Mental Health Coordinator
Welcome to the Charles County Public Schools Mental Health webpage!
Good mental health is important for everyone, and as important as physical health to our quality of life. Mental health is not simply the absence of mental illness, but also means having the skills necessary to cope with life's challenges. If ignored, mental health problems can interfere with children’s learning, development, relationships and physical health.
Beila Lugo, MS, NCSP
Mental Health Coordinator
Nationally Certified School Psychologist
blugo@ccboe.com
301-392-7507
Emergency Resources
Text 24-Hour Hotline
741741
Call 24-Hour Hotline
1-800-784-2433
Charles County Department of Social Services
301-392-6739
Charles County Sheriff’s Office
301-932-2222
Online therapy for every student
Did you know your child's school offers all students access to Hazel Health's online therapy program? Matched with a licensed therapist that specializes in kids and teens. Free online therapy program for all students with or without insurance.
Connect your child or teen to virtual mental health support. With Hazel Health, your child can get the mental health support they need, at school or at home, at no cost to you.
Services are available at school during school hours, and at home Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time.
Request a therapy appointment for your child by clicking the link below, or by calling Hazel Health at 1-800-764-2935.
Resources
- School Based Mental Health Services
- Mental Health Calendar
- Educator Resources
- Parent Resources
- Self Care Resources
- External Resources
- Developmental Impact of Trauma
- What is Trauma?
- Threat Assessment
- Local Behavioral Health Authority Provider List
- Frequently Asked Questions
School Based Mental Health Services
The school-based mental health services program provides integrated mental health services for school-aged children throughout Charles County. Our contracted school-based clinicians work with students in elementary, middle, and high school, to support students in overcoming behavioral, emotional, and social challenges that interfere with success primarily at school and additionally at home.
Background
CCPS developed the school-based mental health program to provide students and families with easier access to counseling services, especially those with limited funding, transportation, or access to traditional mental health care. By offering services directly within schools, the program breaks down barriers, reduces stigma, and ensures students receive the support they need to thrive academically and emotionally.
This initiative prioritizes early intervention, helping students overcome mental health challenges before they impact their success.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Students must be enrolled in a Charles County Public Schools.
- Students must exhibit behavioral, emotional, or social challenges that impact their educational performance.
- Students are identified and referred by the Department of Student Services staff (school counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and pupil personnel workers).
Common challenges may include:
- Aggression.
- Anxiety.
- Depression.
- Isolation.
- Poor social skills.
- Stress.
- Trauma.
- Truancy.
Our contracted school-based clinicians help students reduce disruptive behavior and improve self-monitoring skills. Integrated as members of the school team, they can serve youth in a familiar setting, offering minimal interruption to their school day.
Services
School-based therapy includes:
- Individual and group therapy
- Family counseling.
- Risk assessments.
- Specialized training and support services for parents and teachers.
- Collaboration with other community providers.
- Connection to additional community resources.
Staff
School-based mental health therapists are master’s level and credentialed to provide services based on their degree in social work, counseling, or psychology. These creative professionals partner with teachers, school administrators, and parents to develop individualized treatment plans and behavioral interventions for students.
Referrals
CCPS staff members such as school counselors, school psychologists and pupil personnel workers (PPW) can refer students to the program when they exhibit behavioral/mental health concerns which impact their educational performance. Once the referral packet is complete, parents return the forms to the school counselor/personnel. The completed referral packet is then shared with the contract mental health provider. Students already receiving external mental health services are not eligible for Hazel Health and/or school based mental services to avoid duplication.
Funding
The school-based mental health services program is funded by the CCPS through grants and an operating budget to support the mental health of our students.
School locations
School-based mental health services are offered to each CCPS school. Please contact your child’s school for more information.
Students enrolled in Charles County Public Schools do not pay for counseling services provided through the school-based program.
