Published in the Northwest Herald
Leonetta Rizzi, executive director of the McHenry County Mental Health Board, received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois Chapter of the National School Public Relations Association.
Rizzi has been executive director of the mental health board since 2022. Before this role, she spent years in management in the nonprofit sector in various roles, as well as in corporate health care, strategic planning and governance.
Rizzi was nominated by Crystal Lake Elementary School District 47 in the Community category for “enhancing the understanding and support of public education, thereby benefiting our schools, students and communities.”
There are some people who are not truly grasping the level of mental health needs that we have in this county.”— Kristin Schmidt, District 47 director of social emotional learning
“I was very humbled by the award. It means a lot for many of the behavioral health professionals in the community who are partnering in assisting schools in so many ways,” Rizzi said. “It’s nice to receive a reward for the efforts that we’ve been trying to make.”
One of the rewards for those efforts came in the form of a $5.6 million federal mental health grant for District 47.
Kristin Schmidt, District 47 director of social-emotional learning, explained how important the mental health grant will be for the district.
“There are some people who are not truly grasping the level of mental health needs that we have in this county,” Schmidt said. “This grant allows our district the resources to meet those needs in a much more proactive way.”
Rizzi and Schmidt co-led a virtual quarterly meeting involving all McHenry County school counselors, social workers and behavioral health professionals.
Schmidt said these meetings allow the district opportunities to make relationships with people that can help with specific or individualized needs. She emphasized the importance of bringing together people with varying backgrounds, experiences and expertise to help solve problems in advance.
“These quarterly meetings with the schools happen in order to give resources, but also it’s an opportunity for schools to let the behavioral health side know what the gaps are in services and what are the needs so that we can continue to collaborate,” Rizzi said. “It’s a very effective program.”
Rizzi said that meetings, along with the federal mental health grant, are helping increase the awareness of mental health needs in schools and the resources that are available for school professionals to deal with them.
She said she believes the continued collaboration between behavioral health professionals and the schools is “imperative toward properly serving our youth’s needs.”
“This world is just so difficult to navigate for children and youth today, and there are so many challenges [presented to] them,” Rizzi said. “It’s very important as a community that we are coming together on resources that are available to our youth and families.”
