ELKHORN, Wis. — A school in Elkhorn partnered with Walworth County Health and Human Services for a unique program.
Career and College Academy has offered the Mental Health Navigator program since 2018. It provides students with various resources to help them navigate life and support their mental health.
Carlo Nevicosi, the director Walworth County Health and Human Services, said that when the department is hiring the mental health navigators for the program, the candidates need to be people who understand the importance of family when working with kids.
“This is a school that services students from all over the county, not just students from Elkhorn. It really gave us a broad reach,” Nevicosi said. ”We were able to identify some kids that had some pretty significant needs, kids that were high risk — families that needed support that otherwise might not have known that we were even out there.”
Cambrie Mangone just started her first year working as a mental health navigator. She said she has already found those responsibilities rewarding.
“Being able to do something that I might see as small, but makes a world of a difference for a student, has really been the most impactful part for me,” Mangone said.
As the school year continues, she hopes to play a role in helping students get what they need as they prepare for the next stage of life.
“I like to think that I am kind of the boots-on-the-ground person. And I am in-house, and I am able to connect them to whatever services they need,” Mangone said.
Mangone said so far, she has helped students obtain services such as FoodShare and insurance. She said she has also provided referrals to the other types of programs.
“Getting some students set up with therapy services, so whether that’s connecting them in-house with therapy during the school day, otherwise using the district and county contacts to get set up with other providers,” Mangone said.
There is also a mental health navigator who works across the Elkhorn Area School District who focuses on truancy.
Kelly Demerath, the principal at Career and College Academy, said the school is able to offer the Mental Health Navigator program because of a grant through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
“By having one individual within the school walk them through that process and really steward them to, ‘Here’s the issue that you are having, and this is the resource that can help you with that,’ I think it takes a lot of stress off families,” Demerath said.