Local Mental Health Pros Expecting Increased Demand for Services During Upcoming School Year

Jen Whetstone, MSW, LICSW Children’s Community-Based Services Director. Photo: Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Centers

WINONA, Minn. (KWNO)-As area kids get ready to return to the classroom, local mental health professionals are preparing for increased demand in services following the 2020 school year.  

“The term that we continue to hear over and over is that we should expect a mental health tsunami,” Children’s Community-Based Services Director for Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Centers Jen Whetstone said during an interview on KWNO on Thursday.

Whetstone said Hiwatha Valley provides mental health care in over 20 schools across Winona, Fillmore, Houston, and Wabasha Counties. She says the care is free of charge and they’re at staffing levels to meet the expected high demand.  

Hiwatha Valley has provided the free service in schools for the past 10 years, Whetstone said. She said a variety of funding streams has allowed them to provide more intensive care in schools.  

Hiawatha’s in-school care provides k-12 students with diagnostic assessments, treatment planning, therapy, and skills training, services Whetstone said are typically offered in an outpatient setting but are instead offered in local schools. Whetstone says they’re also offering birth to age 5 mental health services as well. 

Whetstone says the services can be accessed through schools or by calling Hiawatha Valley Mental Health Centers at 507-454-4341.