Kerala’s Women and Child Development dept ropes in its school counsellors in fight against substance abuse

As Kerala’s anti -drug campaign accelerated, the Women and Child Development Department (WCD) department has increased their efforts to solve the problem of substance addiction among children by equipping the school psychosocial consultants team of 1.012 school psychosocial consultants to identify and provide shipment services.

The initiative in relation to the Regional Mental Health Program (DMHP) involves providing full daily training to all school psychosocial counselors according to a mode of DMHP to determine whether school children exhibit any substance addiction.

Since psychosocial consultants are WCD department staff who reach approximately 2 lakh students in schools, they are uniquely positioned to intervene in the subject and remove students from drugs and other substances.

A psychiatrist team provides training to counselors in student assessment using standardized tools and then provides directing to Vimukthi clinics for death, DMHP or WCD’s parenting clinics or regional resource centers for mental health support.

Rating Scales

Completed in some regions, the training involves the use of rating scales to determine whether students have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or control disorder, or such other problems are at risk of more drug addiction for vulnerable children.

Consultants are also introduced to a scanning test, a kind of survey that helps to reveal students’ answers if they are dependent on alcohol, cigarettes or substances. It helps to determine whether students have just started using drugs or whether they are connected to it. This enables counselors to make conscious decisions about the referral services they need, whether counseling or medicine to help them kick the drug habit.

Teachers and parents can also use this screening test for a more effective response to the drug problem.

Consultants say that followers know whether students take the necessary medicine to cut from drugs or continue their substance addiction.

In addition, they emphasize the need for healthy family relationships for children’s welfare, and they ask for help to children, rooms and goods, if any, if any, if any, if they have, and try to conceal it.