A funding boost to provide mental health support in schools is being welcomed. Photo / Getty Images
Children desperate for counselling are waiting up to six weeks to get help while some schools are picking up the tab to pay for their own experts as mental health and wellbeing issues spiral.
A health board chief acknowledged the waitlists for mental health support for children were "significant and growing", while primary and intermediate schools say they're doing what they can with what little they have.
Meanwhile, a Budget 2021 funding boost for a programme targeting mental health support for 5- to 12-year-olds has been welcomed by those on the frontline.
The Mana Ake – Stronger for Tomorrow initiative will receive $12 million to roll out its programme to five more district health boards, including the Bay of Plenty and Lakes boards, after a successful pilot in Canterbury.
Mana Ake workers support schools, families and whānau when children are experiencing issues that impact their wellbeing.
They include psychologists, social workers, counsellors, teachers and youth workers and since 2018 Mana Ake has supported more than 7000 children struggling with issues including anxiety, managing emotions, friendships and bullying, social isolation, parent separation, grief and loss.
Western Bay of Plenty Principal's Association president and Tauriko School principal Suzanne Billington said there was a "huge" demand for counsellors and the Mana Ake initiative offered hope.
Billington said counselling was available through a range of different agencies but access was limited and waiting times were "significant".
When counsellors couldn't be accessed, teachers, school leaders and parents did "as best they can".
However, the lack of support meant some students' attendance dropped or they were disengaged, she said.
"Their emotional wellbeing is important first and their struggle impairs their ability."
She said it was important extra counselling support was equitably distributed across all schools and deciles and there was not a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
Tauranga Intermediate's school board pays for one full-time and one part-time counsellor for the 1300 students.
Principal Cameron Mitchell said the Mana Ake initiative would "absolutely" help.
"There is an increase in more high-level complex cases that teachers deal with. Teachers do a great job trying to look after the wellbeing of all students."
One mother and former counsellor said getting counsellors in schools needed to be made a priority.
Her child had to wait six weeks, on two separate occasions, to see a counsellor.
The mother, who is not named to protect her child's identity, said from her own experience as a child, issues at home affected her ability to focus at school.
She became a counsellor after losing her father and this was one of the many reasons it was so important to provide children with mental health support.
Anything in schools that focused on mental health was a good thing, she said, as it would show children support was there and help equip them with skills to deal with their emotions.
New Zealand Association of Counsellors president Christine Macfarlane said anything to do with food, housing, safety, warmth and relationships affected the mental wellbeing of children.
Low socioeconomic areas, areas with high unemployment and/or less access to services, and impacts of emergency housing and poverty put higher stress on counselling, she said.
"School counsellors are overwhelmed with the number of young people coming in ... with a wide range of issues."
Macfarlane said getting space in schools was difficult in Canterbury, where the programme was piloted, and a lack of available rooms meant some workers were based out of their cars or other places that were not easily accessible.
But Mana Ake had seen good outcomes and she hoped issues in the pilot would be addressed.
The 5 to 12 age group was crucial in order to give children a chance at growing up with good mental health, and "proactive and preventative is best".
She said if issues weren't addressed early they could cause lifelong problems.
Macfarlane said the association had also been working alongside the Ministry of Education to roll out counselling in primary and intermediate schools - separate from Mana Ake.
Bay of Plenty District Health Board's mental health and addiction services portfolio manager, Caleb Putt, said Mana Ake would provide "timely and accessible" support, and early action may prevent issues from becoming more serious.
The health board was working with Lakes District Health Board and the Ministry of Health to agree on the contract for a co-design process.
The plan would incorporate the core components agreed with the Ministry of Health but be within a local framework unique to the needs of the Bay, Putt said.
The health board's chief executive Pete Chandler said the need for mental health support for children across the region was "significant and growing" and they were "thrilled" to be selected as one of the first group of district health boards.
"We know that it is often not easy for schools, parents and doctors to access the specialist help they need for children."
Ministry of Health mental health and addiction deputy director-general Toni Gutschlag said work on the co-design would begin within the next few weeks.
This process would be led by the local health boards and Ministry of Education and include representatives from schools, iwi and other key community groups, Gutschlag said.
Ministry of Education sector enablement and support deputy secretary, Katrina Casey, said the ministry was working to secure the community services to provide counselling to primary- and intermediate-aged children.
Budget 2020 included a package of almost $200m to support students with immediate and long-term mental health needs.
Of this, $44m is being used to increase counselling services access for students in selected primary, intermediate and area schools through contracts with community providers.
The ministry is also supporting Te Rūnanga Nui and Ngā Kura a Iwi with resources to enable them to access appropriate counselling support for tamariki in kura kaupapa.
Budget 2020 also provided $32.8m for 38 new curriculum leads to help schools and early learning services teach wellbeing and mental health to children.
Also included was a $50m Urgent Response Fund to give immediate support to early learning services and schools to manage issues around attendance after Covid-19.
Other Government initiatives include Social Workers in Schools.
• Established in Canterbury and Kaikoura in 2018 to provide mental health support to children aged 5 to 12.
• Budget 2021 allocated an additional $12m in the 2021 financial year to continue the service and begin the co-design of the services.
• Health boards to get co-design funding: Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Northland, Counties Manukau and the West Coast.
• Mana Ake workers support schools, families and whānau when children are experiencing issues that impact their wellbeing.
• Kaimahi include psychologists, social workers, counsellors, teachers and youth workers.
Components of the model being co-designed:
• Whole of school/classroom mental wellbeing promotion programmes.
• Evidence-informed direct support, either one-on-one or in groups, to tamariki experiencing social, emotional or behavioural challenges, including culturally appropriate and responsive interventions.
• Clear referral pathways.
• Resources for teachers.
- Source: Ministry of Health
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