This week, Mort Elementary School announced a new partnership with Aetna to provide a bi-lingual therapist for students. Aetna Better Health has previously engaged in community projects around the state of Florida.
Studies have shown that the issue of mental health has become more pressing for students and children since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Public schools have since offered avenues to deal with such issues, such as subsidized therapy for students. This new project would employ a full-time therapist, rather than keep the current system that is only made for a part-time program.
Hillsborough County has seen a significantly higher suicide rate with children ages 10-14 than the statewide average. With a $20,000 contribution, Aetna will provide both trauma-informed therapy and anxiety screening services at Mort Elementary, A Community Partnership School.
Since a partnership like this has never been tried before, data will be collected to hopefully one day expand the program, or open up doors for other schools to make such plans.
CEO Jennifer Sweet of Aetna Better Health stated, "Giving students access to a bilingual therapist at Mort who can help identify trauma and anxiety, in coordination with a student’s parents, is an important step to addressing the increasing mental health challenges of under-insured students. Aetna is proud to partner with Mort to bring resources to those in need and we hope to grow this model if this pilot program here is successful.”
