Millcreek Behavioral Health is welcoming a new Director of Education, Joshua Yeager, a Newton resident, who has been tasked with coordinating the special-needs school’s education efforts across its seven Mississippi campuses.
“We’ve got seven different educational facilities,” Yeager said. “Anything as far as education will come through my office.”
Millcreek, which is owned by Acadia Healthcare and headquartered in Arkansas, operates both residential and day-school facilities for special needs students. The seven Mississippi facilities, Yeager said, are day schools, which operate similar to local public schools.
“We operate just like our local school districts operate, with a school schedule and the holidays and all that,” he said.
The difference, Yeager said, is that Millcreek incorporates medical treatment into its education programs, opening up education opportunities for students that may not be compatible with the local school systems.
“One thing that we do a lot of is behavioral support. A lot of our students need that extra attention that maybe our public schools cannot provide,” he said.
Each student at Millcreek meets with a psychologist to assess their individual needs. That information is then used to develop a custom education plan for each student, Yeager said.
“We have certified, licensed teachers, specifically certified for their disabilities,” he said. “We have licensed psychologist. We have a licensed nurse and several psychiatric assistants.”
The goal at Millcreek, Yeager said, is to bridge the divide between education and medical care, providing both at the same time.
As the Director of Education, Yeager said his duties will be to ensure curriculums used in the school meet or exceed the requirements set by Mississippi Department of Education. The education students receive at Millcreek, he said, will be on par with what students in other schools are learning.
“We have a very rigorous program that we put them through,” he said.
Yeager said there is a misunderstanding in the community about what Millcreek Behavior Health does. Many have the impression the school is a last resort for juvenile delinquents and children who cause trouble. That, however, is not the case, he said.
Millcreek, he said, provides medically driven care for children who can’t get the help they need in their local schools.
“School districts have to follow policy in servicing children, children with whatever type of learning incapability and disabilities they may have,” he said. “If a public school district cannot supply those services, then they vet them to our program.”
Millcreek Behavioral Health is a K-12 school, accepting students up to age 21, Yeager said. At the Newton location, there are 25 students from Newton, Lauderdale, Scott, Leake, Neshoba and Warren counties.
Yeager said he was excited and honored to be starting the new position, and he was looking forward to the start of a new school year.
“These guys that work here are highly skilled in their profession, and I’m just honored to be able to kind of be here along the way,” he said.
