Leveraging Personalized Supports for Immediate COVID-19 Response for 4K-12 Students (LPS)

We appreciate the Wisconsin Partnership Program providing the funding for the LPS program and feel it allowed us to offer invaluable support to our most at risk students and families.

At a Glance

When the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) transitioned to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, their diverse student population, including students with health conditions associated with poor COVID-19 outcomes, lost access to school health services that provide assessments, education, referrals and care coordination. To address this barrier, MMSD implemented a program titled “Leveraging Personal Supports for Immediate COVID-19 Response for 4K-12 Students,” also known as the LPS program. The LPS program aimed to provide immediate support and resources to 2,000 MMSD students with medical conditions from June 2020 to May 2021. Results showed that 356 students and their families received services, with 92 percent requiring one to two support sessions. In addition to addressing physical health needs, the program pivoted to focus on addressing social determinants of health needs such as community resource referrals, food insecurity and housing assistance. The LPS program also provided health and cleaning supplies which helped foster positive relationships between families and staff. Because of these efforts, the LPS program received high satisfaction ratings from both families and staff.

The Challenge

The Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) is the second largest school district in Wisconsin with 50 schools and approximately 27,000 students. The MMSD student population is diverse in ethnicity, socioeconomic status and health. Students of color at MMSD report disproportionate rates of health conditions associated with poorer COVID-19 outcomes including asthma, diabetes, complex care, pregnancy, sickle cell anemia, hypertension and cancer. For example, African American students account for 31 percent of asthma cases though they make up only 18 percent of the student population. Students with chronic health conditions who lack appropriate healthcare management may face decreased quality of life and academic achievement. School health services play a crucial role in providing assessments, education, referrals and care coordination for students. Because the district shifted to virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, these services were disrupted, creating barriers for students who rely on them.

Project Goals

In response to the health care barriers that COVID-19 and virtual learning created for MMSD students, the district implemented a program titled “Leveraging Personal Supports for Immediate COVID-19 Response for 4K-12 Students,” also known as the LPS program. The overarching goal of the LPS program was to provide immediate, extended and personalized support and resources for the physical and mental health of a group of 2,000 MMSD 4K-12th graders with medical conditions associated with poor outcomes from COVID-19. This goal was addressed through three objectives:

1. Provide care coordination, support and education to 2,000 MMSD students with medical conditions associated with poor outcomes from COVID-19 from 6/11/20-8/20/20.
2. Provide follow-up monitoring and support to approximately 2,000 MMSD students with medical conditions associated with poor outcomes from COVID-19 from 8/20/20-5/1/21.
3. Evaluate program effectiveness and disseminate outcomes throughout Wisconsin by presenting these findings at three conferences (e.g., Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Student Services, Wisconsin Association of School Nurses, and Wisconsin Association of School Social Workers).

Results

The LPS program made significant progress toward its goal. In total, 466 families were contacted and offered services by dyads of LPS nurses and social workers, and 356 students and their families received services during the summer of 2020. For students that were enrolled, 92 percent needed one to two support sessions for program staff to address their needs, and eight percent of students had more complex or ongoing needs, requiring three to five sessions either grouped together or throughout the summer. The program data indicated that 51 percent of the visits were related to a need for a referral to community resources, 31 percent centered around care coordination for chronic mental and physical health conditions and 14 percent were for acute physical health needs. When broken down further, 21 percent of students served had a health need, 36 percent had a social determinant of health need and 43 percent had concurrent health and social determinant needs.

As the summer progressed the project team recognized that care coordination and promotion of physical health was not the number one priority for the families that were being served in the program. The main focus for students and families during this time was meeting needs related to the social determinants of health. The needs that the nurse-social worker dyads addressed included referrals to community resources, food insecurity, rent and utility funding and assistance in securing new housing.

The LPS program also provided over $14,000 in health and cleaning supplies to families throughout the summer and the 2020-2021 school year. These supplies included hand soap, hand sanitizer, Lysol wipes, thermometers and masks. These items were appreciated by families and helped to promote a good working relationship between the families and LPS staff. Overall, concluding surveys indicated both families and staff were highly satisfied with the LPS program.