Michigan City Area Schools received $555,800 in Comprehensive Counseling Initiative Grant funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. over four years. Lilly Endowment approved grants to 52 Indiana public school corporations and five Indiana charter schools—ranging from $68,312 to $2.87 million—to strengthen school counseling programs.
MCAS will add three grant-funded BSW Social Workers providing direct counseling, case management, and mental health services supporting socio-emotional and non-cognitive skill development. Social workers will be assigned to MCHS and AK Smith; Krueger and four feeder elementary schools (Joy, Lake Hills, Marsh, and Springfield); and Barker and four feeder elementary schools (Coolspring, Edgewood, Knapp, and Pine). Peer Mentors from Michigan City High School will mentor identified middle school Safe Harbor program students weekly, reinforcing non-cognitive skills through shared experiences in resilience.
Kindergarten teachers will receive specialized professional development in Early Childhood Mental Health. School Counselors will attend the Indiana School Counselors Conference or Indiana Youth Institute Kids Count Conference. Staff will be trained and certified for three years in Youth Mental Health First Aid, an evidence-based intervention method during mental health or substance abuse crises.
Michigan City Area Schools also received a competitive $200,000 grant from the Indiana Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for October 1-June 30. Funding supports three grant-funded MSW Social Workers, Motivational Interviewing Sessions for students and parents, Botkin Life Skills Training in Safe Harbor programs, Youth Mental Health First Aid training for 50 personnel, Motivational Interviewing Training, and Implicit Bias Training for Counselors and Administrators.
MCAS convened 120 community stakeholders during visioning sessions including Boys & Girls Club, IU Northwest, Ivy Tech, and local health organizations.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://greatnews.life/article/michigan-city-area-schools-is-recipient-of-lilly-endowment-indiana-indiana-department-of-mental-health-and-addiction-services-grants/