for youth leadership opportunities. Students are invited to apply to participate. JUNTOS staff meet weekly with students by grade. Activities have included a Window Between Worlds workshops, leadership development activities and mentoring. Each grade has a Call to Action, a service learning project they work on throughout the year. Topics, chosen by the students, have included pollution and community violence.
A partnership with a local journalist provides middle school students with an online Journalism Program. Students meet with mentors biweekly and work on digital storytelling projects using a unique app. This online community gives students a voice. The program provides a creative outlet for students to share their feelings and opinions on relevant topics.
JUNTOS continues to identify partners to provide Lennox students with youth development programs and opportunities to support their academic and personal development.
