The Warren County School System received a grant that would help with students’ social and emotional needs.

At the county Financial Manage-ment Committee meeting Monday night, Director of Schools Dr. Grant Swallows informed commissioners of a grant that would allow students to utilize tele-therapy services. 

“We received a grant from the state called the Resilient Schools Grant and it is solely so they can provide manpower related to social and emotional needs that we have seen exponentially go up since 2020,” said Swallows. 

“Ultimately, we are bringing it before this committee because we are asking that it be a professional service with Family Care Clinic opposed to going through a bid process for a couple of reasons. One, the most important for us is we have had a good partnership with Family Care Clinic providing these services,” said Swallows. “There are other companies that have done this, but ultimately Family Care Clinic is up and running and has provided this service with us for the last five years without having a vacancy. Everyone else has had vacancies they have not been able to fill, but Family Care Clinic has been able to do this.” 

Finance Department director Justin Cotten says he has documentation proving where other vendors have fallen through in the past. Swallows explained how this service would work and mentioned that students’ families would also get to utilize this service. 

“What happens is it is tele-therapy services. When a student is identified needing some sort of psychiatric services or social and emotional, mental health services, they can make an appointment through the school system to be hooked up with a psychologist or councilor. This will actually provide services for their families as well. Anybody in the student’s family would be able to do that,” said Swallows. 

The committee unanimously approved this request for it to be considered a professional service.