Free mental health resources for Jessamine County teachers

Jessamine County Schools partner with Human Development Company to bring therapy to educators in the district.

JESSAMINE COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – The pandemic has taken a physical and mental toll on many, teachers included. Its why the Jessamine County school district is offering ‘free’ mental health care to all employees.

Even before the pandemic began, Jessamine County Schools Superintendent Matt Moore saw a need for mental health care among educators and decided to implement an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that would offer district employees free therapy.

“We were able to really work out some of those kinks so we really had it in full operation when the pandemic actually hit,” says Moore.

Through a partnership with the Human Development Company, Moore says about 10% of the 1,400 Jessamine County school employees have taken advantage of this program. He says those who’ve used this resource are appreciative it’s been available throughout the pandemic.

“Our educators have been faced with a lot of significant challenges with regard to the pandemic,” says Moore. “Even so much so that I think that they have chosen to pick up a lot of the responsibilities and a lot of the burdens of our families.”

Counselors say the stress and anxiety people are dealing with during the pandemic is similar to what you may see in a war, except this battle is largely invisible and still ongoing.

“We are experiencing the same level of stress from the things that we have been experiencing but it’s not ending, it’s continuing,” says Daniel Lee, owner and CEO of the Human Development Company. “So the level of stress that people had two years ago is being compounded with continuing levels of stress, you know, the numbers go up and so our anxiety go up.”

The company says counseling isn’t just for teachers and frontline workers, but everyone, and it’s just one way to reduce burnout and absenteeism.

“The districts that may be struggling are thinking that financially they can’t afford it. They don’t realize they really can’t afford not to have it,” says Lee. “This service actually helps schools be more effective because a happier, healthier teacher is going to provide a happier, healthier classroom.”

“This is just an opportunity to support our teachers and support staff so that they’re prepared to go into that classroom and to give our students the very best,” says Moore.