Agenda Item
7. Mental Health Services by Cartwheel (State Grant ~ Not to Exceed $900,000) ~ Updated. 12.2.2025
Summary: Presented by: Mrs. Michelle Dillard, Chief of Schools, Division of Schools and Leadership
Request: It is requested that the Board of Education approve the use of Cartwheel as an approved vendor to provide Mental Health Services for staff and students in DCSD.
Why: Georgia's FY26 state budget established $19.6 million for student mental health services and supports. At its August 20, 2025 meeting, the State Board of Education approved state mental health grant funds for school districts based on a state-defined formula of $20,000 to each middle school and high school.
DCSD would like to partner with Cartwheel to provide the Mental Health Services funded by the grant. DCSD would like to utilize Cartwheel to facilitate comprehensive mental health support for staff and students based on the grant funding for middle and high schools in DCSD.
Details: This document provides relevant information about the allowable use of funds and reporting requirements for Georgia’s school districts utilizing the state mental health grant funds.
https://login.community.gadoe.org/documents/student-mental-behavioral-health-services-grant
Cartwheel has an approved contract with the State of Georgia. eRFI 41400-DOE0000094
Financial impact: There is no financial impact to the district as this is being funded through a state grant.
At the October 6, 2025, Board of Education meeting, the state grant in the amount of $920,000 was approved by the Board of Education.
Contact: Mrs. Michelle Dillard, Chief of Schools, Division of Schools and Leadership, (678) 676-0542
Dr. Kishia Towns, Chief of Wrap Around Services, Division of Wrap Around Services, (678) 676-1913
Effective: Upon Board Approval
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs
Supporting the mental health
and academic success of
Dekalb students
Board of Education Meeting
December 8, 2025
www.cartwheel.org
Mental health is at the heart of
Dekalb’s biggest goals
Behavior
Unaddressed mental
Promote the health issues lead to
academic, social, Absenteeism more suspensions,
and emotional missing more days 5
growth of each Students with a
mental health
student by disorder miss twice
fostering a safe, as many school days2
supportive, and Graduation
engaging learning Anxiety is the leading
Students with a mental health
cause of absenteeism 3,4
environment disorder are 44% more likely
to dropout of school 1
1. Society for Research in Childhood Development 2. ACER 3. EdWeek survey of 1,034 high school
students, 4. Los Angeles Trust for Childrenʼs Health 5. Columbia University 2
325+
District and statewide partners
Who we are
Cartwheel is the 92%
leading partner for Our students improve in
schools on mental mental health outcomes
health, attendance,
and behavior 96%
School staff recommend
Cartwheel to a peer
3
Not all mental health partners are the same
What makes Cartwheel a
great fit for Dekalb?
4
Cartwheel is uniquely designed to improve
mental health, attendance, and behavior
Reduce waitlists for care
Serve students regardless of insurance
Expand clinical hours (8am-8pm)
Meet diverse language needs
Involve parents & families throughout
Support school staff
and reduce overwhelm
555
For Dekalb students For Dekalb families & staff
Evidence-based telehealth Wraparound supports for
for students and families your families & staff
● 11 evidence-based therapy ● Family support: Care coordination for
every family referred for services
● Psychiatric evaluations
● Medication management ● School support: Dedicated Program
Manager to consult on student cases
● Parent guidance
● Skill-building webinars
● Family therapy
● Rapid access, multilingual, all ● Therapy for faculty & staff (optional)
insurances, extended clinic hours
6
Our proprietary Specialty Programs improve mental
health and educational outcomes
School Avoidance Address root causes, such as social anxiety, and
develop strategies to return to school
ADHD & Executive Functioning Improve executive functioning and receive
medication management (if appropriate)
Cartwheel’s Multilingual & Newcomer Care in the studentʼs native language and
mental health education for parents
proprietary
Specialty
Social Media & Screen Time Develop healthy boundaries, manage
Programs impulsivity, and build social skills
(coming soon in 2026)
Grief & Loss Help students process grief and loss and
build healthy coping skills
(coming soon in 2026)
Positive Classroom Behavior Build emotional regulation, conflict resolution,
(coming soon in 2026) and anger management skills
7
Our Data Platform makes it easy to refer, track
student progress, and show impact to the Board
School staff easily submit referrals, follow
student progress, and view outcomes
HIPAA/FERPA compliant, parent consent)
District and school leaders see trends
and outcomes data: Clinical impact,
student engagement, parent satisfaction,
educational outcomes, and more.
