The University of Iowa College of Education recently received a $15 million donation, the largest in the college's history, to fund continued school mental health supports. The gift from the Scanlan Family Foundation will re-name the Iowa Center for School Mental Health to the Scanlan Center for School Mental Health. It will also expand clinical supports, in partnership with the Belin-Blank Center, and add a new emphasis on veteran's mental health on campus.
The following is an excerpt from the College of Education article:
“This transformational gift from the Scanlan Family Foundation builds on the great work of the Belin-Blank Center, and strengthens the Iowa Center for School Mental Health’s clinical services and programs that support mental health needs,” says College of Education Dean Dan Clay. “This gift will focus on serving schools and the needs of veterans, those serving in the military, and their families. We know military families often need additional supports around mental health and well-being.”
Clay adds that he is grateful to the Scanlan family members for their vision and generous support, which will allow the center to expand the critical work assisting educators and students. “This gift will ensure that the work addressing social-emotional learning and mental health needs in schools and for military families will continue in perpetuity—we know this public health issue will be a challenge for the years ahead,” Clay says.
This is the largest donation the University of Iowa College of Education has received in its 175-year history.
“Many people, and especially our youth in Iowa and across the country, are struggling with mental health issues,” says Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan, a Des Moines native, and Patrick Scanlan. “Our family foundation recognizes the extraordinary work at the University of Iowa and wants to help scale those efforts to help more people.”
The purpose of the center is to provide social, emotional, behavioral, and psychological services to schools, not only to aid in COVID-19 recovery, but to build capacity for immediate and future delivery of mental health supports across the state.