RVC schools collaborate with Northwell

Mental health plays an essential role in students’ social and emotional growth, affecting the way they think, act, feel, make decisions, handle stress, and relate to their peers.

That’s why the Rockville Centre School District is once again partnering with Northwell Health on a mental health program, which aims to help ensure that students get the support they need in the face of challenges and potential crises.

Jeanne Love, the district’s assistant superintendent for special education and pupil personnel services, told Board of Education trustees on Oct. 6 that the district had agreed on a contract with Northwell Health that will make it easier to refer parents to a local behavioral clinic.

Northwell received a $100,000 grant from New York state in April 2021 to fund the Rockville Centre Behavioral Health Center, an outpatient facility at 100 Merrick Road. Now the program is in full swing, with hundreds of district students getting the help they need.

Love said that Northwell has this kind of relationship with only a few Nassau County school districts — including East Rockaway, Freeport, Hewlett-Woodmere and Oceanside — and expressed her gratitude for the program. “We were very lucky to get into this program early on,” she said. “It allows us to call (Northwell Health) and help our parents make appointments, and send parents directly to the behavioral clinic.”

The health network’s connection to the clinic will eliminate obstacles that those seeking mental health treatment might otherwise face. “It’s very frustrating to be in a situation where you have a child who needs to be seen by a mental health provider and the parent can’t get an appointment or there’s some type of roadblock due to insurance,” Love said.

Dr. Vera Feuer, the head psychiatrist at Northwell Health, helps give parents recommendations on how to help their children struggling with mental health challenges. “She’s been absolutely wonderful,” Love said. “We can call her and get advisements as to how to make sure that our families and our children get the support they need.”

Thanks to this direct line to Dr. Feuer, there are other ways that parents can get information about how to help their kids. “Additionally, [Northwell Health] has programs for parents that you can attend with varying topics month to month, but they also meet with us here,” Love explained. “They meet with myself and other administrators from other school districts to see what the patterns are with students, what we’re seeing, and the type of help they need to provide.”

Members of the Northwell Health staff meet not only with the administration and parents, but also with the mental health staff of district schools. According to Love, this is “to make sure that we have all the most up-to-date information on the rates of admissions, how many students are seeking appointments with them, how many parents have brought students in to get appointments, and then to also give us training on various mental health initiatives.”

And even though the district’s partnership with Northwell will limit the time it takes to make appointments, there is an even faster way for students to find help. Because the clinic is so close to the schools, students can just walk into the facility and ask for help.

“If you walked in and for some reason they couldn’t see you or help you in that moment, they would advise you on where to go,” Love said. If it’s an emergency situation, the Northwell staff might send a student to a hospital emergency room. If the situation is less urgent and if the clinic is simply busy, a student will be given a time to come back.

According to the state Department of Health, one in five New Yorkers have symptoms of a mental disorder. This statistic alarmed district administrator in 2016, where they first implemented mental health education in the schools’ curriculums. And the result, six years later, is the partnership with Northwell.