Albuquerque Public Schools
Mental Health Supports is Focus of New Campaign
‘Reach Out Resources’ campaign launched to destigmatize and publicize resources available for students at all 140+ schools.
The availability of a school counselor and school nurse is well-known to most families, but mental health resources for Albuquerque Public Schools students go well beyond that.
Behavior redirectors help elementary students create positive relationships with classmates and staff, helping students learn self-regulation strategies. Crossroads counselors provide substance use prevention and intervention services to middle and high school students.
Peer helpers are focused on suicide prevention and helping classmates tap into available resources. The Community Mental Health Provider program provides individual therapy to students during the school day on campus through contracts with individual and agency-based licensed mental health therapists.
These are just some of the mental health services available to students, and APS wants to ensure that families are aware of them. Toward that end, the district has launched a Reach Out Resources campaign outlining the mental health resources available at each of the district’s 140+ schools.
The campaign urges families to contact their school or visit the school’s website for information and resources. To access the list on school websites, click on the Our School button on the top left and scroll down to Mental Health Resources.
“We want students and families to know that there are lots of mental health resources and supports in their schools,” said Vicki Price, senior director of Counseling Services for APS. “This campaign directs them how to find the resources at their school, encourages students to reach out when they need help, encourages families to reach out when their students are in need, and strives to reduce the stigma around getting mental health support and help.”
She added that there are people available and waiting to support students and talk with them.
The Reach Out Resources campaign includes billboards, posters at schools, brochures and direct mailers that have gone out to all APS families.
“We want people reaching out to us and utilizing all the services that we have on all of our campuses,” Price said.
Juliette Beck, a suicide prevention coordinator for Albuquerque Public Schools, worked with the task force that created the campaign.
“The big message with this is don’t keep something inside, don’t keep it buried,” she said. “Reach out, ask for help, let someone know that you’re struggling, because there’s absolutely someone who can listen and someone who can help.”