Modesto City Schools district renews mental health partnership as need grows
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- Modesto City Schools renewed its mental health partnership as demand increased.
- Counseling session hours rose drastically after placing clinicians at all high schools.
- Crisis intakes fell 31%, as specialists provided regular, proactive support.
The Modesto City Schools board has approved renewing its agreement with the Center for Human Services, a local nonprofit that provides mental health support to students across the district, as demand for these services continues to grow.
MCS has partnered with the center since 1988. Its staff work directly with students to provide socioemotional support. The center also offers professional development for school staff and training for parents on topics such as identifying early signs of mental health issues.
Tony Lomeli, senior director of student support services, presented data to the school board Monday.
What does the data show?
On average, each clinician manages a caseload of 25 students, typically meeting with them once a week over an eight-week period.
District data shows a 19% increase in the number of students served by assistance specialists over the past three school years. Meanwhile, crisis intakes have dropped by 31%, which Lomeli credited to the frequency of one-on-one support and the staff’s proactive approach.
Kimberly Hickman, a fifth-grade teacher in the district, said that without the help of the student assistance specialists, she probably would have quit teaching.
“They have been so supportive and helpful with all of our students,” Hickman said at the board meeting.
Starting in the 2014-15 school year, the district partnered with the Center for Human Services to place mental health clinicians at select schools. These clinicians focused on prevention by training parents and teachers. They also provided counseling to students when needed.
For the first time this past year, clinicians were placed at all high schools. As a result, the number of individual and group session hours with integrated mental health clinicians increased by nearly 208%.
In 2019-20, the district expanded the partnership through a grant program, bringing in family support specialists at targeted sites. These specialists work with families of students who are chronically absent or facing serious behavioral challenges, offering outreach, support strategies and parent training.
Over the past three years, the number of families served has risen by nearly 39%.
According to state data, chronic absenteeism at the district has started to decrease in the past three years, while suspension rates have remained fairly stagnant. Data for the 2024-25 school year was not available.
Lomeli noted that while staffing used to be an issue, the biggest challenge now is staff attrition at the center.
Hispanic students make up the majority of students receiving services — though they also make up a majority of the district’s student population. Meanwhile, Black students received support at nearly three times their proportion in the district, while white students also accessed services at a higher rate than their population size.
According to district-conducted student satisfaction surveys, 91% of students said they felt supported by their counselor or therapist and reported improvements in their area of concern.
“I could not have graduated without your support,” one student wrote in a district survey.
Board President Abel Maestas emphasized that when students feel they don’t belong, it becomes harder to focus on school.
“That’s why mental health services like this are so important to help students clear their minds to be better students,” he said.
Immigration enforcement impact on mental health
Board Vice President Homero Mejia mentioned the anxiety that mixed-status families are experiencing amid reports of ICE raids and mass deportations.
He recommended providing additional training to help staff respond to those concerns and offered to connect the district with local partners who could assist in delivering that support to clinicians.
“If I’m seeing it on social media, it’s everywhere, and it’s having an impact because kids are seeing it every day,” Mejia said.
El Concilio California, a Modesto-based social services organization, reported a 23% overall increase in individuals seeking therapy through its Behavioral Wellness Clinical Services in response to the recent ICE raids. Inquiries and referrals for children, adolescents and youth in urgent need of mental health services also surged by more than 300%.
“The reported incidence of individuals — migrant and undocumented, U.S. citizens of Hispanic heritage and those with permanent residency — choosing to not go to work, not go to school, not go shop and not even leave the interior of their homes because they are afraid to even be seen in their yard is staggering,” said El Concilio Chief Executive Officer José R. Rodriguez. “The need is greater than the region’s provider capacity can handle, and growing faster than local and county governments can respond.”
A 2025 Stanford University study of California’s Central Valley communities found that following a January raid, school absenteeism spiked by 22%, correlating with increased fear and stress among children. Previous research has shown the effects of immigration enforcement activity on children’s academic achievement and emotional well-being, including increased levels of anxiety and depression.
A UC Berkeley study from 2019 reported that between 41% and 45% of U.S.-born Latino teens in California frequently worry about immigration policy impacts, which correlates with marked increases in anxiety symptoms and poorer sleep quality. Research on prekindergartners shows that perceived immigration enforcement threats were associated with overanxious behaviors and reduced self‑regulation across ethnicities.
In school settings, 61% of teachers have reported declining academic performance among Latino students linked to immigration fears, 58% observed absenteeism tied to deportation anxiety and 85% noted children fearing ICE presence on campus, according to the UCLA Latino Policy & Politics Institute.
“These findings illustrate how the constant threat of deportation — beyond actual removal — operates as a form of ‘legal violence,’ exerting lasting psychological harm,” Rodriguez said. “All this underscores the necessity for systemic support to mitigate toxic stress and foster resilience among vulnerable immigrant communities.”
He emphasized the need for culturally responsive mental health interventions, school-based trauma support and policies that reduce fear related to immigration enforcement — such as sanctuary measures and pathways to citizenship.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 10:50 AM.
