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.

As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools have been actively working to hire, train and retain school mental health professionals. When interviewing potential professionals for the job, schools look for candidates that connect well with students. One way to ensure this connection is to engage students in the hiring process. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent grantees, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) in Hartford, CT has done this by implementing student-led interview panels as part of their clinician hiring process.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Sixmaritt Pagán Peña, a Project Prevent (Cohort 2 and Cohort 3) grant recipient from the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) and Rashelly, a 10th grader at the Academy of Computer Science and Engineering, about the district’s student-led clinician interview panels. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about CREC at their website, and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about the student-led interview panels.

1:00 - Introductions

1:56 - Background Information

2:59 - Student Experience and Feedback

4:44 - Formulating Questions for the Interviews

6:13 - Prioritizing Student Voice

9:19 - Impact on Students and the Hiring Process

11:31 - Next Steps

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.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Frank Rider, a seasoned Technical Assistance Specialist (TAS) at NCSSLE, about the capacities Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and State Education Agencies (SEAs) need to improve their school mental health programs and systems. As he nears the end of his 40 year career, Frank shares his expertise with the field at large. Specifically, he discusses common characteristics of successful change initiatives, advice for new grant managers, and what he has learned over the course of his impactful career. This discussion will be helpful for both new grantees (P2C3 and others) and those grantees who are nearing the end of their grants (MHSP 2019, P2C2, SBMH 2020, TR). This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

0:45- Welcome and introduction

2:16- Common characterstics of technical assistance (TA) recipients who have successfully facilitated change initiatives

4:28- Key characteristics of a compelling impetus for change

6:00- Recognizing the important phases of systems change for successful change initiatives

7:45- Primary advice for first time grante managers

10:43- Secondary piece of advice for new grant leaders

14:06- Lessons learned

17:29- Suggestions for technical assistance providers aiming to support successful grant funded systems change initiatives

19:08- Defining SAMHSA and GPRA

20:34- Challenges and questions for grant managers close to the end of the grany cycle

24:10- Taking an initiative to the "next level"

27:21- What Frank has learned from successful change agents through his TA work

31:14- Final takeaways and 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.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with NCSSLE partners Ruth Cross and Andrew Tucker from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) about supporting youth by combining workforce skills and Social Emotional Learning (SEL), an area of interest among the grantees we serve. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

0:46- Introductions

2:29- What CASEL is and its relationship with NCSSLE

4:48- CASEL's initiative on supporting youth with workforce skills and SEL

7:42- Examples of a skill taught in SEL and career readiness

10:46- Who they are trying to reach with this initiative/ needs being met

14:43- Advice to share with others looking to utilize this approach

21:08- The importance of career awareness among youth

24:20- What's next

25:26- Final takeaways and 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.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Sharon Fishel, Project Director for the Trauma Recovery Demonstration Grant program at the Alaska Department of Education, about their Trauma Engaged Framework. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s Trauma Engaged Framework at education.alaska.gov.

0:54 - Introductions

1:30 - About the Alaska Rise Project

2:51 - Creation of Alaska’s Trauma Engaged Framework

6:52 - Partnerships

9:38 - Advice for the Field

11:16 - Tracking Impact with Data

15:30 - Sustainability Plan

17:38 - 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.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Rosemary Reilly Chammat and Bianca Carreiro, both School Based Mental Health grant recipients from the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, about statewide role-specific professional development as a retention strategy. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about Rhode Island’s professional development strategy by reading their Grantee Highlight.

1:00 - Introductions.

1:52 - Background about statewide role specific professional development.

5:39 - Needs being met with this program.

8:01 - How they were able to bring this to fruition.

11:41 - Lessons learned.

14:31 - Impacts from the program.

18:37 - What is coming next.

26:26 - Final takeaways and 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.