5. Coordination with home environment. 6. In-service training of Bureau of Indian Affairs and Public Health Service school staff. 7. Case conferences. 8. Research and development. In order to fulfill the functions called for by these tasks, the following members of the mental health team are needed: 1. Consultant psychiatrist, and director, mental health program: (% time) $1,200 per month, 10 months-- 2. Clinical psychologist : full time, salary $1,500 per month-10 months__ 3. Psychiatric social worker: full time, salary $1,100 per month-12 months 4. Administrative secretary (GS 6?): full time, salary: $675 per month 5. Senior stenographic clerk (GS 4?): full time, salary $575 per month__ Total Salaries__. Total Operations: Furniture, approximately 20 to 25 percent of salaries, office supplies $12.000 15,000 13, 200 8.100 6, 900 $55, 200 13, 800 $69, 000 ANTHONY E. ELITE, M.D. REPORT OF AD HOC JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE ON MENTAL HEALTH Members: N. Kalajan, Chr., A. Castiglia, K. Calloway, J. Chapman, A. Elite, M.D., B. Friedman, R. Orilla, C. MacMillan. A series of situations in the Phoenix Indian School indicated a growing Mental Health problem among the students. Concommitant with this, a need for improved joint working relationship between the Phoenix Indian School and Public Health Service was apparent. A letter from James Kilgore, M.D., contract Psychiatrist, indicating some solutions to the problems, stimulated a meeting of representatives of the two agencies on Jan. 22, 1968. The above committee was appointed by Superintendent Wallace with the approval of Dr. Flood, as a result of this meeting. The Ad Hoc committee met three times,-January 29th, Feb. 5th and Feb. 12th. The meeting discussions centered largely around identifying the mental health problems in the school, categorizing them, and recommending priorities for action. The committee also felt that an authoritative statement on School Mental Health could provide a frame of reference for all concerned, and may help to give needed direction in this significant effort. The following ideas are suggested as baselines for philosophy: From "School Health Education" Third Edition, by Delbert Oberteuffer, Ph. D., p. 360. A. PSYCHOLOGICALLY "HEALTHY" ENVIRONMENT The emotional health of pupils is affected by every aspect of their school system, including the general philosophy of the school, preparation of the curriculums, selection and appointments of teachers, and procedures related to supervision, discipline, promotion, and grade placement. A child-centered curriculum in which the native interests and needs of learners are guiding factors in determining content is more likely to be productive of well-adjusted children than one in which the content is determined by "college boards” or other extraneous standards. A school in which the students feel at home, as if they were a part of it rather than merely forced to attend classes in the building, one in which there is mutual respect and a friendly attitude between staff and students, has this healthy atmosphere. The system of discipline, of rules and regulations governing student conduct, must be eminently fair and intelligent, and its formation participated in by students, if possible. From "Mental Health in Schools" prepared jointly by the Assoc. of State and Territorial Health Officers, the Association of State and Territorial Mental Health Authorities, and the Council of Chief State Officers, Washington, D.C. 1966. "Mental Health practices and procedures should be an integral part of the current school health and educational programs. The school should examine in depth, its internal policies, communications, and personnel practices and their impact on the mental health aspects of the health and educational programs. Because schools influence mental health either adversely or constructively, it is urgent that they define their role in bringing mental health concepts and services into the health and educational programs. The universality of the school experience, its duration, and its importance to children and youth require that the mental health implications of the school health and educational processes be examined carefully." Appraisal IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS The need to reappraise the curriculum for students with special problems; to have a more individualized approach, not necessarily with the goal of a diploma, but more in keeping with the students' interests, abilities and potential for growth. Need to reappraise the dormitory program with regard to objectives, desided outcomes and proposed ways to achieve them. Need to retool our educational approach, to better meet the needs of the Indian students; to structure new approaches along with existing ones in working with teachers, staff and students to enable the school to do a better job for students. Need to appraise the total school health program, with particular emphasis on implications for mental health education and services. Inservice education Need to help school and PHS staffs to understand the meaning of the difficult situations that arise so that more satisfying action can be taken in regard to them. Need for all staff to understand the normal growth and development as well as the problems of adolescents. Need to provide staff with understanding of how the mind works and why, especially with regard to adolescents. Need to provide staff with understanding of the tribal cultural differences as represented in the student population. Need for staff to study and understand the relationship of cultural background factors to students' attitudes toward discipline. Need to explore and understand the specific problems of students, such as drinking, indifference to educational objectives, to school rules, etc. Staff expansion Need for full-time school Social Service Worker. Need for additional academic faculty skilled in special education; the need is indicated by the many factors demanding intensive work with students, such as academic retardation, social problems, etc. In general, measurement of teacher-pupil ration should not be made by the same standards used in regular high school situations. Need for additional professionally trained counsellors in the Guidance Department. Need for dormitory personnel as may be indicated by a reappraisal of the dormitory program. Health services Need to identify, define and improve health services to students. Need to improve intra and interagency communications relating to health services. Need to identify students with emotional problems and refer them to a Mental Health Team for evaluation. Need to explore a different type of staffing in the school Clinic, for early detection of emotional and psychiatric disturbances. Miscellaneous Need for organization of a SCHOOL HEALTH STEERING COUNCIL. Need for student involvement in health programing and in health problem solving-(possibly indicating the need for formation to a student health committee). Need to appraise the problems posed by off-reservation Boarding School attendance as they may relate to the mental health of students. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRIORITY ACTION BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE In view of the many problems enumerated herein, and recognizing the lack of feasibility of approaching all of them at once, the committee members suggest the following programs for action now: (In order of priority :) 1. Organize a School Health Steering Council. 2. Develop plans for and implement, a Mental Health In-Service Education program for all PIS and PHS staff having to do with students. 3. Employ a full-time School Mental Health Team. 4. Plan and implement a Pilot Program for a select, limited number of students with emotional problems. K. Seneca Boarding School, Jones Academy, and 1. REPORT PREPARED BY DR. LESLIE LEWIS AND DR. JACK CAZZELLE (SUMMARIZED BY SUBCOMMITTEE STAFF) A. INTRODUCTION Between June 27, 1966 and June 26, 1967 two faculty members of Southeastern State College, Durrand, Okla., conducted a research and training project for the Office of Juvenile Delinquency and Youth Development of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The investigators, Dr. Leslie Lewis and Dr. Jack Cazzelle, collected their data by video tapes, audio tapes, personal interviews, consultant reports, and discussions and consensus among staff. Their purposes were to (1) identify and describe the kinds of interaction that take place between youth and adults, between the dormitory staff and the teachers, between the teachers and administrators, and to a certain extent, between the school and the nearby communities, (2) to identify the difficulties in interactions that students and professionals encounter and (3) to develop interdisciplinary strategies for improving those interactions. It was hoped that the program would provide an opportunity for change in the functional philosophy of the participating institutions. The information which follows has been taken from their final report to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (#66221), "A Training Program to Effect Change in Institutionalized Non-Reservation Indian Youth." B. THE SCHOOLS The schools participating in the research and training program were selected by the area office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs as representative of different kinds of boarding school situations in the BİA system. The area office personnel also felt the program would have a chance of success in these schools since they had been judged leaders in many areas and were staffed with personnel who were receptive to new ideas. Seneca is a coeducational BIA boarding school with some 200 students in grades 1 through 8; it is located in the northeast corner of Oklahoma; Jones Academy in east central Oklahoma houses 286 students in grades 1 through 12 who attend public schools. Eufala, located in east central Oklahoma, houses girls only in a BIA dormitory who attend public schools, grades 1-12. Indian students are enrolled in these three schools primarily because of "parent limitations". These include: lack of a satisfactory home; parents who isolate themselves from the community; parents who drink and are delinquent; parents unprepared for the responsibility of child rearing; and unwed parents who cannot provide a stable living arrangement. Not surprisingly, these situations tend to create severe emotional problems for the children, and the report quotes, Many of these youths have been truants in public schools and have exhibited predelinquent behavior that makes a controlled school environment necessary. They have problems with which local school systems cannot cope. They come from problem homes and problem communities and bring their problems with them. Some of the youth come from homes where English is not spoken or is spoken as a second language. Very few of them come from homes where reading is a normal activity and parents have no real understanding or interest in education. Many children from these kinds of homes have very limited English vocabularies and generally lack ability in written or oral English. These youth have been referred to as "socially maladjusted" because of social problems in their homes. Many of the antisocial behavior exhibited by these youth is: running away from school, glue sniffing, hostility, drinking, and a defeated attitude that indicates a poor self-image. How well do the schools cope with the special student body? The following information, taken directly from comments and observations in the final report, suggests that there is much room for improvement. In regard to the Seneca school. There seems to be little or no communication among units or departments regarding planning of activities, or problems concerning the youth. This sometimes results in activities being canceled because of conflicts, or youth being punished more than once for misbehavior, i.e., youth made to stay after school for misbehavior, then later restricted from activities in the dormitories for the same act. This concept of reward and punishment on the campus does not appear to reflect the goals or regulations set forth by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The boarding school staff is almost entirely Indian, with the median age in the 40's; many of them have attended boarding schools or have spent all or most of their working lives in boarding schools. Their approach to dealing with youth, whatever it may be, appears to be based on this background. The report finds that the dormitory staff defines its role as substitute parents but appears to have difficulty in identifying the responsibilities of that role. They are sensitive to public criticism and have a tendency to turn on students when trouble arises. This sensitivity is exhibited in some staff members by their constantly reminding students that they are Indian and that their behavior should be twice as good as anyone else's, and by other staff members who become upset when they feel that a youth's behavior will reflect on the school or Indian people. The academic staff are certified teachers wth college degrees; some of the other staff are attempting to achieve some post high school education and many have attended guidance workshops sponsored by BIA. Even though varying degrees of training are prevalent among dormitory and academic staff, there appears to be little difference in their attitude toward youth and their approach to dealing with them. Regarding the adequacy of the educational program at Seneca, the report has this to say: |