Roots and Wings School-Based Mental Health Program

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Executive Summary

Roots and Wings School-Based Mental Health Program is a nonprofit in Georgia that places licensed therapists in schools so students can get counseling during the school day, free to families. Therapists provide individual, group and family sessions with parent consent, train teachers to recognize distress and help each school keep a written crisis plan.

Many young people struggle with anxiety, depression and trauma, and community clinics have waits of months. A therapist down the hall can reach students who would otherwise get no help.

With this grant we will serve about 300 students in Year 1 at 3 schools. We are not an emergency service, our staff call 911 and follow a written plan that includes 988 and we explain confidentiality limits to every student and family. We do not promise any outcome. We promise licensed care, respect and honest records.

Our Year 1 budget is about $312,000, growing to about $568,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 6 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Clinical Director, two school-based therapists and a part-time family liaison) and 11 by Year 5.

We are asking the Student Wellness Foundation for $70,000 for a school-based therapist, staff training and counseling materials. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Roots and Wings School-Based Mental Health Program is a nonprofit organization in Georgia. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. Every student should be able to get mental health care at school, without a long wait, a long drive or a long form.

What we do.
- Place licensed therapists in partner schools to provide counseling during the school day.
- Offer individual, group and family sessions with parent consent.
- Train teachers and staff to notice signs of distress and refer students.
- Provide a crisis response plan for each school with 988 and 911.
- Bill Medicaid and insurance where possible and provide care free to families.
- Connect students and families to community providers when more help is needed.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are not an emergency service. Our staff call 911 and follow a written crisis plan that includes 988 in an emergency. Counseling is voluntary and needs a parent's consent for minors. We explain the limits of confidentiality, including mandatory reporting. We do not promise any outcome. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of school counselors, a licensed therapist and parents began offering a few hours a week of counseling in one middle school. Students and teachers asked for more, and waitlists grew. We kept simple records of referrals and what staff said. This proposal asks for support to move from a few hours a week at one school to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Many young people struggle with anxiety, depression and trauma, and the people who see them every day are teachers and counselors who are not trained or staffed to provide treatment.

Cost. Private therapy is expensive, and many families have no insurance or cannot afford copays.

Access. Community clinics often have waits of months, and families may lack the transportation or time to take a child to appointments.

Safety and trust. Parents want to know that therapists are licensed, that care is private and that the school will be ready in a crisis.

Missed benefits. Young people with untreated mental health needs are more likely to miss school, struggle academically and face crises.

What we hear.
- A counselor says she has 500 students and sees a handful in crisis every week.
- A teacher says a student in her class has not spoken in months.
- A parent says she could not take time off for weekly appointments.
- A student says it helps that the therapist is down the hall.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that care that is close, free and part of the school day can reach young people who would otherwise get no help.

Products & Services

Roots and Wings School-Based Mental Health Program gives students in kindergarten through twelfth grade a safe, welcoming place to get mental health care at school.

How the program works.
1. Partners. We sign agreements with partner schools and districts that provide a private room and referrals.
2. Referrals. Students are referred by teachers, counselors, families or themselves.
3. Consent. A parent signs consent for students who are minors, and we explain confidentiality.
4. Therapy. A licensed therapist provides individual, group and family sessions during the school day.
5. Staff training. We train teachers and staff in recognizing distress and in a calm response.
6. Crisis plan. Each school has a written plan with steps, contacts, 988 and 911.
7. Community referrals. We help families reach community providers when students need more care.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our therapists are licensed clinicians, pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time. A clinical director supervises them.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free to families. We welcome every student and offer sessions in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Students at our partner schools who are referred for mental health support, with priority for those with limited access to care. Eligibility is referral and parent consent for minors, and no student is turned away for lack of insurance.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our pilot we filled every hour and kept a waiting list. School counselors told us that many more students need care than the pilot could serve. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 300 participants at 3 schools. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 900.

Where participants come from.
- School counselors, nurses and teachers.
- Families and students.
- Pediatricians and community clinics.
- School administrators.

Who else benefits. Families gain access without travel. Teachers gain students who are ready to learn. Schools gain safer, calmer buildings.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a student who got help during the school day. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. School counselors. Essential, with large caseloads and limited clinical scope. We add licensed therapists.

