Behavioral Health News

Student Support Summit Series

This past March the Behavioral Health and Prevention Services department presented a month-long Student Support Summit Series focusing on a range of content such as Prevention, Threat Assessment, Crisis Response, the Behavioral Health Navigator program, and School Discipline. The series presented a suite of resources, information and effective practices to support students as well as bring awareness to district and school staff about the quality programs that are available to them.

Two presentations were offered each week. The first week focused on the Vaping Prevention Toolkit and how to effectively intervene with students who are using vape devices. Additionally, a session called What is a Student Assistance Professional? explained the range of services offered to schools and provided an overview of the multi-tiered approach.

The second week launched a session on Assessing Risk as We Return to In-Person Learning. Discussions covered the lasting behavioral and emotional impacts of the pandemic and how to best support staff and students and mitigate those impacts. The second session, Equity in Threat Assessment, examined the role of equity in school-based practices and how to avoid cultural and ethnic disparities in the threat assessment process.

Building a Regional Crisis Response Team was presented during week three, we reviewed crisis-oriented resources available through the NWESD and described ways to create a coordinated region-wide team that can flex resources to and from neighboring districts. Thus providing more consistent response with less trauma for staff and students. Also presented was the Introduction to Behavioral Health Navigation and School Mental Health Approaches, which brought a better understanding of regional behavioral health and suicide prevention efforts. Participants learned about steps districts and schools can take to integrate behavioral health supports into a multi-tiered system of support.

Our final week started with Positive Discipline Interventions, reviewing the recent changes to school discipline approaches and covering the practical application of interventions and supports for positive discipline. Tammy Dee Dee, MSW and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and owner of Cascadia Youth Mental Health PLLC, led our final session, Substance Use School Discipline Policies and Practices, she emphasized best practices in substance use school discipline policy, systems, communications, and interventions. Participants learned how to effectively communicate their substance use campus policy, what interventions are appropriate to provide as alternatives to suspensions for substance use violations, the role of law enforcement in substance use violations, and how to effectively address vaping and other substance use on campus.

We hope to repeat this series next school year, stay tuned for more information.

PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK

“The instructors knew their stuff and were able to answer questions effectively.”

“I enjoyed the variety of topics… all were relevant to my school and position. I really appreciated getting a broader perspective on regional efforts and opportunities under development.”

“They were convenient, virtual and short as not to take up an entire day, while still providing good information.”

“I really loved the sessions. I also really appreciated the times we had breakout rooms to collaborate with colleagues in other districts.”