Hempfield Area School District Partnering With Firm For Mental Health Help

GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - Experts say social media, the pandemic and the everyday stress of being a teen in America are creating a potential mental health crisis for teenagers.

The Hempfield Area School District is partnering up with a national firm to help parents and kids get the help they want and need.

The program is called Care Solace and Hempfield Area School District says the California-based company won't offer counseling but will act as a bridge between, as they call it, chaos to calm.

The latest numbers from the CDC paint a grim picture when it comes to the mental health of teens. In 2019, roughly one in six teens reported making a suicide plan -- an incredible increase of 44 percent in 10 years.

Hempfield Area Schools says the company's specialty is the administration and organization of tasks a lot of families in crisis don't understand or know about.

"It could be a family of origin issue. Maybe in their family, it's just not comfortable or maybe the families aren't even quite sure what they need and they don't really want to go through the school," said Dr. Lisa Maloney with the Hempfield Area School District.

The program is being paid for by federal elementary and secondary school emergency relief money.