Peoria Public Schools

Prior to Peoria’s partnership with Cartwheel, if a student needed tier 2 or 3 support services, counselors and social workers could refer students to the district's Wraparound Center, a one-stop shop for mental health services. From there, a student would be connected to a local agency. Even though Peoria has strong partnerships with local providers, there were challenges with long waitlists and barriers due to transportation and language needs.

Once Peoria started a partnership with Cartwheel, both school counselors and social workers could make referrals directly for Cartwheel’s services, giving students easy access to care. Peoria partners with Cartwheel to provide 1:1 virtual therapy for students, psychiatry and medication management, parent guidance, and virtual family therapy. Initially, the district used ESSER III funding for this partnership, but community partnerships and grants keep this and other mental health-focused programs sustainable.

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The team incorporates data from Cartwheel, via an interactive dashboard, to track student referrals, progress through care, trends across student populations and schools, and more. Since partnering with Cartwheel, the district has observed a noticeable shift away from externalizing behaviors like physical aggression.