Health and Human Services Director Heidi Porter reported to the Board of Health Monday that “we have had quite an uptick in the need for youth and adolescent therapy.”
But thanks to staff support from Eliot Community Health Services, she continued, the need is being met better than ever. Indeed, there is no waiting list.
Jennifer Morazes of the Eliot counseling staff is a clinical coordinator and therapist in the department’s Youth and Family Services Office, basically full time, Porter said, under terms of the town’s new contract with Eliot.
That means “we have four social workers in town,” Porter told the board. “Four years ago, we didn’t have any.”
Porter noted that her department did not undertake its annual youth risk behavior survey in 2020, because it had been scheduled for what turned out to be the first few weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, she said, “it was no surprise to know that mental health issues are a concern.”
The staffing situation has allowed for the addition of drop-in hours, because “even waiting a week or two for an appointment would be troubling.” She noted that a lack of health insurance is no deterrent for service. “It has been a great outcome all the way around.”
Eliot Community Health “has been a tremendous partner for us,” Porter said. “We’re really happy with the ability to provide those services to our community.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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