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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017
Astoria schools look to improve mental health screening
District wants
to serve social,
emotional needs
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
The Astoria School Dis-
trict is looking at how to more
holistically serve the mental
health needs of all students,
from universal screening and
classroom education to indi-
vidual counseling.
The district recently inter-
viewed nurses, special edu-
cators, counselors, adminis-
trators and staff from Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare and
the Clatsop County Juvenile
Department..
“We’re asking not just how
we provide services or a coun-
selor, right,” said Andrew Fick,
a former community mental
health counselor who has been
at Astoria High School for
the past seven years. “Men-
tal health is really, ‘How do
we serve all students’ mental
health?’”
Fick said about one-quarter
of students in the last Oregon
Healthy Teens Survey indi-
cated they would benefit from
followup screening. “We know
that a quarter of our students
are needing that help, but we
don’t necessarily know who
those students are,” he said.
Fick said mental health
screening could be incorpo-
rated into something more uni-
versal, such as the academic
registration process. “It could
be as simple as five ques-
tions, and for us that could
flag, ‘Here are some kids who
are maybe needing additional
supports.’”
Trauma-informed
Another recommendation
was to increase staff awareness
of social and emotional needs,
with teachers often being the
front line of identifying stu-
dents in need. Fick said the dis-
trict needs to embed social and
emotional learning exercises
into the everyday classroom.
One
recommendation
called for more training in
trauma-informed care, an
organizational structure that
acknowledges childhood trau-
mas and how they affect learn-
ing and lifestyle choices. Mul-
tiple studies have shown that
adverse childhood experiences
such as neglect, violence and
other stressful family envi-
ronments can contribute to
unhealthy behaviors, depres-
sion and suicidal thoughts.
Other staff recommenda-
tions called for a part-time
Man pleads not guilty in murder
The Daily Astorian
A man arrested in connec-
tion to the death of his uncle in
Warrenton pleaded not guilty
Monday to murder and assault
charges.
Christopher Eric Johns, 45,
of Astoria, was arrested March
2 after his uncle, Ronald Bou-
dreau, 66, was found beaten
to death in his home days ear-
lier on U.S.
Highway 101
Business. A
woman was
also allegedly
assaulted at
the home.
A
bail
hearing has Christopher
E. Johns
yet to be
scheduled.
The defense filed a pretrial
discovery motion last week,
asking the District Attorney’s
Office to provide them with
evidence they intend to pres-
ent in the case. Kris Kaino,
Johns’ lawyer, said the defense
may file a motion to sever the
two charges depending on the
outcome of the pretrial discov-
ery motion.
An early resolution confer-
ence has been set for July.
student assistance director to
address drug and alcohol vio-
lations and prevention educa-
tion; a full-time social worker
to help students and fami-
lies access available services;
and a dedicated mental health
counselor for John Jacob
Astor and Lewis and Clark
elementary schools.
Superintendent
Craig
Hoppes said he would take
the recommendations to
administrators to discuss in
the context of budgeting,
with the understanding that
requests need to be made by
May.
Counseling
Staff also called for the
hiring of an in-house men-
tal health counselor, allow-
ing more private counselors
into school to see students and
more partnerships between
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LITTLE LIBRARY
AUCTION F UNDRAISER
A Fundraiser for Libraries ROCC
Providing Library Reading Outreach Services for all
Children in Clatsop County
Wright joins Seaside City Council
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Steve Wright
raised his right hand as City
Manager Mark Winstanley
administered the oath of office
Monday.
“We have an auspicious
moment tonight, and the city
manager’s going to do the hon-
ors,” Mayor Jay Barber said.
Wright was sworn in as
Seaside’s newest city coun-
cilor to fill the remainder of
Barber’s unexpired council
term. Barber replaced former
Mayor Don Larson, who died
in December.
Wright, a Seaside home-
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Steve Wright is congratu-
lated by City Manager Mark
Winstanley after being
sworn in as a member of
the Seaside City Council.
owner for nearly five years,
is also a member of the Bud-
get Committee and president
of the Seaside Museum and
Historical Society’s board of
directors.
“It’s going to be great to
have Steve as a part of our
council, and congratulations,”
Barber said. “Let it be known
we’re at full strength since last
November.”
Wright is former chief
financial officer of Columbia
Grain International, a com-
pany he served with for 35
years before retirement.
“I’m honored and want to
thank each of you for appoint-
ing me to this position and
having the confidence in me,”
Wright said. “I look forward to
serving with you.”
to take part. “If you look at the
research, to get the best bang
for your buck, we really need
to be focused on family sys-
tems work.”
Baker echoed the calls for
a more multitiered, commu-
nity level approach at address-
ing mental health concerns.
She said the community as
a whole needs to address
increasing parental involve-
ment in schooling, decreas-
ing the social isolation of
families and increasing chil-
drens’ social connectedness in
schools.
“The solution isn’t attach-
ing a counselor to every kid
who is struggling,” she said,
adding that her agency is lim-
ited in the number of coun-
selors by Medicaid funding.
“There’s not enough money
for that, and there’s probably
not enough counselors.”
schools and outside social ser-
vice agencies.
For the past three years,
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, the county’s mental
health agency, provided coun-
selors in each of district’s
schools, significantly increas-
ing the number of students
seeking out mental health-
care. But the agency consol-
idated services into the high
school this year, having par-
ents transport children there.
Hoppes said the consolida-
tion has decreased the num-
ber of younger kids seeking
treatment.
Amy Baker, executive
director of Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, said Mon-
day that the agency’s new
model provides more sched-
uling flexibility for families
and more effective counsel-
ing when parents are required
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