IOWA CITY — Three years after the $20 million in federal aid for the pandemic allowed the University of Iowa in 2021 to open a new “Center for School Mental Health” — and two years after receiving a $5 million donation tkeep it up – the center is expanding to reach more school-aged children and moving to a ‘fee-for-service model’.

The Scanlan Center for School Mental Health at UI—renamed in 2022 to honor the Scanlan Family Foundation’s $15 million gift, the largest in UI College of Education history—began as therapy-based before building its clinic psychiatry last year.

In its first year of psychiatry, the clinic targeted two of the area education agencies served in Iowa with minimal access to child psychiatry, according to UI associate professor of clinical psychiatry Amanda Elliott, who is leading the expansion.

“We are now upgrading all students in all 99 counties in the state,” Elliott said. “If they’re having trouble … connecting to psychiatric services, they’re eligible to be referred to see a psychiatric clinic here with me.”

Many of the center’s services are offered virtually – removing location as a barrier. The center’s staff includes Elliott as the sole psychiatrist, three doctoral-level therapists, four social work therapists, and graduate students in social work and counseling psychology.

The center’s services will be available to all Iowa K-12 students ages 10 and older.

“The new psychiatric services will focus on psychiatric evaluations and short-term treatment for ADHD, anxiety and depression,” according to UI spokesman Steve Schmadeke. “The need is great.”

“We know we’re short”

Even before the pandemic exacerbated students’ mental health needs by imposing new external stressors — while isolating them from peers and lacking athletic, academic and social experiences — child psychiatric services in Iowa were scarce.

“Our numbers in Iowa have been consistently challenging,” Elliott said.

While American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry considers 47 “child and adolescent psychiatrists” per 100,000 youth a “sufficient” number, Iowa has eight per 100,000 — or 62 total for its 730,318 residents under 18.

Most Iowa counties have no child and adolescent psychiatrists — about 86 percent, according to the national academy. And the average age of those child psychiatrists he has is 52.

Nationally, Iowa is well below the average of 15 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100,000 youth — trailing only four states: Indiana and Mississippi, which both have seven per 100,000; Idaho, reporting six; and Wyoming with five.

“We know we’re short,” Elliott said. “Of our counties, only 14 counties in the entire state have at least one child psychiatrist living in the county. And the vast majority of those are in your more urban centers … So our rural counties are really struggling to find access to that care.”

As for the specific mental health needs that Iowa’s youth face, Elliott listed ADHD, anxiety and depression among the top issues.

“When you throw in a lot of financial stressors into the family, or kids who have had difficulty with their academic function, which has been disrupted in their COVID years, or kids who have had difficulty learning all the social skills,” she said . “Those few years without that much face-to-face contact has had an impact on their development — so some of their social skills and academic skills are missing going into middle school or high school, which increases their stress levels and increases their burden . depression and anxiety that we see in many young people today.”

“Financial Aid Available”

Those COVID needs earned the university the $20 million in federal funds to establish the center in 2021, and additional philanthropy and support has allowed it to expand and scale—providing 1,037 individual counseling sessions for 114 individual clients from 72 school districts in 60 Iowa counties. 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024.

More than half were from rural counties — with 8 percent reporting no form of insurance and 24 percent on Medicaid.

Of those clients seen, approximately 26% reported suicidal ideation, 11% reported self-harm, 13% had a history of trauma, and 40% experienced bullying.

The center also provided counseling through 73 group sessions – serving 58 people.

Because grant funding ended this year, Elliott said the expanding center is moving to a more traditional fee-for-service model — though its goal remains to reach disadvantaged and low-income populations.

“We also have financial help available for families who either don’t have insurance or have high co-pays,” she said. “By having a built-in safety net, we want to be available to children and families who fall into many of the gaps.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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