More Youth to Get Mental Health Services with New Partnership

Bowie State Links with Prince George’s Co. Public Schools & UMD on Counselor Education

MEDIA CONTACT: Damita Chambers, dchambers@bowiestate.edu, 301-832-2628 mobile

(BOWIE, Md.) – In meeting the need to improve access to mental health resources for local schoolchildren, Bowie State University is joining the Prince George’s County Public Schools and the University of Maryland to train more aspiring school counselors to support students’ total well-being and academic success.

Through the school district’s five-year, $280,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education, about 25 master’s degree students in Bowie State’s accredited school counseling program will receive additional specialized training and earn a stipend while completing a required 600-hour internship working with children in need. The program is designed to place interns in 10 high-needs schools where they can do the most good – in schools with a shortage of counselors and a high proportion of low-income families. Once students graduate, they will be ready to become effective school counselors who can spot warning signs of mental health challenges and connect children and their families to appropriate community resources.

“School is a level playing field – everybody comes though the school door. As a school counselor, you can an opportunity and pleasure to work with so many different families. And this may be the only time that they get someone to say, ‘I see Michelle everyday, and she seems not herself,’” said Nikki Ham, BSU’s school counseling program’s field placement coordinator and the partnership's liaison. “A family may feel more trusting of the school counselor because they have developed more of a rapport and a relationship with them than they have with another provider outside of the setting they see every day.”

Bowie State is the only University System of Maryland school with school counseling and mental health counseling degree programs that are accredited by CACREP, the national organization that sets the standard for professional counselor education. Both the master’s degree programs received full accreditation through 2025. Because of the accreditation, many BSU school counseling students are already taking courses on how to identify signs of mental health challenges in children. This partnership will provide students with even more specialized training to enhance their skills.

The partnership also builds on Bowie State’s long-standing practice of placing several interns with the PGCPS each semester. Many interns find jobs with PGCPS schools after graduation. The PGCPS expects to hire at least five successful interns from this programs, who can continue to provide much needed services to help children succeed because the need is so great.

“More than 20 percent of young people experience diagnosable mental health problems, but fewer of them are getting appropriate intervention,” said Ham. “I just think it’s really, really important to arm our school counselors with another tool in their toolbox to help students not only be academically successful, but also thrive socially and emotionally.”

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About Bowie State University
Bowie State University (BSU) is an important higher education access portal for qualified persons from diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, seeking a high-quality and affordable public comprehensive university. The university places special emphasis on the science, technology, cybersecurity, teacher education, business, and nursing disciplines within the context of a liberal arts education. For more information about BSU, visit bowiestate.edu.