Province commits to review student well-being teams

P.E.I.'s education minister is promising to review student well-being teams across the province.

Studentwell-being teams were established in 2017 and are teams of professionals such asmental health clinicians, school health nurses, school outreach workers and occupational therapists who tend to themental, social and physical health of students inkindergarten to Grade 12. The teamsare now officially in all nine families of schools across P.E.I.

Natalie Jameson said her department would review the teams to see how they can be better supported, especially when it comes to helping parents.

The commitment came after PC backbencher Sidney MacEwen raised the issue in the P.E.I. legislature. He said students told a legislative standing committee the well-being teamsneedto do more to helpparents.

Jameson acknowledged there are areas for improvement.

"One of the challenges, I believe, associated with the well-being teams is that these individuals who work within them, they work across departments. So you've got the department of education, justice, health and social development, and sometimes we need to just make sure that we reduce those silos."

Jameson said the primary focus of the teams is students. She noted there are currently supports in place to help parents, such as the Triple P Parenting program, but more could be done.

"I am fully committed to doing a review and seeing where we can better support the teams and our students," she said.

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