The mission of Communities In Schools of the Permian Basin (CISPB) is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Following this mission, the Mental Health Support Program within CISPB aims to increase in-depth support for students and families in order to provide an opportunity to continue to overcome barriers to success in their academic and personal lives by addressing mental health challenges and crises.

The goal of the Mental Health Support Program is to eliminate barriers students and families often face when seeking out mental health services. For example, students and families must overcome barriers such as: significant portions of missed instruction time during the school day, lack of transportation, insufficient funds to pay for services, lack of insurance or high insurance copays and premiums, lack of appropriate after-care treatment, scheduling conflicts, and battling the negative stigma against receiving mental health services and treatment. Through the Mental Health Support Program, these barriers are directly addressed and, in many cases, eliminated through the following measures:

• Providing mental health services during the school day
• Providing services free-of-charge
• Providing the opportunity for after-care through the case-management branch of CIS (when available)
• Providing a positive atmosphere in the school setting to help eliminate negative stigma surrounding mental health services