SEEKS SES

$10 million will help kids battle the pandemic’s emotional impact

Image above courtesy of KDKA.

Ten million dollars will be helping kids in our area with the emotional after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ten local school districts will benefit from the grant funding given to the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) from the CDC and Department of Health. This two-year project is known as SEEKS SES, which stands for Supporting Expansion and Enhancement of K-12 School-Based Social, Emotional Supports.

Almost half of the money will go to support putting social work students from the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University and Duquesne University in to secondary schools to directly help the students and staff with social and emotional challenges.

Shannon Fagan, project coordinator for SEEKS SES, says, “A lot of the children in these districts have probably experienced, and we know from the data, the loss of a parent or grandparent or community members.”

The school district that will be part of this project are Cornell, Duquesne City, East Allegheny, Highlands, McKeesport Area, Penn Hills, Steel Valley, Sto-Rox, West Mifflin Area and Woodland Hills.

Watch this KDKA news report here.