A new partnership between the Boys and Girls Club of the Capital City and Pathways Community Health will give Jefferson City children greater access to counseling.
One Pathways counselor will be available at each of the club's three after-school sites - East School, South School and Southwest Early Childhood Center, which serves children at Moreau Heights, Thorpe Gordon, Lawson and West elementary schools.
The Missouri Foundation for Health provided the counselors through a three-year grant, and they are now developing curriculum for the upcoming school year, said Suzanne Taggart, Pathways' director of community-based service for the central region. Each location's need may differ, she added, and the curriculum will be adjusted based on the issues identified at the sites individually.
Counselors started developing relationships with 22 children - in kindergarten through fifth grade - in the spring in order to establish trust early on this fall, said Stephanie Johnson, Boys and Girls Club executive director.
They were also available during the club's summer camp for the first time. Children who became disruptive or lashed out were pulled aside for one-on-one counseling. Taggart called this a brief intervention model, which forces counselors to quickly identify the content of the intervention and the skills children need to learn.
Racquel Shipp, the site coordinator for East Elementary School, said the counselors were beneficial for all involved during summer camp.
"I've noticed a tremendous difference in our kids from last year," Shipp said. "We didn't have as many breakdowns as far as the children being upset about different things. They were just handling situations much better."
The after-school counseling program will act similarly, providing children with ways to healthily handle what they're feeling, Johnson said.
"We see a lot of the time that kids don't know how to manage emotion," Johnson said. "They may be feeling sadness but they don't know how to process that emotion, so they go straight to anger."
Anger management is a common issue for counselors to handle, Taggart said, in addition to grief and loss, social skills and organization. The program is designed for counselors to teach children, and sometimes families, coping skills. They are not diagnosing them with mental health issues, but if counselors identify a serious issue, they can refer a child to more intensive resources.
"It's about getting the kids those services without that stigma," Johnson said.
When the program was introduced at the summer camp, Johnson said parents were weary.
"At first, parents thought something was wrong with their child," she said. "Now, they realize that's not what anybody's saying. We're saying let's help them build better relationships, let's help them grow in that sense. Now, parents are more open-minded about the situation."
Shipp said she noticed a difference in her daughter, who participated in the summer camp. Counselors helped her be more sociable and less bossy, she said. After counselors assist with children's behavior, they follow up with parents, offering advice on how to continue advancing the learned skills at home.
"I appreciate the tips because we can all use them," Shipp said.
Once parents became accustomed to the new program at summer camp, they started offering information to Boys and Girls Club staff and Pathways counselors about why they're children may be acting out, Shipp said. Parental engagement is key in the new program, Taggart said, adding family work is a part of the grant if families would need services.
She said if children are misbehaving at school or at the club, it could be a result of their home life and parents may need coaching. Overall, Taggart said communication between all parties is essential for the children's well-being.
"That's one of the things we were really hoping would come out of this - that it's more of a dialogue with families and staff and counselors so that kids can be operating at their best and engaged so that they can be successful in all their requirements," Taggart said.
Pathways will also provide training to Boys and Girls Club staff, and group counseling will also be available. Parents will receive information on the counseling program prior to the school year and must consent for their children to participate.