A five-year $3.4 million grant has been awarded to the IU School of Education and Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Education is the second collaborative project between Assistant Professor Heather Ormiston and Jennifer Anderson, Director of Student Services for Richland Bean Blossom Community Schools. The “SMAHRT Initiative: Supporting the Mental Health of RBB Students” project will help recruit, train and retain school counselors to implement mental health services in schools. This grant will focus exclusively on the recruitment and retention of school-based mental health personnel within the district and will address increasing the number of credentialed School-Based Mental Health providers from the community served by the local education agency. This grant will also encourage the retention of hired school counselors by providing opportunities for advancement and professional development specific to mental health initiatives in schools.

The grant will run through December 31, 2027. Another project with Ormiston’s involvement is also financed with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and is in year four. That project has helped train school psychology students to implement mental health support in schools through a Multi-Tiered System of Support.