Rhode Island schools are turning to virtual therapy to address a growing mental health crisis among students. The Bristol-Warren school district piloted a new telepsychology program called Cartwheel beginning in March of 2024, prompted by a shortage of school counselors.
Bristol-Warren superintendent Ana Riley identified several factors driving mental health issues among students, with the ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic playing a significant role. “Right from pre-K and kindergarten. Our current kindergartners were just born or young toddlers when COVID started,” Riley said. “That wonderful interaction with family and strangers and just seeing facial expressions, they missed all of that.” The program aims to help with a wide range of social and emotional issues, from anxiety to bullying to behavioral outbursts.
Cartwheel Program Details
Cartwheel operates as a full telehealth model offering one-to-one therapy between licensed mental health therapists and students or families for six to 10 weeks, depending on need. The service is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, and is available in six languages, including Spanish and Portuguese. A key advantage of the program is speed: according to Riley, “It only takes 24 to 48 hours for Cartwheel to reach out to families. And then they have an appointment within seven to 10 days.” This represents a dramatic improvement over the traditional process, which can take months to find and schedule a psychologist or therapist.
Cost is handled through insurance and district coverage. Parents with insurance are responsible only for co-payments, while the district covers the cost for children without insurance.
Statewide Expansion
The Rhode Island Department of Education is currently offering a similar telepsychology program called Hazel Health to schools across the state, expanding access to mental health services beyond Bristol-Warren.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.oceanstatemedia.org/news-culture/health/rhode-island-schools-turn-to-virtual-therapy-to-address-student-mental-health-crisis