ACCESS (Appropriate Clinical Care Engaged in a School Setting)

The Belton School District provides school based mental health services through a comprehensive program involving students, families, therapists, school staff, and community partners in order to improve access to quality mental health services, reducing barriers for children and their families in Belton.

The goal of the ACCESS program is to reduce barriers to mental/behavioral health and wellbeing for children in Belton by providing quality care through free school-based therapy services (provided by licensed therapists, using evidence based practices) for our BSD students and educate our community about mental health and wellbeing to reduce stigma.

ACCESS has grown into an excellent program that has been in the Belton School District for many years, allowing for much needed school-based therapy in every BSD school. This funding improves capacity through building partnerships between HFF, CHN, BSD and BEF, along with other supporting community partners and improves access and quality practice as they partner with CHN to provide free SBT for children, overcoming barriers such as lack of money, lack of insurance, lack of transportation and shortage of providers in the area, for BSD students preK-12th grade.
This program has grown to provide SBT at all Belton Schools with six full-time and one part- time therapists. The program has proven to build daily living skills in students helping them reach their goals to be more successful in school and in life. While the primary focus of the therapists is on providing mental health services to students, working with children and their parents, the therapists are also an important resource for school staff. Therapists work as a liaison between parents and teachers, they work to create plans to support students and they provide education for staff on trauma, building resilience and restorative practices. Years of building the SBT program into a model for this area has shown that children achieve success when parents work alongside the child and therapists, leading to a recent emphasis on including families in therapeutic services, using technology.