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Students today struggle with unprecedented levels of social and emotional issues, and schools are bearing the brunt of this crisis.
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Schools are the best authority on what they need, and must be included in the process of developing services.
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No single approach will be sufficient; we need to increase access to care, provide accommodations in schools, and teach children skills to manage their challenges.
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Many valuable programs exist, and more are being developed. But when faced with an issue in the classroom right now, schools need someone they can call for advice and support.
History of SNLP
Initially a pilot program at McLean Hospital, the McLean School Nurse Liaison Project was funded by a generous 5-year private grant to develop a program offering support services to schools. The MSNLP employed a single Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with experience in both pediatric psychiatric treatment and school nursing, who worked with enrolled schools to flexibly provide the services schools identified as most needed: consultation, education, and resources.
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When the grant was exhausted in 2021, the schools rallied around MSNLP and petitioned the state to fund the program to continue and expand statewide. Renamed the Massachusetts School Nurse Liaison Project, the program merged with the MA Child Psychiatry Access Project, which offers similar consultation services to pediatricians.
In 2022, finding it difficult to integrate the educational focus of the MSNLP into the clinical focus of their services, MCPAP and McLean Hospital decided to discontinue their affiliation with the program. The Director of MSNLP and a group of school staff then formed the School Nurse Liaison Project, a nonprofit organization founded to ensure that these vital services will continue.
