Inside the former elementary school north of Keizer, small pink handprints decorate an otherwise bare wall. They were put there by students who walked the halls over the summer — the first to be discharged from a new program local leaders hope could help address a crisis confronting local schools. In June, leaders of the Salem-Keizer School District and Trillium, a Portland-based mental health provider, transformed the shuttered Eldriedge Elementary School on River Road into the Meadowlark Day Program. Here, young people can get intensive mental health treatment that’s often not available in the community.  A lack of resources means such students often face lengthy waitlists or struggle to make progress with outpatient care that isn’t as frequent as they need. Before Meadowlark opened, the closest such facility was in Corvallis. Serious mental health challenges in students often lead to struggles in school, including disruptive or aggressive behavior that can bring classes to a halt. That leaves teachers and classmates frustrated – and means students with mental health issues aren’t getting the support they need. Meadowlark is, its leaders say, a small piece of the solution. “It’s such a gift to our community,” said Chris Moore, the school district’s director of mental health. He’s referring to the donors and partners who helped get the program running. He said Meadowlark was born of “a belief that we can do better and we must do better” to help kids struggling with severe mental illnesses. A ribbon cutting ceremony is planned for Oct. 9. Chris Moore, left, director of mental health for the Salem-Keizer School District, and Chiharu Blatt, Trillium’s vice president of community services for the Willamette Valley, stand outside the newly opened Meadowlark Day Program facility in a former elementary school on River Road north of Keizer. The program opened in June 2024 and provides intensive mental health treatment for kids. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) A safe place to learn Once home to over 150 students, the Meadowlark campus now has just 11, split among three classrooms. Colorful posters hang on walls, and classrooms look similar to what students might find in any other Salem school. But the hallways are relatively bare, and doors inside the building are kept locked during the day. The facility was designed to require minimal intervention from staff when a child is upset and potentially aggressive, said Chiharu Blatt, vice president of community services for Trillium’s Valley Region. With nothing to grab off the walls and no rooms they can enter, a kid can safely burn through their anger or aggression without staff having to intervene and risk injury, Blatt explains. Rooms are designed for comfort, including swing chairs and bean bags. A stuffed animal is among the accessories in a sensory room. Foam flooring provides a soft space to sit. An outdoor area behind the school remains overgrown with weeds and blackberries that need to be cleaned before students can use it. Meadowlark is nestled between a hazelnut orchard and a field that’s home to several sheep, a goat and a curious cow that the students have dubbed “Milkshake.” “This cow has been amazing,” Blatt said.  A cow who students have dubbed “Milkshake” lives in a pasture next to the Meadowlark Day Program north of Keizer. The animals have provided some spontaneous theraputic benefits for students. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Milkshake has been intrigued by the students, she said, frequently wandering over to the fence to see them. This provides for the students unscripted moments to talk with or pet the animal. Otherwise, the day at the center includes individual and family therapy, medication management and time interacting with staff and peers to practice socializing. The staff of about 10 includes skills trainers, child and family therapists and a psychiatric nurse practitioner.  Children are referred through school social workers and outpatient care providers. Seven of the current students attend the Salem-Keizer School District, while others attend neighboring districts. Students are transported to Meadowlark from their home school districts through a school bus, medical transportation or other service, Blatt said. An unusual form of school Meadowlark is a health care facility first, not a school. The goal is improving students’ mental health over the course of the two or three months most will spend there. School lessons are available, intended mostly to make sure students don’t fall too far behind so they can eventually return to a traditional school. Students are split into classrooms for elementary, middle and high school. It’s a setting not every teacher would relish, but for Joanie Short, it’s the perfect challenge. In late September, the veteran teacher had four students in her elementary school class who range from kindergarten to fifth grade. With little pressure to stick to a curriculum and few students, Short said she can spend her time getting to know her students and what makes them tick, where they’re doing well in school and where they struggle. It’s “like trying to figure out a puzzle,” she said. She tailors lessons to student needs and can often work one-on-one with her pupils. “We give them that space and time that I think is hard in the classroom,” she said. To attend Meadowlark, a student must have a mental health diagnosis and a family that’s willing to work with the program by attending therapy and other appointments. “To provide great outcomes for kids that are sustainable, you have to have the school part, the community part and the family part to make it work,” Moore said. The sensory room at the Meadowlark Day Program, an intensive mental health treatment facility for kids. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) It’s one limit to the program, he said. Many of the students who could most benefit don’t have families that are able or willing to engage. That could be because the children are in the foster care system or because parents work multiple jobs. Getting Meadowlark open required help from several local philanthropists and foundations.  Christy Perry, former Salem-Keizer superintendent,continued to work on the project after retiring in 2023. A company that was a joint venture of Mountain West Investment Corp. and the Epping Family Foundation boughtthe building and paid for renovations, all totaling about  $2.8 million, Moore said. PacificSource, the Oregon Health Plan provider for the region, and the Willamette Health Council contributed toward start-up costs. Student health insurance pays for the treatment, while the school district is covering its operating costs with about a $1 million annual grant from the state Department of Education. The facility will treat about 100 students a year, Blatt said. Currently, 11 are on a waiting list. Moore said he knows one small facility can’t solve all the problems that schools are confronting with student mental health. “We could open five of these programs tomorrow and fill them too,” he said. But he’s hopeful Meadowlark can alleviate some stress on the system, keeping counselors and other resources inside schools open for students who need them. He wants Meadowlark to inform the district’s overall approach to mental health services for its students. “It’s providing a model for how we need to grow this program,” he said. (Disclosure: Larry Tokarski, Mountain West president, is also a co-founder of Salem Reporter.) Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post Intensive kids’ mental health treatment program opens north of Salem appeared first on Salem Reporter.