Waco ISD partners with Waco Family Medicine for student mental health services

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - As more and more students face behavioral health challenges such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and ADHD, Waco ISD is helping give their students access to licensed behavioral health professionals.

Thanks to a new partnership between the district and Waco Family Medicine, clinicians with Waco Family Medicine will soon be placed at Cesar Chavez, Tennyson, and G.W. Carver middle school.

For years, Waco ISD Deputy Superintendent Melissa King-Knowles says they’ve worked with Waco Family Medicine, who shared with them a growing need within the district.

“Waco Family Medicine has shared that Waco itself, we have a 29% higher rate of the pediatric mental health hospitalizations than the state average for Texas,” King-Knowles shared.

And so since fall of 2024 they’ve been working together on a new pilot program that addresses this issue, something Chief Behavioral Health Officer, Doctor Lance Kelley, says they’re really excited about.

“We’re going to embed behavioral health clinicians or mental health providers into the schools to provide evidence based behavioral health care,” Dr. Kelley explained.

Adding that the reason they chose to start with middle school is because it is a critical period of time for kids.

“There are a lot of changes going on, but one of those changes is that there can be a period in which we’re more likely to develop behavioral health disorders,” he said, “we know that the earlier we provide treatment, the better the outcomes are”.

King-Knowles says what makes this program so unique is how intentional it is, ensuring students have the support they need to overcome any challenges.

“We’ll be working in partnership with families, so it’s really important to understand that the parents are going to have a crucial role in this process as well, “ she explained, “We will be working with all parties invested and wanting to see a student receiving these kinds of services”.

The flight program will launch as early as this January, and as it grows they hope to eventually expand it to all 23 of their schools.

“Ultimately we’d love to see our students thrive even more than they already are so that they can be better human beings and they emerge from our school system equipped and ready to take on the world,” King-Knowles shared.

She adds that while this program isn’t the first of its kind statewide, here in Central Texas it is… sharing their hope to be a beacon for the region.

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