2. Community clinics. Provide strong care with waits and travel. We partner and reduce barriers.

3. Private therapists. Effective and costly.

4. Crisis lines. Vital and not ongoing care. We connect students to them.

5. Telehealth. Convenient for some and not private or available for every student. We offer in-person care.

What makes us different.
- Licensed therapists at school.
- Free to families, with Medicaid billing where possible.
- Staff training and a written crisis plan.
- Family sessions and community referrals.
- A clinical director who supervises care.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with school counselors, principals, pediatricians and community clinics to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Schools. We will present to principals and counselors and offer a one-page referral form.
- Families. We will hold an information night and send consent forms home in English and Spanish.
- Pediatricians and clinics. We will share information and referral steps.
- Teachers. We will provide short trainings.
- Word of mouth. Students and families tell others.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit therapists through universities, clinics and professional associations.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, students seen, sessions held and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Begin therapy at the first partner schools.
- Months 4 to 10: Provide counseling each school day, train staff and track outcomes.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey students, families and staff, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. Therapy is provided in private rooms at partner schools, provided by the school at no cost.

Safety and privacy.
- Therapists follow state licensing rules and mandated reporting laws and explain confidentiality limits to every student and family.
- Each school has a written crisis plan that names 988 and 911.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $7,500 of equipment once at the start: laptops and secure telehealth equipment for therapists ($3,000), therapy room furnishings and play materials ($3,000), locking file storage and printers ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Clinical Director, a licensed clinician paid $66,000 a year, supervises care. Two licensed school-based therapists, each paid $58,000 a year, see students. A part-time family liaison, paid $24,000, helps with consent and referrals. We add therapists as we add schools.

Management & Organization

Dr. Naomi Banks, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a school psychologist who saw how often students waited for help. I will complete the training we require of our therapists so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Clinical Director, a licensed clinician, supervises therapists, and licensed school-based therapists provide care. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a school psychologist, a pediatrician, a parent, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a principal. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A school superintendent, a child psychiatrist and a community clinic director give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $54,000 a year; clinical Director, paid $66,000 a year; school-Based Therapist, paid $58,000 a year; family Liaison (part-time), paid $24,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 300 participants at 3 schools.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 450 participants at 4 schools.
- Year 3: About 600 participants at 5 schools.
- Year 4: About 750 participants at 6 schools.
- Year 5: About 900 participants at 7 schools.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 55 percent of our budget, down from about 62 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $70,000 from the Student Wellness Foundation for a school-based therapist, staff training and counseling materials, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: School-based therapist salary, $58,000.
- Other: School staff training and clinical consultation, $8,000.
- Supplies: Screening tools and counseling materials, $4,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 36% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $312,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $12,500 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $192,000; school District Partnership $80,000; medicaid and Insurance Reimbursement $30,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $54,000; clinical Director $66,000; school-Based Therapist $58,000; family Liaison (part-time) $24,000; clinical Supervision and Consultation about $8,000; screening Tools and Materials about $4,000; training for School Staff about $6,000; family Events about $3,000; telehealth Platform about $5,000; administration and Insurance about $12,000; about $3,500 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $18,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and secure telehealth equipment for therapists; $3,000 for therapy room furnishings and play materials; $1,500 for locking file storage and printers; $3,000 for attorney review of the consent form, confidentiality policy and crisis plan; $1,800 for flyers, forms and a simple website; $2,200 for background checks and staff training; $3,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($18,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $74,500, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $92,500. We start with $10,000 from our founding board and $85,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a children's hospital, $95,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $312,000 in Year 1 to about $568,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $192,000, $221,500, $251,000, $281,500 and $312,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: school District Partnership from $80,000 to $120,000; medicaid and Insurance Reimbursement from $30,000 to $110,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $12,500 in Year 1, about $16,000 in Year 2, about $19,300 in Year 3, about $23,600 in Year 4 and about $27,700 in Year 5. We grow from 3 schools to 7 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $89,000, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $12,480 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per student. In Year 1, our total costs are about $998 per student served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more student served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $600 per student.

After the grant. School district funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free school mental health option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of students and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $192,000 in Year 1, growing to $312,000 in Year 5.
- School District Partnership: $80,000 in Year 1, growing to $120,000 in Year 5.
- Medicaid and Insurance Reimbursement: $30,000 in Year 1, growing to $110,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $54,000; clinical Director $66,000; school-Based Therapist $58,000; family Liaison (part-time) $24,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: clinical Supervision and Consultation $8,000; screening Tools and Materials $4,000; training for School Staff $6,000; family Events $3,000; telehealth Platform $5,000; administration and Insurance $12,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $7,500 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $18,000, paid once from $95,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 300 in Year 1, growing to about 900 in Year 5. Sites: 3 in Year 1, growing to 7 by Year 5. Therapy is provided each school day during the school year.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs