As staff from Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (LSS), an agency focused on health and human services, reviewed their school-based mental health program, they felt it was missing a key component.
“In talking with our employees serving students, the same message kept coming up: If we could get parents involved, we believe our outcomes would improve,” said Amanda Krzykowski, LSS director of performance and quality improvement. “That was when we started designing a program that would include a family coach who worked directly with families.”
With the help of a Community Impact Grant from the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, LSS launched a project to improve youth mental health in Milwaukee County through the implementation of the School-Centered Mental Health (SCMH) model, which utilizes family coaching services and community engagement to foster youth mental health and strengthen family resilience.
Since the project began in 2024, LSS has been able to serve 11 Milwaukee schools and bring family coaches to 336 children and their families. Most of the families live in inner-city neighborhoods with a high concentration of poverty and incarceration.
In addition to coaches, the WPP grant helped form a community stakeholder group that includes families and representatives of partner organizations designed to focus on bringing more resources and connections to the schools.
The grant also supports a study by a team from the Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee led by the project’s academic partner, Dr. Josh Mersky, professor of social work.
As one aspect of the study, Mersky’s team is conducting qualitative research, interviewing caregivers about their experiences with school-centered mental health care and the family coach. They are finding poignant examples, including one mother who reached out to the school counselor because her 10-year-old daughter was struggling with grief and anger issues after the death of a sibling. Her daughter received therapy at school, and a coach followed up at home with the entire family. She credited the family coach with helping the child, and the whole family, heal from the tragedy.
Amanda Krzykowski and Josh Mersky discuss the WPP project in this Q&A.
How does the family coach work with a child’s caregivers?
Amanda Krzykowski: Our family coach works with the family on social determinants of health factors. If there are issues with transportation, utilities or food security, the coach helps connect that family to the resources they need in the community. They help the families sign up for services and make phone calls. They don’t just give parents a phone number, they’ll make the call with them, assist the family in filling out required paperwork, and support families as they seek employment through resume writing and interview preparation.
One parent served by LSS was struggling to meet with her family coach due to working two jobs on top of caring for her family. She was a busy mom. Our coach got creative. With the mom’s consent, they rode the bus together during the mom’s commute to work, to check in and further build their relationship. Our coaches don’t have an office; they’re out in the community all the time. They’ll meet parents where they’re at, whether it’s a park, a library or a McDonald’s.
Coaches also act as mental health educators; they talk to the family about their child’s diagnosis, and what they can do at home to nurture the skills the child is learning in therapy. They’re a conduit between the families and the therapist.
How do we know it’s working?
Josh Mersky: Our team used both quantitative and qualitative methods to generate data. Our pre- and post-tests showed an increase in caregiver connectedness to the schools over time and a reduction in children’s emotional and behavioral concerns. A key component of the study was a screener for social determinants of health affecting the families. This showed a decrease in food and housing insecurity, increased access to childcare, and feeling more safe in their homes.
For the qualitative research, we interviewed family coaches about the strategies they use to build stronger relationships between the schools and the families. We’ve done interviews with the families about their experiences, and with community stakeholders.
How has the family coach program expanded?
Amanda Krzykowski: In 2018, LSS began implementation of the new model in three charter schools operated by the United Community Center (UCC) located on the south side of Milwaukee. In 2021, we expanded our services to Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Currently, LSS serves 13 schools through the School Centered Mental Health program.
How is the community stakeholder group involved?
Josh Mersky: Lutheran Social Services has convened a network of people committed to school-centered mental health services and improving social determinants of health in Milwaukee. The theory of change is that if you can address the social and economic stressors, and the barriers to services and opportunities, you can enhance the mental health of students and their caregivers.
Amanda Krzykowski: About half the community stakeholder group’s members represent partner organizations, while the other half are residents with lived experience. The Collective for Powerful Action (the Collective) — one of the partner organizations engaged in this project — brings community voice to the center, turning lived experience into action that strengthens safety, trust and well-being across Milwaukee.
In partnership with MPS, the Collective has intentionally engaged two schools with a focus on building relationships and becoming a trusted partner. The Collective has attended a variety of school events while spreading awareness of the group’s work. As the group’s relationships within these schools grew, we were able to begin facilitating listening sessions with parents and caregivers. The Collective continues to work towards building an action plan for engaging families with the understanding that the more effectively the Collective supports families, the better the outcomes for children. While the family coach continues their work on social determinants, the Collective has been able to consider whole school communities, asking how we can bring more connections and resources into schools.
How will family coaching model be sustained in the future?
Josh Mersky: There’s a growing movement for school-based mental health services. Having an auxiliary provider like a family coach who can reinforce the gains, and strengthen the dynamics between school and home, is really important.
Amanda Krzykowski: Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate the impact of the family coach model and use those insights to inform policy change. Utilizing the research to demonstrate the value of partnering with community organizations to provide family coaches in a school setting, our hope is to find ways to make family coaching a sustainable component of school-based mental health care.
Our partnership with UW-Milwaukee has allowed us to dig into the data differently. The information they have collected from program employees, families and stakeholders will be used to guide the work. It also brings deeper insight into what works, and where the barriers are. This partnership will help support our work, as an organization and community, to promote policies that expand school-based mental health care in Wisconsin.
