No Waitlists for Care
Students and families can connect with a licensed therapist within one week of completing their referral, compared with waits of months in many communities.
Parental Consent Required
Parents and caregivers are involved throughout care, from providing consent to helping shape their child’s treatment. With their permission, Cartwheel can also collaborate with school staff to support students.
Open to Every School District
The program is being offered to all public school districts in West Virginia. Students outside traditional public schools are also eligible for care, including students at charter schools, private schools, and microschools, as well as homeschooled students.
“Every West Virginia child deserves access to quality mental health care, no matter where they live. By bringing telehealth to rural communities, we can identify problems earlier, help children stay healthy and succeed in school, and prevent challenges from becoming more serious and costly.
What sets this program apart is that it doesn’t stop at therapy. It includes psychiatric care and medication management, which is some of the hardest care to access anywhere in rural West Virginia. Students get the full range of support in one place, not just a referral to another six-month waitlist.”
in their mental health due to Cartwheel
to connect with a clinician licensed in West Virginia after completing the referral process
in care and engagement versus other telehealth programs
A full range of clinical care
Cartwheel uses evidence-based practices and offers a wide range of options, including individual therapy, parent guidance, family therapy, psychiatric evaluations, and medication management.
Care coordination for families
Cartwheel pairs each family with a care coordinator to help with scheduling, reminders, and insurance.
Privacy-protected data and impact reporting
Cartwheel shares aggregate data on program participation and outcomes without identifying individual students or families, so partner districts and the state can understand the program’s impact. Marshall University will serve as the independent research and evaluation partner for the program.
Works alongside local providers
Cartwheel collaborates and coordinates with West Virginia’s community-based providers and school staff, including supporting handoffs to in-person care and higher levels of care.
How the program is funded
Participating school districts can access the program at no cost. Insurance, including Medicaid, covers direct clinical care. RHTP funding supports the parts of the program insurance doesn’t cover, including school implementation, family outreach, impact reporting, and financial aid for families facing cost barriers.
Our virtual services adapt to your community's needs, removing common barriers to mental health support like wait times and transportation with flexible options that work for students, working parents, and school schedules.
Here are a few examples of needs we can support:
Anxiety · Stress · Depression · Sadness · Grief or loss · Low self-esteem · Self-harm · Coping skills · Motivation · Family & relationships · Anger · Trauma · School avoidance · Social issues · Sleep issues · Screen & technology use
This is supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $199,476,098.72 with 100 percent funded by CMS/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CMS/HHS, or the U.S. Government.