WELLESLEY, MASS. (WHDH) - Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday announced new funding for a program aimed at helping support students who have fallen behind due to mental health challenges.
Dubbed the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program, the program has historically “only been available to districts with the economic resources to get it off the ground,” according to an announcement from the Healey-Driscoll administration.
The new $13 million investment announced on Tuesday will aim to expand efforts by adding new Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition programs at more than 30 high-need schools across the state, officials said.
“Every student should have the support needed to balance their mental health and education,” Healey said in a statement. “Expanding BRYT is a critical step that is bringing us closer to that goal.”
Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition programs provide support for students including academic case management, direct clinical care, family support, and “broad care coordination in a dedicated classroom space…that serves as a safe home base while these students transition back to full participation in academics and school life,” according to state officials.
Within programs, academic coordinators work with students and teachers to help students catch-up and return to full class schedules.
Wellesley High School’s Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program was one of the first such programs established in Massachusetts in the mid-2000s.
As she and Healey’s administration announced new funding, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said supports like Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition programs “shouldn’t only be a reality for students in schools with the resources to establish the programming themselves.”
“We want every student in Massachusetts to thrive scholastically and emotionally,” Driscoll said. “Expanding BRYT brings us one step closer to that goal.”
The $13 million for Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition programs includes $3 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act money and $10 million from the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Trust Fund.
As of Tuesday, officials said, seven schools had already been identified as recipients of new funding, including Boston’s John D. O’Bryant School, Brockton High School, Everett High School, Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, Malden High School, Springfield’s High School of Commerce, Springfield Legacy Academy and Taunton High School. An additional 25 schools will receive funding in the coming months.
Each school that receives funding will get $259,000 over 20 months to create and staff dedicated school-based bridge programs, officials said.
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