Comtrea has opened a mental health clinic inside Festus High School, 501 Westwind Drive.
The clinic, located in the old nurse’s area in the high school, is designed to help students and their families with behavioral health issues, said Jennifer Loretta, Comtrea associate vice president of youth behavioral health.
“The purpose of the clinic is to serve the Festus School District and the people the Festus School District serves,” Loretta said. “We actually can take all the grades, as young as kindergarten.
“The clinic is open to people who reside within the district, but if they are not a student, they would have to come in after school hours, when students are no longer present.
“A referral to the Festus High School Clinic can come from Festus school counselors or from the Comtrea Welcome Center (in Crystal City).”
The Festus R-6 School District is providing the office space for Comtrea to operate the clinic, which opened April 25, and Comtrea is staffing it.
“Within this clinic we have a full-time youth therapist, and we have telehealth psychiatrists available,” Loretta said. “Gina Staley, a youth therapist, is our therapist assigned to this clinic. Right now, she is there three days a week – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Come August, she will be there Monday through Friday.
“The telehealth psychiatrists provide telehealth services every other Friday. (The clinic) will be open all year round.”
Staley said that having a clinic within a school district makes it easier for students to get the services they may need.
“The big thing we’re really going for at our clinics, like at Festus High School, is accessibility,” Staley said. “We want to meet students where they are and be as accessible as we can for them and their families.”
Other than Festus students, those who receive services at the clinic must check in with the Festus High School front office.
“If a parent is attending a session, or a session is scheduled for after school or during times school is closed, individuals will enter in at the Festus High School front desk,” Loretta said.
She said parental or guardian permission is required for a student to receive services through the clinic.
“If a kid displays some emotional distress at school, we have a form that can be sent home for the family to consider,” Loretta said. “The family can also call directly to the clinic at 636-232-2324."
Loretta said insurance is accepted to cover fees for the services.
Financial assistance is available for families in need, she added.
Loretta said the clinic can provide a variety of treatments for students and families dealing with behavioral health issues.
“Gina is working on getting her play therapy certification,” Loretta said. “That’s a model of treatment for kids developed through play. Gina also has experience working with families. She will be also able to bring a family in to work with a family as a whole.”
Comtrea paid to renovate the Festus High School space for the clinic, reimbursing the school district $26,640 for the work, said Comtrea’s Megan Vitale, vice president of youth behavioral health.
She said equipment for the clinic cost about $5,000, bringing the agency’s total start-up costs for the clinic to $31,640.
“We are responsible for (paying for) internet/phone (use) for our space ($600 per month),” she said. “Supply costs are minimal. Other costs are staffing-related.”
Retired Festus Superintendent Link Luttrell said the Comtrea clinic is a valuable addition to the school for many reasons, but particularly for providing district students with easy access to behavioral health services.
“Students can get this service without having to leave the campus,” he said. “We all know mental health services have been a need across the country.”
Luttrell said the arrangement with Comtrea to run a clinic at the school is especially welcome since the district doesn’t have to provide funding for it.
“It’s no cost to the district other than providing space for an office,” Luttrell said.