School-based mental health program expands to more Wake County schools

Sitting among her classmates at Wendell Elementary School and engaged in her lessons is exactly what Caroline Robertson’s mother says she hopes to see.

A few months ago, simple assignments and tests were more difficult for the 7-year-old Wake County student to deal with.

“Caroline was having some issues in the classroom with inability to regulate her emotions,” Robertson’s mother, Somer Overby, explained. “We had met with a pediatrician and things like that just trying to find something, but the waitlist was kind of long for therapy or things like that outside of school.”

In October, Overby said the school’s social worker Melissa Beamon told her about a new option that could help Caroline. The district’s school-based mental health program was expanding to Wendell Elementary.

Wake County Public Schools does not directly hire therapists. Instead, the district partners with local community mental health organizations, who then assign licensed clinical therapists to meet with children at various schools.

“We were ecstatic. As a fulltime working parent, it was going to be hard to try and get her back-and-forth from therapy,” Overby said. “When we found out it was going to be in school and they were going to do everything here, it was phenomenal.”

Overby said enrolling her daughter in the program allowed her to have the consistent support she needed.

When asked how soon she noticed the difference, Overby said a positive shift happened quickly.

“Already she’s able to express herself with her teacher when she’s feeling overwhelmed,” Overby told WRAL. “One of the things that was an issue was her test-taking anxiety, so she’s able to express that to her teacher that, ‘I’m feeling nervous right now,’ so they’ll maybe let her take a few minutes or a walk around before she is able to start the test.”

The mother continued, “The therapy has been able to teach her coping skills and how to express what she needs to say without just getting upset or shutting down.”

Beyond the classroom, Overby said her daughter is now able to better express her feelings to her siblings at home, reducing “meltdowns.”

Robertson told WRAL, “being with mommy” is what helps her feel calm. When mom isn’t around, she showed how she now uses new breathing techniques she learned during therapy to regulate her emotions.

“Take a deep breath for five seconds, hold it in for five seconds and then breathe it out for five seconds,” she said. “It has helped me.”

The student also shared she and her therapist “talk about things and draw,” in order to help her process her feelings.

Beamon said behavioral challenges, like the ones Robertson experiences, are common for students at Wendell Elementary.

“You’d see kids running down the hallways, their emotions are all over the place,” Beamon said.

The social worker said she has noticed a difference this school year after the program was implemented.

“I honestly think mental health is a basic need,” said Beamon. “The feedback I have received is it is helping. That’s what we want to see. We want to see the students able to regulate their emotions, because if you can’t, you can’t learn.”

Therapists involved in the school-based mental health program attend schools once a week and meet with students for about an hour. Telehealth options are also available.

“It’s an environment they’re in every day. I feel like they feel safe here, and they can be themselves. I feel like they can learn those strategies and flourish,” said Beamon. “They can come, talk with their therapist for an hour, and then they go back to class and it’s like a refresh.”

Brittani Bass oversees the program across Wake County Public Schools.

Bass explained that different methods are used to help students of various ages across the district.

“In elementary school, it might be a little more physical: running, biting, kicking,” Bass said. “In middle and high school, children tend to be able to use their words and speak to us.”

The program was first implemented in the 2022-23 school year. Ninety students were served and 377 referrals were made in the first year. By the end of last school year, that number had grown to 286 students served with 518 referrals.

The program is now in 150 schools, serving about 530 students, with more than 1,200 referrals so far this school year.

The program coordinator said rapid growth is a reflection of the need, heightened post-pandemic.

“During COVID, we had remote learning, it really highlighted the need for mental health services,” Bass said. “We saw a greater need for students struggling academically, but also social-emotional needs as well.”

Wendell Magnet Elementary has 16 total referrals this school year.

For parents who may question if elementary is too early to start, Bass said earlier intervention is better.

“Issues can compound as children age, as life continues to happen,” Bass explained. “If we’re able to get children support earlier, they’ll be able to do better in school and life.”

Bass shared that the financial component is a hurdle.

On April 29, 2025, the district told WRAL it received official notice from the U.S. Department of Education that a $14.1 million federal grant for school-based mental health services would not be continued.

The loss of funding meant the district could not expand the program to additional schools and make the program free for students.

Bass said the district recognized the continued growing need county-wide and worked with existing community agencies to continue operating the program as insurance-based. However, because not every provider can accept all insurance, some students may be left unreached.

The grant would have helped fund 27 new positions over five years, including 20 therapists, three instructional assistants, two school social workers, one clinical supervisor, and one program manager.

Bass currently works as the only program coordinator for the entire district.

“Our community agencies definitely worked with us and really stepped it up and hired additional therapists to help us meet the needs of our students,” Bass added.

The district’s mission is to eventually expand the program to all 200-plus schools.

Bass said more providers are needed to make it happen, noting those that already partner with the school have been doing “strong work.”

Beamon agreed that the therapists already working with schools like Wendell Elementary have put in a tremendous amount of effort.

“Right now, we have one therapist in our school, and we could definitely utilize more,” the school social worker said. “If there are therapists out there [who] love to work with school-aged students, I would highly encourage them to apply for agencies that work with our school system.”