Partner With Us: Schools

Meeting Your Students’ Needs

Mending Matters is a non-profit organization that provides mental health services in middle and high school settings, with a primary focus on supporting youth ages 11 to 18. Our therapists are certified mental health professionals who have undergone extensive screening and background checks prior to their employment with Mending Matters. We work in partnership with school sites to determine the right therapist and services to best meet the needs of each individual school. 

Mending Matters currently offers the following school programs and services:

Crisis support

Individual appointments

Issue-specific support groups

Daily alternative-to-suspension group interventions

Multi-day intensive group interventions

In order to determine if Mending Matters services would be beneficial for your school site, we encourage school administrators to examine student behavior and social/emotional data to identify which interventions and supports are most needed. For example, analyze your discipline data and campus-wide students surveys to answer the following questions:

  • What are the top three behavior issues on my campus?

  • Who is commonly involved in these behavior issues?

  • What supports and interventions do we currently have in place to address these behavior issues?

  • Does our school site utilize a campus-wide student survey such as the California Healthy Kids Survey?

  • What does the survey show as it relates to at-risk behaviors and/or the mental health of our students?

  • How many students visited their counselor or an on-site mental health provider for crisis support per week, month, or year?

  • Was our staff able to address all of the social/emotional issues and crisis support needs of our students?

Funding

Schools are able to use general site funds, local control funds (LCFF), or Title I funds to support the implementation and continued use of Mending Matters services as it relates to supporting a safe and inclusive school environment. In order to justify the use of school funds for Mending Matters services, a goal specifically related to social/emotional supports indicating Mending Matters as a potential support provider MUST be written into your school’s Site Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA). See below for an example goal and action step:

Here is an example of a goal and action step:

LCFF Goal 1: Intervention Supports

Provide the following intervention supports for ANY student in need:

  • Onsite one-on-one or group therapy services
  • Onsite drug counseling services

Data and Funding

Data: Suspension rates, number of referrals for social/emotional services, number and type of behavior referrals.

Action Step

Establish partnership with Mending Matters for on-site mental health services which may include alternative-to-suspension group interventions, crisis support, and/or individual therapy.