Yuki Comstock, the Belmont County coordinator for the Handle With Care program and associate director of the Mental Health Recovery Board for Belmont, Harrison and Monroe Counties, stops for a photo after conducting the implementation meeting of the Handle With Care program on Friday morning at the substation of Belmont County Sheriff’s Office at Ohio Valley Mall.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Local first responders and school officials gathered for the implementation meeting of the Handle With Care program in Belmont County.

Mental Health Recovery Board for Belmont, Harrison and Monroe Counties officials, who are heading the initiative, are hoping to launch the program throughout the county in the 2023-24 school year.

The initial meeting of the program partners occurred Friday morning at the Belmont County Sheriff’s Office substation at the Ohio Valley Mall.

The meeting was led by Yuki Comstock, county coordinator for the program and associate director of the MHRB, who gave a detailed presentation on the program and the steps needed to implement it in the county.

The Handle With Care program, a state initiative that originated in West Virginia, is a collaborative effort that aims to ensure “children who are exposed to adverse events receive appropriate interventions and have opportunities to build resilience through positive relationships with teachers and first responders.”

Comstock said the program is a notification system between first responders and the schools. First responders are asked to alert school officials through Cordatas — a HIPAA approved notification system — when a school-aged child is present during a house fire, family member injury, death of a family member, a warrant served on a family member, domestic violence episode, neighborhood violence or any other possible traumatic event. The notice will simply include the child’s name and school, noting to “Handle with Care,” to allow the school staff to provide any additional support to students in the days following an incident.

“It’s not violating HIPAA because we’re not talking about anything that happened in detail, we’re just letting them know to handle with care so the school can be informed. Maybe if the kid has a hard time focusing that day or maybe they didn’t have dinner or if they’re distracted, they don’t lose recess or get lunch detention,” she said.

“We’re not supposed to treat them (students) differently because of ‘Handle With Care,’ it’s mostly just so we’re aware that something happened and provide extra support if needed.”

Comstock said they invited every agency ranging from law enforcement and first responders, education, mental health boards and other community champions to the meeting to discuss implementing the program in the county. She said she believed just about every one of the agencies was represented. Attendees included representatives from the sheriff’s office, Ohio State Highway Patrol, Bridgeport Police Department and school district, Bellaire Police Department, Powhatan Point Police Department and school, St. Clairsville Police Department and school district, Richland Township Police Department, Martins Ferry Police Department and school district, Union Local School District, Shadyside Local School District, Barnesville Police Department and school district, Cumberland Trail Fire District, Southeast Healthcare Services, Belmont County Student Services, Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services, Harmony House, as well as other officials who attended the meeting virtually.

Every person involved in the program must go through an hour training session before it can be implemented. Comstock said she is hoping to launch the program in the upcoming school year.

Comstock said the program will be a great benefit for the county.

“I worked in the school system … With trauma informed care, everybody has to be involved. It’s not just the school counselor, it’s not just the therapist, everybody has to be involved so I think this is a great way to also prevent future trauma. If a kid has something traumatic happen at home and then they get punished at school, it just kind of keeps the cycle of that,” she said.

Comstock is also the program coordinator for Monroe and Harrison counties. She said the program is being launched on Monday in Monroe County.

It does not cost the county anything to implement the program as the state incurs the cost of the notification system used.

For more information on the program, visit handlewithcareoh.org.