The Department of Education is committed to supporting the emotional wellbeing of our children and I was delighted to announce the establishment of a programme of counselling and mental health supports to be piloted in a number of primary schools from September 2023. The new programme will work to mitigate the mental health challenges which may be experienced by children in our schools.
The pilot project has two strands. Strand 1 comprises the provision of one-to-one counselling to support small numbers of children experiencing mild to moderate levels of emotional distress. All primary schools in counties Cavan, Laois, Leitrim, Longford, Mayo, Monaghan and Tipperary will be included in the first strand of the pilot. The counties were selected following an analysis of counsellor availability locally who are qualified and experienced to work with children and young people.
In line with the Department of Education’s Continuum of Support a child will be prioritised for counselling, as part of Strand 1 of this pilot, following a period of school-based intervention with evidence that, despite intervention, the child has not made adequate progress. NEPS psychologists will work with schools to identify and support the prioritisation of those most in need of access to this counselling support. This is part of the current role of the NEPS psychologist when working with schools – identifying need for and signposting to appropriate services.
The Department of Education will establish a county panel of pre-approved experienced counsellors to work in the selected schools for the duration of the pilot.
A number of schools in Cork, Dublin 7, Dublin 16 and Carlow will be included in Strand 2 of the pilot and the names of the schools will be announced in the coming days. Strand 2 will see the establishment of a new type of support from Education Wellbeing/Mental Health Teams for clusters of primary schools. This Strand will also see the introduction of Education Wellbeing/Mental Health Practitioners, who will work under the direction and supervision of NEPS.
The focus of the support to be provided under Strand 2 is on strengthening whole school preventative approaches. This includes the provision of psycho-education support for parents and teachers, and the provision of early intervention to groups of children or individual children with mild/emerging need, using low-level therapeutically-informed approaches.
The Department will provide detailed information on the operation of the scheme in the schools. To the greatest degree possible in the context of the pilot my Department has mitigated additional work for school personnel, whom I know will be eager to participate in this innovative initiative, for the benefit of children in their school.
The scheme is not a substitute for services provided by HSE Primary Care Psychology and/or CAMHS.
An evaluation of the pilot will be carried out and I am confident that we will take valuable learnings from this pilot.
