DUBLIN, Ga. — Dublin City Schools' Behavioral Health Department received a grant to provide dental services and support for families dealing with substance abuse and violence.
Director of Mental Health, Tonia Spaulding, and Registered Nurse, Trini Stevenson, worked together to write a grant after recognizing their students are in need of health services.
"The wonderful nurses who have such heart began to talk about our students who needed dental care, and they were just talking about different scenarios of students who were having problems with their teeth," said Spaulding.
"Recently, I had a student to come in with a toothache, and she ended up... I knew she had one tooth that was abscessed that I could see, but she ended up having 11 abscesses in her mouth," said Stevenson.
They're teaming up with dentists to do screenings and cleanings on every student. They're also providing support for families dealing with substance abuse.
"We'll buy the toothpaste and the little, whatever you need, your bibs and that kind of stuff so that it's not the dentist [who] are having to cover all of that cost. So our grant will cover some of that screening equipment they need to clean every child's teeth," said Stevenson.
"There's going to be curriculum that's going to be taught in the school about substance abuse and violence. From that curriculum, we'll have a prevention educator that will make sure that curriculum is running and that the teachers are doing what they're supposed to do," said Spaulding.
The Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program grants $200,000 each year for four years. They're also starting a mentorship program for 100 boys in grades 5-12.
"I'm here to serve the parents. I'm here to serve the students here in our community, and that's what makes the grant so great," said Spaulding.
Dr. Alvin Mottley from the South Central Health District and Dr. John Ambrose from Ambrose Pediatrics will help with the screenings and cleanings.
They donated dentist chairs to the school system. The screenings and cleaning process will begin when students return to school in August.
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