GONZALES — City of Gonzales and Gonzales Unified School District have announced their joint funding effort to provide a new licensed clinical social worker, who will enhance mental health support in both the schools and the city.
The new hire means the school district now has two licensed clinical social workers, as well as the city’s being able to tap into the expertise of that person to assist Gonzales Police Department in cases where mental health are suspected or confirmed.
“Part of this position was to provide more local ability and depth to address those issues,” said Rene Mendez, Gonzales city manager.
Mendez said not only will the social worker be able to work with youth at schools, but they will also be able to make home visits within the city when necessary, expanding their ability to assist beyond the classroom.
“This agreement is an important first step as we begin to establish local mental health support resources for the city and enhances our community policing and public safety services, programs and response,” he said.
The city and school district entered into the joint agreement after recognizing the growing need for mental health support services for both the community at large as well as students. The pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic have only made the need more noticeable.
Gonzales Youth Council recently completed a mental health survey with the help of CSU Monterey Bay, with findings confirming the need after showing an increase in day-to-day challenges with youth and families because of the current pandemic environment.
“They did a pretty extensive mental health survey and provided results, not only to the school board but also the county board of supervisors,” Mendez said.
GYS discovered youth were finding it harder to learn virtually, with 60% of responders being responsible for helping younger siblings with online schoolwork, adding to their pressures.
“Approximately a third of the city’s population is under the age of 18 and in virtual school every day,” said Yvette Irving, GUSD superintendent. “Having a second social worker available to support our students and families will have a huge impact.”
The GYC survey also included patient health questions to screen for anxiety and depression and discovered more than half of high school respondents exceeded cutoff scores for anxiety and depression.
“There’s going to be impacts going forward with kids not being in school for a while and we’re trying to be as prepared as possible,” Mendez said.
Funds for the worker are split in half between the city and school district. The social worker will report to the district for training, and oversight will be the responsibility of the district, with input from the city to ensure community needs are met.
The agreement for the social worker runs through June 2022.
Mendez said the district would eventually like to have a third licensed clinical social worker, in order to have one available per school campus. He also said the city is pursuing more local partnerships for the community’s benefit.
“We are working with Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System because they’ve expanded their presence here,” Mendez said about SVMH’s newly expanded Taylor Farms Family Health and Wellness Center in Gonzales. “We’re going to start working with them and Monterey County Behavioral Health. My hope is that sometime next year there’ll be more resources available locally here through the center.”
Mendez called such projects forming team efforts with other agencies, but that many of those agreements will likely call into post-Covid-era responses.