Contact Us
Beila Lugo, MS, NCSP
Behavioral/Mental Health Coordinator
Nationally Certified School Psychologist
Charles County Public Schools
Email: blugo@ccboe.com
Phone: 301-392-7507
Mental Health Calendar
December 2025
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday, November 30
Monday, December 1
Tuesday, December 2
Wednesday, December 3
Thursday, December 4
Friday, December 5
Saturday, December 6
Sunday, December 7
Monday, December 8
Tuesday, December 9
Wednesday, December 10
Thursday, December 11
Friday, December 12
Saturday, December 13
Sunday, December 14
Monday, December 15
Tuesday, December 16
Wednesday, December 17
Thursday, December 18
Friday, December 19
Saturday, December 20
Sunday, December 21
Monday, December 22
Tuesday, December 23
Wednesday, December 24
Thursday, December 25
Friday, December 26
Saturday, December 27
Sunday, December 28
Monday, December 29
Tuesday, December 30
Wednesday, December 31
Thursday, January 1
Friday, January 2
Saturday, January 3
Calendar & Category Legend:
- Mental Health Mental Health
- Mental Health Workshops Mental Health Workshops
Educator Resources
Parent Resources
Family Resource Center – Child Mind Institute
Visit Child Mind Institute
Expert-reviewed guides and articles to help parents support children with mental health, behavior, or learning challenges. Includes symptom checkers and parenting tips in English and Spanish.
Children’s Mental Health Matters
Visit childrensmentalhealthmatters.org
A Maryland-based campaign promoting awareness and resources for children’s mental health. Offers toolkits, webinars, and a resource directory for families and educators.
Mental Health America (MHA)
https://mhanational.org
A leading nonprofit promoting mental health and preventing mental illness. Features screening tools, educational resources, and advocacy information for families.
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
Visit nami.org
The nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. Provides education, advocacy, support groups, and a helpline for families affected by mental illness.
Nemours KidsHealth
Visit KidsHealth.org
A trusted source for doctor-reviewed information on children’s health, behavior, and development—from birth through the teen years. Includes articles, videos, and tools for parents, kids, and teens.
Understood
Visit Understood.org
A free resource designed to help parents of children who learn and think differently, including ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning challenges. Offers expert advice, practical tools, and a supportive community to help families navigate academic, social, and emotional needs. Available in English and Spanish.
Self Care Resources
All Welcome Here!
Take a break, find space to unwind, and recharge. Use any of these resources to put your mind at ease, reduce stress, calm any chaos, and recharge your spirit.
Charles County Public Schools cares about you!
- Breath Relaxation | Use Your Breathing
- Sound Relaxation | Listen to Soothing Sounds
- Visual Relaxation | Your Eyes Will Do All the Work
- Cuteness Overload Cams | Smile Warning
- Art Relaxation | Creativity for the Soul
- Mindful Movement | Release the Tension
- Explore New Places | Let Your Eyes Do the Walking
- Motivational Quotes | You Can Do It
- Mindful Moments
- Brain Teasers
Breath Relaxation | Use Your Breathing
Sound Relaxation | Listen to Soothing Sounds
Visual Relaxation | Your Eyes Will Do All the Work
Cuteness Overload Cams | Smile Warning
Art Relaxation | Creativity for the Soul
Mindful Movement | Release the Tension
Explore New Places | Let Your Eyes Do the Walking
Motivational Quotes | You Can Do It
Mindful Moments
Brain Teasers
External Resources
Developmental Impact of Trauma
Describes how young children, school-age children, and adolescents react to traumatic events and offers suggestions on how parents and caregivers can help and support them.
Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event
Describes the psychological and behavioral impact of trauma on elementary school students.
Psychological and Behavioral Impact of Trauma: Elementary School Students
Describes the psychological and behavioral impact of trauma on middle school students.
Psychological and Behavioral Impact of Trauma: Middle School Student
Describes the psychological and behavioral impact of trauma on high school students.
Psychological and Behavioral Impact of Trauma: High School Students
Offers information on coping after mass violence. This fact sheet provides common reactions children and families may be experiencing after a mass violence event, as well as what they can do to take care of themselves.
What is Trauma?
WHAT IS TRAUMA?
- Trauma is relative
- Perception and response to trauma varies by individual
- Trauma is cumulative
- Traumatic experiences can be isolated events or can be compounded by repetitive trauma throughout a lifetime
- Trauma is complex
- Exposure to trauma and an individual’s responses to it are complex and related to physical, social, and cultural factors
Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.
DESCRIPTION OF CHILD TRAUMA
Defines child traumatic stress. This fact sheet gives an overview of trauma, describes traumatic stress symptoms, and ways children may be impacted.
- Trauma and Learning
- Trauma Informed Care
- Trauma Informed School System
- Families and Trauma
- Youth and Trauma
- Staff and Trauma
Trauma and Learning
Symptoms resulting from trauma can directly impact a student’s ability to learn.
