GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A grant is expanding mental health resources for kids in Brown County.
The Brown County Health and Human Services presented a $77,503 check to Rawhide Youth Services, as part of its American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The grant will be used to expand Rawhide’s mental health services currently being offered in five schools in Brown County.
Rawhide Youth Services president and CEO, Alan Loux, says the money will hire additional licensed therapists who can help kids during the school day, instead of having family members drive them outside school hours to an offsite appointment. It will also allow them to serve an additional two schools in Brown County.
Loux says the grant will have a positive domino effect in the community.
“This grant is going to allow us to extend more services that today are not being provided and we can bring in more services for Brown County, for our youth and for our families. And this will have a huge impact, not just on the youth we’re serving but on the families, on our communities; every one person we touch, will end up helping dozens of people, of family members, and etcetera, and every life that we save is important,” he said.
According to recent data from the state of Wisconsin, 58.1% of high school students surveyed post-COVID, reported experiencing one or more of the following in the past 12 months: depression, anxiety, self-harm, or suicidal ideation and one in three students reported depression, a statistically significant increase from 2019.
“We know that young people have been uniquely affected by the pandemic, the disruption of their lives has created additional stressors and trauma in a time that’s already stressful and traumatic for young people,” said Brown County HHS executive director, Jeremy Kral.
According to the state department of Public Instruction, suicide is the second most common cause of death after car accidents for Wisconsin youth.
