Madison Central School District Receives NYS Mental Health Grant

  • Posted August 23, 2022
Madison Central School

Madison Central School

MADISON, NY - The Madison Central School District is proud to announce that it has received a Student Mental Health Support Grant from the New York State Office of Mental Health. The grant takes effect for the 2022-23 academic year and will provide the district with $1,050,054 over a five-year period.

This grant funding opportunity was obtained through a competitive application process. Districts were required to produce a plan to illustrate how they will utilize the funding in accordance with the following objectives: 

  • Enhancing access to mental health services. 
  • Implementing integrated mental health supports. 
  • Strengthening partnerships with existing supports in mental health systems, as well as the larger child-serving system. 

Within the plan, Districts had to include a budget narrative, a staffing plan and an itemized budget overview that accounted for the requested funds.

The District will utilize the new funding to enhance several key initiatives. Some examples include: 

  • Strengthening their existing mental health partnerships with ICAN (Integrated Community Alternatives Network)
  • Support for community events hosted by the District
  • Guest speakers specializing in topics with a mental health focus, such as bullying and mindfulness. 
  • Enhancing and developing the District’s commitment to the RULER Approach for Social and Emotional Learning. (An evidence-based SEL approach developed by Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence)

Madison Central School District Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Special Education Mr. Brian Latella is enthusiastic about what this funding will provide to the District’s staff and students. 

“We are just extremely excited about the support and opportunities that the New York State Office of Mental Health is giving to support the social, emotional and mental well-being of our faculty, students, and families,” Latella said. “That is a huge priority for our kids right now. Our grant application was developed to strengthen those areas within Madison Central School.”

Information on initiatives funded by this grant will be shared on the Madison Central School District website and Facebook page.