Many passersby might have taken note of the construction of the new portable on campus. The portable is a result of the changes and expansions to the Mental Health Department working at CHS. During Jan. of 2011, the responsibility for all mental health affairs was transferred to staff in the districts rather than in the Mental Health Department, which is a separate agency outside of the districts. These changes, including the addition of the portable and the development of new mental health strategies, will further benefit students.

As a result of the responsibility of mental health now placed on the district, the Mental Health Department received much more funding than prior to these events. More staff members were hired to help expand and improve the department. As of now, CHS has four staff members working in the department, including Lisa Banks-Toma, who worked as a clinical therapist at CHS for three years before being promoted to the head of the department. She is currently helping oversee the different mental health programs the district has to offer and determining plans of action for each student with mental health needs. However she is focusing her efforts on expanding the department.

“I feel like what we’re doing right now in education is very exciting because with mental health right here on student campuses is where we have the more effect for kids,” Banks-Toma said. “And I see people really pulling together and trying to provide the best service they can for kids.”

The new portable on campus is an exciting development for the department as it allows more communication between the staff and more direct communication with students. As opposed to being spread out throughout the campus, the staff now has a specific collaborative space to create new strategies to help students and to provide more effective care. The district is still working with different mental health services, including Tri-City Mental Health and the Department of Mental Health, both of which are previous handlers of mental health matters within the district. They are still involved, but now provide revenues, and response systems such as Crisis Intervention and Psychiatric Mobile Response. The Claremont Police Department is also available to staff members, at different services such as those within universities and school psychiatrists. All of these utilities are now being joined together by the efforts of the staff, who are also looking to see if there is any other services they might need.