The State and community leaders partnered to develop the Healthy Schools and Communities Resource Team. The purpose of the team is to promote integration and alignment of the work among Ohio’s federal-funding initiatives, including Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS), Project AWARE, and School Climate Transformation Grants.
Approximately 20% of all children have some sort of mental health issue and only one third of those receive services. Of those students who do receive mental health services, 70% get them in the school setting.
Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) has been the “guiding light” for citywide collaboration, supporting an improved relationship between the Rochester School District (RSD) and the City of Rochester. The Rochester Recreation Department (RRD) is a key partner in this collaboration, which directly supports Rochester youth with new programing and access to key relationships. These connections offer validation to the RRD for their critical role in the life of the city.
Pennsylvania is integrating five previously discrete SAMHSA-sponsored initiatives to create a comprehensive system of care for families, children, and youth with behavioral health needs from birth to adulthood.
Pennsylvania has administered a statewide Student Assistance Program (SAP) across all the Commonwealth’s 500 school districts since 1985. SAP aims to develop and maintain mental health wellness and a safe and drug-free environment in schools and communities. It is designed to assist school personnel to identify misuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as mental health concerns that may pose a barrier to a student’s success. Additionally, SAP responds to such issues and concerns through collaborative prevention, intervention, and post-intervention services.
Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) implementation within Pennsylvania’s overarching system of care partnership is creating numerous new opportunities for schools at the center of their communities. This strategy is generating great benefits for comprehensive approaches to address the consequential role of trauma in the lives of local students and their families in several school districts throughout Crawford and Lehigh counties.
School professionals and students across all seventeen school districts in York County, Pennsylvania formed an active student-led Youth Mental Health Alliance (Alliance) that serves as a catalyst “to end the stigma of mental illness, and to ensure that mental-health resources are available to everyone who needs them”—especially the county's youth.
SS/HS provided the opportunity for school districts in Michigan to reduce silos and partner and collaborate with families, schools, and community partners. As a result of increased focus on authentic family engagement and empowerment, 2,700 families across all three LEAs were actively engaged in school activities since implementation in 2013-14 academic year.
Writes about how community policing in schools can help prevent and respond to bullying and intolerance. By following community policing, school resource officers and school safety personnel can contribute to a productive and enriching environment for students, teachers, and administrators alike.