Our 1-1 care coordinators and technology platform
deliver 3x higher follow-through among families
Within 5 minutes, families complete all Each family has a 1-1 Care
onboarding paperwork (multilingual) Coordinator (bilingual)
Anonymized student: Tony, grade 10
Tony missed 25 days of school. Heʼs been struggling to adjust to the new school
since moving from out-of-state and feels anxious about entering the school
building. He is coping with some alcohol use.
Referral Assessment Personalized care Ongoing support
Counselor talks to Within a week, a Tony engages in 11 weekly After 4 months, Tony is
Tony and mom therapist conducts a therapy via Zoom with a specialty regularly attending school
and uses the 1-hour intake trained clinician and more effectively coping
Cartwheel Portal session with Tony with social anxiety
to make a referral and mom Mom sees a clinician weekly on
into the School strategies to support Tony
Avoidance
Program Tony and his mom see a child
psychiatrist for a medication eval
Cartwheel collaborates with the school counselor throughout care
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We deliver 2x stronger clinical
outcomes than traditional care
Anxiety Score
(GAD-7)
Depression Score
(PHQ-8)
58%
First Last First Last experience full
Session Session Session Session
remission in anxiety
3x
reduction in kids
with moderate to
severe depression
Sample: Includes students ages 12+ graduating from
Cartwheel during 202324 school year and referred
from 13 high-need districts in Massachusetts. Data
gathered in collaboration with the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health. Sample restricted to
students with elevated anxiety and/or depression
symptoms at intake (score of 5 or higher on PHQ8
and/or GAD7 at intake) who complete a follow-up
screening at graduation.
11
Case Study: 62% reduction in
absences per student for students
“Over the past
receiving Cartwheel telehealth
two years,
Absences per student before and after Cartwheel services Cartwheel has
become an
16 indispensable
Absences per pupil
partner in
addressing
absenteeism.ˮ
6
Absences per pupil Peoria Public Schools
Comparison group:
Before Cartwheel After Cartwheel
Students who did not receive
Sample size: n=141 students who engaged in Cartwheel telehealth services in a 13,000 student urban district 75% free/reduced lunch) Cartwheel services did not see
during the 202223, 202324, and 202425 school years. First bar shows the average number of absences per pupil in the year they were
referred for services. For the same cohort, the second bar shows the average number of absences per pupil in following years.
improved attendance
12
Case Study: 84% reduction in
behavioral incidents, increasing
instructional time per student “We have seen
Behavioral incidents per student per year before/after Cartwheel firsthand how
Cartwheelʼs
5.3 model can
Incidents per pupil
transform student
outcomesˮ
Acton-Boxborough
School District
0.9
Incidents per pupil
Comparison group:
Before Cartwheel After Cartwheel
Students who did not receive
Sample size: n=594 students who were referred to Cartwheel telehealth services in a 5,000 student suburban district 12% low income) Cartwheel services did not see
during the 202223, 202324, 202425, and 202526 school years. Of these students, 72 committed behavioral incidents and attended
sessions with Cartwheel. First bar shows the average # of incidents per year before starting treatment with Cartwheel for the 72 fewer incidents per year
students. For the same cohort, the second bar shows the average # of incidents per year after starting services with Cartwheel. Incident
defined a code of conduct violation requiring documented administrative response, such as bullying or physical aggression. 13
100% accessible, evidence-based care
What our
partnership 90% reduction in waitlists for families
will deliver
3x better family engagement with less
burden on your school team
Specialty Programs to move the needle
on your attendance and behavior goals
Nation’s leading data collection and
impact reporting platform to show ROI
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Thank you!
Joe English
Chief Executive Officer
joe@cartwheelcare.org
www.cartwheel.org