Situations that can be traumatic:
- Physical or sexual abuse
- Abandonment
- Neglect
- The death or loss of a loved one
- Life-threatening violence in a caregiver
- Witnessing domestic violence
- Automobile accidents or other serious accidents
- Bullying
- Life-threatening health situations and/or painful medical procedures
- Witnessing or experiencing community violence (e.g., shootings, stabbings, robbery, or fighting at home, in the neighborhood, or at school)
- Witnessing police activity or having a close relative incarcerated
- Life-threatening natural disasters
- Acts or threats of terrorism (viewed in person or on television)
- Living in chronically chaotic environments in which housing and financial resources are not consistently available
NCTSN Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
Students might be distracted by intrusive thoughts about the event that prevent them from paying attention in class, studying, or doing well on a test. Exposure to violence can lead to decreased IQ and reading ability. Some students might avoid going to school altogether.
Exposure to violence and other traumatic events can disrupt youths’ ability to relate to others and to successfully manage emotions. In the classroom setting, this can lead to poor behavior, which can result in reduced instructional time, suspensions, and expulsions. Long-term results of exposure to violence include lower grade point averages and reduced graduation rates, along with increased incidences of teen pregnancy, joblessness, and poverty.
Adapted from traumaawareschools.org
Trauma Informed Care
Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”
Trauma-informed care seeks to:
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Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand paths for recovery;
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Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in patients, families, and staff;
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Integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and
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Actively avoid re-traumatization.
Adapted from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s
SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Trauma Informed School System
Schools systems are charged with educational achievement. In order to reach this goal, students must feel safe, supported and ready to learn. When children are exposed to violence and trauma, they may not feel safe and ready to learn. These events can impact the entire school community including children directly affected by traumatic experiences, other students, school staff and all who interact or work with a student who has experienced trauma. As schools maintain a focus on education and achievement, Charles County Public Schools acknowledges that mental health and wellness are innately connected to students’ success in their classes and school environment.
A trauma informed school recognizes that trauma impacts staff, students, families and communities and systems. Charles County Public Schools is committed to the development of organizational support, partnerships and capacity-building as it relates to a trauma informed school.
The school system is dedicated to the continued development of the 10 essential elements of a trauma informed school as identified by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Essential Elements of a Trauma Informed School System
- Identifying and assessing traumatic stress
- Addressing and treating traumatic stress
- Teaching trauma education and awareness.
- Partnerships with students and families
- Creating a trauma informed learning environment (social/emotional skills and wellness)
- Culturally Responsive
- Integration of emergency management and tragedy response
- Understanding and addressing staff self care and secondary traumatic stress
- Evaluating and revising school discipline policies and practices
- Collaborating across systems and establishing community partnerships
A Trauma-Informed School (TSA)
Approximately a 3-minute video which details the components of a trauma-informed school environment.
Families and Trauma
Offers parents information about child traumatic stress (CTS), the best way to treat CTS, what parents can do at home for their children, and how parents can make sure their children receive support at school.
Understanding Child Traumatic Stress: A Guide for Parents
Offers parents and caregivers information about trauma. This fact sheet defines traumatic stress and describes how common it is, how it can impact a family, and things a family can do to cope with traumatic stress.
Offers strategies to help parents/caregivers cope with collective traumas. This fact sheet also provides guidance on what parents/caregivers can do to care for their children as they cope.
Assisting Parents/Caregivers in Coping with Collective Traumas
Helps parents and caregivers address their children's concerns and worries arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the disruptions of normal life that we are experiencing.
Helping Children Cope with the COVID-19 Pandemic
Helps parents understand how economic difficulties can affect their families, in terms of their sense of safety, connectedness, and hope. The fact sheet also helps families find ways to cope during uncertain times.
Youth and Trauma
Provides information to help youth practice self-care. This fact sheet includes information on what it means to take care of yourself, as well as recommended hotlines and conversation starters. This resource is most helpful for youth ages 12 and older.
Offers information for teens about common reactions to mass violence, as well as tips for taking care of themselves and connecting with others.
For Teens: Coping After Mass Violence
Helps high school students and young adults understand how economic difficulties may affect them and provides suggestions on how they can cope during these uncertain times.
Coping in Hard Times: Fact Sheet for Youth High School and College Age
Offers teens information about trauma, how it can affect them, and why they might use alcohol or drugs to deal with their experiences.
Using Drugs to Deal with Stress and Trauma: A Reality Check for Teens
Offers information for youth to help them understand the differences between grief and traumatic grief, the signs and symptoms of traumatic grief in children and youth, and what to do to feel better.
