On a January night, when the superintendent introduced staff from the Generations Family Health Center, the nonprofit health care group that would provide services at the school, visitors watched from Zoom screens with gleeful smiles.
The plan was for licensed Generations therapists to work in a space on the third floor of the school. Students could be referred by teachers or family members, or they could come in themselves, and therapy sessions would be scheduled during school hours. The therapists would bill insurance on a sliding fee scale, using federal funds if necessary, so there would be no cost to the school and little, if any, cost to families.
Then a chill entered the room as the board members began peppering them with questions. The smiles of the visitors faded.
Would they advise students about birth control or abortion? (They wouldn’t give medical advice, but could discuss it if it comes up.) If children were referred and didn’t want therapy, would they be forced to? (No.) Would peers see students entering treatment, exposing them to ridicule and stigma? (Hopefully not.) Could they get therapy without their parents knowing?
Possibly, yes, was the answer. By law, doctors in Connecticut can provide six sessions of mental health treatment to minors without parental consent under a limited set of circumstances: if the minor sought treatment, it was considered clinically necessary, and requiring parental notification would deter the minor from receiving it.
This arrangement is rarely used; in the nearby town of Putnam, which has hosted a school-based mental health clinic for nine years, treating hundreds of students, not one child has been treated without parental permission, said Michael Morrill, a member of the school board of Putnam.
But it was a major sticking point for Norm Ferron, one of Killingly’s board members, who said the deal “would give a student a lot more access to counseling without seeking parental approval, and I’m not very interested.” in that”.
