Three questions with ... David Johnson
David Johnson, the CEO of the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, talks about his organization's student counseling program called WRAP.
WRAP program surrounded by funding questions
A local program that puts 21 mental health counselors in area high schools, junior highs, and elementary schools is surrounded by funding questions. Enlarge video
City Commission
In one way, the best selling point Bert Nash Chief Executive Officer David Johnson has for his organization's student counseling program - dubbed WRAP - is that it has kept Lawrence out of the national news.
"There is no question in my mind that Lawrence would be on the list of schools across the country where students have committed murder, if WRAP wasn't in place," Johnson said. "There is no question in my mind that Lawrence would be on that list."
There are plenty of questions, though, surrounding the future of the WRAP program - which puts 21 mental health counselors in area high schools, junior highs and elementary schools.
The program is run by the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, but is funded by the Lawrence City Commission, Douglas County Commission and the Lawrence school board. At a joint study session of the three groups, all three praised the work of the program. But only one - the county - committed to finding a way to fund the program at its current levels in 2008. The city and the school district stopped far short of any such commitment.
"I guarantee you that in the next four years there will be service cuts in the school district, and we may start with this one, even with it being as valuable as it is," Superintendent Randy Weseman said. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. That could happen."
The school district provides about $350,000 in funding. The city provides roughly the same amount of money. City commissioners said a projected shortfall in sales tax revenues and a slowdown in property tax growth may cause them to cut back their funding levels in 2008.
"We're kind of between a rock and a hard place," Commissioner Mike Amyx said.
Johnson said he was concerned about future funding for the program, but said he was still holding out hope that the three entities would find a way to maintain current funding levels. He said even if funding was significantly cut that Bert Nash would work to find a way to keep the program operating, although it likely would mean a major reduction in the number of counselors.
The program works with students and their families on issues ranging from suicide prevention to social anxieties to family problems. Johnson said the value of programs like WRAP had been in the news following the shootings in April at Virginia Tech University.
"If that shooter had lived in Lawrence, we probably would have been working with him since the first grade," Johnson said.
The city should make a decision on how much to fund the program by mid-July. The school district likely won't know until August.
Weseman said the school district's funding situation was complicated by a recent ruling from the state that said the district could not use its "at-risk" student money to fund the program because it did not provide direct instruction. Weseman said that left WRAP to compete with other general school district funding needs, such as teacher salaries. The only way for the school district to add to the budget is to increase its local option budget, which would require a public election. Weseman said he did not think that was probable.
"I'm not sure we can go out and get an election passed," Weseman said, especially following a 6 mill increase in the district's property tax rate last year.
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themiddlechild (mary smith) says…
"There is no question in my mind that Lawrence would be on the list of schools across the country where students have committed murder, if WRAP wasn't in place," Johnson said. "There is no question in my mind that Lawrence would be on that list."
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Wow. That's a strong statement.
What's Lawrence going to do next, banned the students? Closed all schools so all the murderers will move to Topeka?
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
WRAP is a great service to all the students in Lawrence. I would hate to see the service cut
dorothyhr (Dorothy Hoyt-Reed) says…
We have an adopted son who graduated this spring! WooHoo. He carried a lot of baggage from the abuse he received from his birth mom. My husband and I were ready to give up more than once, but WRAP and Bert Nash kept us going, and now he is doing great. We couldn't have done it alone. There must be some kind of grants somewhere to keep this program going.
mom_of_three (anonymous) says…
WRAP helps all kids, as it gives them someone to talk to. Schools do have psychologists, but sometimes one person can not do it all.
Andy_Brown (anonymous) says…
Maybe we should look at adding a direct instruction component to WRAP so the District can use those at-risk dollars.
littlelawrencian (anonymous) says…
If this program is cancelled, it will be one of the biggest mistakes this city has made regarding the best thing for the children of our community. There are a lot of kids that fall through the cracks too, that don't get help they need dealing with among things poverty and depression. WRAP saved my childs life! She was always the quiet one that didn't get into trouble but had lots of issues. Through their wonderful program and the staff involved she managed to graduate from high school, she managed to stay alive! That is the biggest part, they helped her learn how to cope with stressors of life, she is doing great today as a result of all their efforts and I can't thank them enough, the money spent on this program is spent well. I will be watching closely and my next vote will be for those that can support this program and keep it going in our schools.
Godot (anonymous) says…
"There must be some kind of grants somewhere to keep this program going."
Private grants (aka personal checks) are an option for those who want to use the service.
Woodstein (anonymous) says…
No doubt WRAP has provided a great community service but Mr. Johnson's opening statement is too broad and, perhaps, a fear shot across the community's bow. As a mental health professional, Johnson knows the value of data and either the reporter didn't ask for supporting data or Johnson simply didn't provide it. I appreciate a leader fighting for his program and hope the community can find a way to keep WRAP in some form, but to imply Lawrence would suffer a fate similar to VT, Columbine or elsewhere is a little over the top - unless he can support his position with meaning data or documentation of his program's effectiveness.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
I guess no developer has figured out a way to make money off WRAP, therefore, it has to go.
coneflower (anonymous) says…
Woodstein:
Scroll up.
pz5g1 (anonymous) says…
Schools already have psychologists, social workers and counselors. What does a WRAP worker offer that these others don't?
dorothyhr (Dorothy Hoyt-Reed) says…
Psychologists in schools are more concerned with diagnosing learning disabilities and developing IEP's, social workers with working on issues of abuse, and counselors with career counseling and raising test scores. WRAP offers a person who can just be there for the student who needs to vent. He/she isn't someone who has to measure, poke and prod, like the others are required to do. They don't have to be obsessed with state assessment scores. In our case, they helped our son keep organized (a daunting task), assisted the overworked special ed teacher, provided a haven from the stress of being different, and at the same time making the child feel that he/she is not really different. They got rid of the alternative high school, now they want to get rid of the one thing that could help a lot of kids stay in school.
pz5g1 (anonymous) says…
Elementary counselors do nothing with career counseling or test scores. They offer counseling. WRAP seems redundant at that level; it may be differnt in jr high and sr high.
costello (anonymous) says…
dorothyhr says: "They got rid of the alternative high school, now they want to get rid of the one thing that could help a lot of kids stay in school."
That was my first thought too. The Lawrence school district is not committed to helping struggling kids.
"In our case, they helped our son keep organized (a daunting task), assisted the overworked special ed teacher, provided a haven from the stress of being different, and at the same time making the child feel that he/she is not really different."
I was told at an IEP meeting that my son couldn't work with the WRAP worker since he's on an IEP. He has to work with the school psych or social worker.
Woodstein (anonymous) says…
Coneflower - scroll up to what?