Staff and Trauma
Provides school administrators, teachers, staff, and concerned parents with basic information about working with traumatized children in the school system.
Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
Provides teachers with facts about the impact of trauma on students. This fact sheet, a part of the Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators, includes information on trauma reactions and how teachers can help.
Offers teachers guidance on helping students after a mass violence event. This fact sheet describes common reactions students may have, how teachers and school staff can help, as well as engage in self-care after a mass violence event.
Teacher Guidelines for Helping Students after Mass Violence
Offers information on childhood traumatic grief. This fact sheet provides descriptions of childhood traumatic grief, normal and typical grief, and what to do for childhood traumatic grief for teachers and school personnel.
Brief Information on Childhood Traumatic Grief for School Personnel
Offers information on why school personnel are important for grieving students. This fact sheet outlines how children grieve, what Childhood Traumatic Grief is, who develops Childhood Traumatic Grief, what traumatic stress reactions in Childhood Traumatic Grief can look like, the signs a student might have Childhood Traumatic Grief, and what school personnel can do to help their students.
Childhood Traumatic Grief: Information for School Personnel
Offers suggestions to educators about what can be done at a school to help a traumatized child. This tip sheet describes very practical ways school staff can help children who have experienced trauma.
Suggestions for Educators (Helping Traumatized Children in School)
Shares principles and examples of creating meaningful changes in the classroom that form an environment where children feel safe and willing to take risks.
Looking at Strategies in the Classroom to Support Students
Highlights useful strategies for and classroom examples of relationship-building and its positive impact on trauma-informed practice change in schools.
Building Relationships as a Foundation of Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools
Describes risk factors for and signs of secondary traumatic stress in educators, as well as techniques for prevention and self-care.
Secondary Traumatic Stress for Educators
Discusses how challenging financial circumstances may affect you, other school staff, students, and their families and provides specific ways to help.
Coping in Hard Times: Fact Sheet for School Staff
Highlights tips for educators on self-care.
Threat Assessment
Charles County Public Schools is committed to the safety of students, staff, and our overall school community. As of September 1, 2019, the Maryland State Department of Education required each local Maryland school system to establish a threat assessment team whose functions includes (but are not limited to), the development of a process for regular assessment and intervention to identify, assess, and intervene with individuals whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of the school or to an individual attending a public school. In Charles County Public Schools, School Administration and Student Services staff are trained to assess potential threats towards individuals and schools with support from a centralized threat assessment team. In addition, our threat assessment teams emphasize de-escalation, containment, control, and redirection of the individual(s) from plans and preparation for violence; and towards engaging with others, problem solving, adapting, developing social-emotional skills and improving coping skills and well-being. In addition, community resources are identified that may provide support to the individual(s).
Local Behavioral Health Authority Provider List
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is mental health important for students?
Good mental health is essential for students' overall well-being, academic success, and ability to cope with life's challenges. It impacts learning, development, relationships, and physical health.
What mental health services are available for students?
Charles County Public Schools offer various mental health services, including access to school counselors, school psychologists, and telemental health services through Hazel Health.
How can my child access online therapy?
Your child can access free online therapy through Hazel Health, available at school during school hours and at home Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. local time. You can request a therapy appointment by clicking the link on the school's mental health webpage or calling Hazel Health at 1-800-764-2935.
What should I do if my child is experiencing a mental health crisis?
In case of a mental health crisis, you can contact emergency resources such as the 24-hour hotline provided by the Charles County Department of Social Services or the Charles County Sheriff’s Office.
Who can I contact for more information about mental health services?
You can reach out to Beila Lugo, the Mental Health Coordinator and Nationally Certified School Psychologist, at blugo@ccboe.com or call 301-392-7507 for more information.
Are mental health services available to all students?
Yes, mental health services, including online therapy, are available to all students regardless of insurance status.
How can mental health problems affect my child?
If ignored, mental health problems can interfere with children's learning, development, relationships, and physical health.
What is the role of school counselors and psychologists?
School counselors and psychologists provide support for students' mental health needs, including counseling, assessments, and interventions to help students cope with challenges and succeed academically.
What other student support services are available?
In addition to mental health services, Charles County Public Schools offer support for attendance, bullying prevention, child abuse reporting, college and career centers, and more.
How can I help my child maintain good mental health?
Encourage open communication, provide a supportive environment, and seek professional help if needed. Utilize the resources provided by the school to ensure your child receives the necessary support.