ATHENS, Ohio — The Joe Burrow Foundation and Nationwide Children’s Hospital launched a new mental health initiative Tuesday aimed at equipping school-based health centers in 20 Appalachian Ohio school districts with tools to address students’ mental health needs.
The Burrow Blueprint: Advancing Primary Care Mental Health in Schools provides training and consulting to strengthen school-based health centers, focusing on districts that received grants in 2024 through Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative. The $64 million initiative supports health care access in 36 communities across 20 Appalachian counties, with five new school-based health centers opened and 15 more planned over the next year.
The program offers primary care teams education on conditions like anxiety, depression, and ADHD, along with peer-to-peer support and access to psychiatric consultations. It aims to build capacity for school health providers to manage mental health concerns directly, reducing the need for specialist referrals.
“In our hometown of Athens, Ohio, access to mental health resources was extremely limited. This is common across the United States, as more than half of rural counties have zero psychiatrists,” said Robin Burrow, secretary and treasurer of the Joe Burrow Foundation. “We know primary care providers are the first point of contact for families dealing with a mental health concern, but they might not always feel like they have the expertise to treat mental health issues. The goal of the Burrow Blueprint is about building capacity, fostering connections and improving outcomes in the mental health space.”
Nationwide Children’s, which has provided primary care mental health services in its 20 school-based health centers for nearly a decade, reported that 97% of students with behavioral health concerns were managed by primary care providers during the 2023-2024 school year without needing a specialist.
“Our model empowers school-based primary care teams to confidently address student mental health needs in their local communities,” said Mary Kay Irwin, senior director of school health services at Nationwide Children’s. “We’ve reduced psychiatry wait time by almost four months. When this type of service is provided in schools, it allows students to stay in school and attain better academic achievement.”
The program also incorporates community feedback to tailor services to local needs. In addition to Ohio, the Burrow Blueprint is launching in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with plans for future expansion.
For more information, visit NationwideChildrens.org/Burrow-Blueprint.