As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools are implementing universal mental health screenings to identify students needing support. These screenings are part of a systematic process to identify students’ strengths and needs to better inform school based mental health intervention efforts. One of NCSSLE’s Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP2019) grantees, Sodus Central School District in New York State, has successfully implemented a district-wide universal screening process that has helped improve their intervention efforts and better support students.

On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Hennessey Lustica and Rob Lillis from Sodus Central School District about the district’s universal mental health screening efforts. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. To learn more, read Sodus’ Grantee Highlight.

1:10 - Introductions

4:30 - Defining Universal Screening

8:30 - Survey Questions

10:23 - Successful Implementation

22:15 - Lessons learned and challenges

26:36 - Impacts

31:49 - Future Plans

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

As districts and states across the country grapple with the effects of trauma exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health crisis, and more, many have shifted to a trauma-informed care approach to promote healing environments for students and staff. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent Cohort 3 (P2C3) grantees, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), has made particularly noteworthy progress in implementing this approach district-wide.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Naomi Handley, Rachel Hamm, and Leandra Torra, P2C3 grant recipients from Jefferson County, KY, about the district’s extensive trauma-informed care training approach. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about JCPS at their website, and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about their trauma-informed plans.

0:45 - Welcome & Introductions

1:28 - Why JCPS puts emphasis on Trauma-Informed Care

7:24 - The process for districts to create a system and provide Trauma-Informed Care to schools

10:41 - How this work connects to their Project Prevent Grant

12:25 - School Specific Plans

16:14 - Challenges they have encountered

23:30 - Successes and impacts they have seen on the school community

28:52 - What comes next for this Trauma-Informed Care work

35:18 - Closing

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.

To maintain a strong school-based mental health workforce that meets the growing needs of students, districts across the country are partnering with local universities to place interns in schools, thereby creating a pipeline of school-based mental health staff. Thoroughly supporting and effectively engaging with these interns is essential to prepare and, ultimately, sustain the workforce.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Dr. Rosie Rincon Hernandez & Gianna Merriam, Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP2019) grant recipients from Tulare County, CA about their effort to build the capacity of and effectively engage school based mental health interns. This conversation is guided by Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Visit Tulare County’s website and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about supporting school-based mental health interns. You can also view their helpful diagram of the Overlapping Roles of Support Staff that use that is discussed in the episode.

0:47 - Introductions and their “Why” for doing this work

2:35 - How Tulare County has created a robust internship experience

7:21 - Practices they have implemented to ensure the internship program is quality and sustainable

14:15 - Sustainability for interns

15:27 - Impacts they have seen with the internship program

20:31 - How they have clarified roles and responsibilities

26:11 - Greatest success and lessons learned

32:43 - Closing & takeaways

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.