Trevor Olsen Receives
2025 Telehealth Excellence Award
Student Mental Health Advocate Trevor Olsen Receives Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Award
This year, the Utah Telehealth Network (UTN) presented the Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Excellence Award to Trevor Olsen, mayor of Blanding, Utah, and a leader in the Utah School Mental Health Collaborative (USMHC). The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to advancing access to critical telebehavioral health services for students in San Juan County.
As Marz Cesarini, UTN Associate Director of IT, said in his introduction to Olsen, “When the USMHC was established in 2020, San Juan School District became its first rural partner the following year.” Olsen recognized the significant access gaps in behavioral health services and collaborated with school personnel and stakeholders to develop and implement solutions to close these gaps. The programs they built increased student access to much-needed behavioral health treatment.
“Now in its fifth year, this partnership has dramatically improved timely access to both psychiatric and therapeutic services for children with critical needs in a remote region of the state,” Cesarini explained. “Wait times have been significantly reduced, and families can access high-quality care at no cost, directly in their schools.”
That care includes culturally sensitive options that honor the traditions of the many Indigenous students in San Juan County, home to much of the Navajo Nation reservation. “There are different modalities through storytelling and a four-directional Navajo wellness model that were not previously accessible in the schools,” Olsen said. They partnered with Utah Navajo Health and trained all the staff working with these students to provide a four-directional model for Navajo students, allowing them to choose between a Navajo modality or a traditional Western European modality.
For his part, Olsen says he is humbled and grateful for the award, acknowledging that he is one member of a large team that has made these advances possible. “An award like this is definitely shared among the group of people who are helping to make that happen.” He pointed to the contributions of teachers, technology specialists, administrators, healthcare providers, parents, and students who have all played a role in developing these solutions.
“Receiving this award allows us to highlight access to mental health programs in a rural school setting,” Olsen said. “I congratulate everyone involved.”
Olsen has deep roots in his community, having worked as a Juvenile Justice Youth Services (JJYS) Counselor, Juvenile Probation Officer, School Counselor at Monticello Elementary, School Administrator at San Juan High School, and Student Services and Federal Programs Director at the San Juan School District. Today, in addition to serving as the mayor of Blanding, he works for the USMHC as an Associate Director of School Mental Health, Technical Assistance & Consultation.
Looking forward, Olsen is actively working to support other rural districts and community providers in onboarding similar telehealth programs. “By sharing his strategies, insights, and experiences, he is helping to build a broader statewide infrastructure for equitable school-based mental health services,” Cesarini said. Olsen envisions a “dashboard for student health and wellness” that can provide high-quality care everywhere in the state.
The Deborah LaMarche Telehealth Excellence Award is presented annually to an individual or organization in Utah that has accomplished outstanding work in the field of telehealth, including the areas of policy development, innovative programs and activities, technology, patient and provider support, education, and training.
