A Message from Our School Mental Health Team
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“The summer night is like a perfection of thought.”
- Wallace Stevens
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time”
- John Lubbock
“
Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and
cool the earth, the air and you.
”
- Langston Hughes
Here we are in July 2020. Some of us are able to take a breath moment, a respite and rest. For others, respite and rest haven’t yet arrived. Some of us are teaching summer school; others are deep in solution-finding around school plans and what reopening might look and feel like. Some of us are taking a break from distance learning offerings; others are deeply engaged in their virtual professional development. We are all navigating, experiencing, and feeling through the acute pain of the dual pandemics—COVID 19 and racial violence—in different ways and degrees.
Summer is here. Whatever this moment requires of you, whatever you require of this moment, and wherever you are, we continue to be committed to supporting you and your communities’ needs as we move forward, together. And even for a single moment, we hope you are able to access some cleansing, some rest, some deep thought and reflection so that our work in the fall feels strengthened and sustained.
“
Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all.
”
- Erik Erikson
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The
Pacific Southwest MHTTC
is a SAMHSA-funded center serving American Samoa, Arizona, California, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands, and Palau.
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GET IN TOUCH:
SPREAD THE WORD:
CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
@PSMHTTC
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NEW PRODUCT TO SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH LEADERSHIP, NOW AND ALWAYS
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Every day, school and community leaders navigate unpredictable events. These events are called “crises” when they exceed a threshold of harm. To navigate a crisis successfully, school mental health leaders need the skills to contain the crisis, minimize subsequent trauma, and restore equity and equanimity in the school environment. Their leadership is integral across the continuum of crisis readiness, response, recovery, and renewal.
To help schools navigate our current crises and prepare for future crises, the Pacific Southwest MHTTC asked educators and school mental health leaders in Region 9 to share their experiences in leading school systems, communities, and sites through crisis. These leaders shared: What did they wish they knew at the time of crisis? What have they learned? What did they take with them?
School Mental Health Crisis Leadership Lessons: Voices of Experience from Leaders in the Pacific Southwest Region
highlights how school mental health leaders can – and do – work with and through crises.
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The School Mental Health Crisis Leadership Lessons
guide provides an overview of the crisis continuum; explores the intersection between school crises and school mental health leadership; and examines each component of the school crisis continuum by learning from voices of experience from the field.
Also included: resources and references to steward your crisis readiness, response, recovery, and renewal leadership.
The guide was developed by Leora Wolf-Prusan, EdD, Pacific Southwest MHTTC School Mental Health Lead, and David Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, with contributions from 18 partner organizations and school mental health leaders from our region and the two population-focused MHTTCs: the National Hispanic and Latino MHTTC and the National American Indian/Alaska Native MHTTC.
Work through the Guide with Reflection and Intention:
A complementary reflection worksheet is available to help reading leadership reflect and connect.
THANK YOU
Thank you to co-author
David Schonfeld,
Director of the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement and our regional contributors:
Anthony Petrosino
, Director of the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center and the Associate Director of the Health & Justice Program;
Darrick Smith
, Professor of Education (University of San Francisco) and former co-principal (June Jordan School for Equity, San Francisco, California);
Emily Jo Hernandez
, Los Angeles Office County of Education and the California State University, Los Angeles;
Jim Lee
, Emergency Preparedness Advisor, Arizona Department of Education;
Jen Leland
, Trauma Transformed;
Jodina Attao
, Quality Improvement Specialist, Maternal & Child Health Bureau, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
Judee Fernandez and Michelle Kurta
, founders of the Meaning Makers Collective;
Kanwarpal Dhaliwal
, co-founder and Associate Director of RYSE Youth Center, Richmond, California;
Katherine Loudon,
Administrator, Washoe County School District, Nevada;
Kelly Knoche
, Executive Director of The Teaching Well;
Matt Reddam
, School and Community Wellness Advisor, Butte County Office of Education; the
National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center; the National American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Technology Transfer Center; Pat Sanborn
, Project Manager at the Nevada Department of Education ;
Robert Weires
, Director of Psychological Services for the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Nevada and manager of the Department of Student Threat Evaluation and Crisis Response, a specialized sub-department of Psychological Services;
Sandra Azevedo
, Coordinator Continuous Improvement, Butte County Office of Education;
Vince Ferry
, Principal, Saugus High School, California; and
Yesmina Luchsinger
, Director School Safety & Social Wellness, Arizona Department of Education.
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From Our Center:
New Programming
NEW!
Rising Telehealth Behavioral Practices: Centering the Needs of Historically Marginalized Youth in California
The Pacific Southwest MHTTC is pleased to partner with
The Catalyst Center
, with sponsorship from the California Department of Education and
Wellness Together
, to offer two webinar sessions to support the California school mental health workforce, school site leaders, and systems leaders. The aim of both sessions is to lift up rising practices and share stories of resilience as providers innovate ways to help youth access behavioral health amidst a worldwide pandemic.
COVID-19 has forced us into conditions that challenge best practices for serving the mental health needs of youth we marginalize. The school behavioral and mental health workforce has the opportunity to learn from community-based service providers who have pivoted their models of care and engagement, implementing creative methods of virtual practice to ensure communities receive the care they direly need.
These sessions will highlight voices of experience from community-based organizations that have been innovative and student-centered in their response to this moment. Their learnings will help us identify, adopt, and implement creative, student-centered telehealth strategies for our students’ equitable mental health access. CEUs are available.
SESSION 1:
How might we partner with and listen to youth/students whom we marginalize, specifically in their telehealth experience during COVID-19?
Monday, August 3
Presented by Ahn Ta, LMFT, Assistant Director of Trauma Transformed; and Marissa Snoddy, LMFT, Clinical Director at RYSE Center in Richmond, CA.
SESSION 2:
How might community-based organizations provide student support, and what can school systems learn from them, specifically related to COVID-19 telehealth?
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Presented by Francine Ostrem, PhD, LMFT, at Lincoln, mental health nonprofit in Oakland, CA; and Rozlyn Wing-Man Kwong, LMFT, Clinical Trainer and Evidenced-Based Practice Coordinator, Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, Los Angeles.
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From Our Center:
Continued Programming
School Mental Health Wellness Wednesdays
Connect • Reflect • Support
In collaboration with the
Meaning Makers Collective
, we’re pleased to offer School Mental Health Wellness Wednesdays: 60-minute virtual sessions for the
school mental health workforce to connect, reflect, and support each other
. Led by Judee Fernandez and Michelle Kurta, Meaning Makers Collective.
Please note that the Wellness Wednesdays are not a sequence; you can join some or all. All sessions are held at
5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT / 11 a.m. HT
.
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Tuesday, August 4
This is the third session in the "
Crisis Readiness, Response, and Recovery
" 3-part webinar series. Watch
Part 1
,
Part 2
.
Dr. David Schonfeld (National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement) will summarize the principles of psychological first aid and common reactions to a crisis event, including the current pandemic. The session will provide practical advice on how to help students and staff understand and cope with the current pandemic and begin to prepare for what may be needed to offer support to students when schools re-open. The session will underscore the need for professional self-care and highlight some of the barriers as well as some potential solutions. Ample time will be devoted to questions and discussion. Together, we will consider how best to support students, staff and ourselves during this evolving pandemic.
Audience:
Educators; school mental health providers and support professionals; school administrators; community-based medical and mental health professionals who support schools and/or children and families.
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LAST SESSION!
Tuesday, August 11
In collaboration with the
Northwest MHTTC
, join Susan Barrett and ISF Field Leaders to discuss the Interconnected Systems Framework, COVID 19 implications, and how to integrate ISF into your new school year launch.
We ask that if you join, please 1) download and read the three ISF Fact Sheets and 2) watch or listen to the three ISF Webinar Series recordings.
ISF 201:
When School Mental Health is Integrated within a Multi-Tiered System of Support |
Fact Sheet
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Webinar
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Virtual Learning from our
Partners
NEW!
Supporting School Mental Health in the Context of Racial Violence
We are pleased to collaborate across the MHTTC Network to bring you “
Supporting School Mental Health in the Context of Racial Violence,”
a two-part learning forum intended for students, families, educators, and school mental health professionals who are navigating the impact of racial violence on student mental health.
Each learning session will feature a moderator who will engage advocates, leaders, and the school mental health workforce in a conversation that focuses on:
- Strategies for supporting students’ mental health while navigating racial violence (in and out of school);
- Opportunities for the field to improve its commitment to fostering a workforce ready, able, and willing to hold racial violence as a mental health issue;
- Steps we might take to advance school mental health supports for students experiencing racial violence.
SESSION 1:
Learning From and With Students, Caregivers, Advocates and Systems Leaders
Friday, July 31
SESSION 2:
Learning From and With the School Mental Health Workforce (School
Counselors, Psychologists, and Teacher Educators)
Friday, August 7
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Note that this site is constantly being updated with new opportunities as we quickly respond to the needs and contexts of the field.
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Virtual Learning Opportunities
From the Field
Thursdays – July 9, 16, 23, 30
Join Part 2 of a low-cost, interactive, dialogue-based webinar series in which four racial justice educators discuss big questions about racial justice in education. Registration comes with access to recordings of the first series of four sessions and live access to Part 2. Sessions facilitated by Kike Ojo-Thompson, Founder and Principal Consultant, Kojo Institute; Pamala Agawa, Anishinaabe-kwe from Batchewana First Nation; Debbie Donsky, Elementary Principal; and Paul Gorski, Founder, Equity Literacy Institute.
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»
SEL as a Lever for Equity – A 5-Part Webinar Series from CASEL
In response to the painful events that have highlighted ongoing systemic racism and violence against the Black community, CASEL invites you to register for upcoming webinars that are intended to prioritize equity and explicitly discuss racial injustice and equity through the lens of social-emotional learning (SEL).
This series is made possible with support from The Allstate Foundation.
The SEL as a Lever for Equity webinars will all be held at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 7 a.m. HT on the following Fridays:
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Asynchronous training with live events on July 13 and 14
As educators face the start of school year, the only certain thing is uncertainty. What does "back to school" (whether online or in-person) look like right now? Prior to coronavirus, the need for trauma-informed care, restorative practices, and an equity focus were already of vital importance, and they remain so as educators try to plan for what comes next. Join Ellen Fox from Triad Restorative Justice and Alex Shevrin Venet from Unconditional Learning in a project-based, two-week intensive training that will equip educators to apply restorative practices and trauma-informed practices. Participants will receive a certificate for 15 hours of professional learning upon completion.
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July 20-23, 2020
Online Summit:
Offered through Facing History and Ourselves, this one-week summit offers a real-time, interactive online classroom. Educators will connect in facilitated whole and small group sessions aimed at supporting them to teach students equity-driven content, cultivate social-emotional skills, and prepare informed and active global citizens to create a more equitable and inclusive society.
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» BIPOC Mental Health Month Webinars from The Jed Foundation (JED)
In honor of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Mental Health Month, JED is hosting a series of webinars. On Thursday, July 23 (3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT / 9 a.m. HT), JED is joining a panel discussion, “
Supporting the Mental Health of BIPOC Students
,” with Mental Health America of Greater Houston, Rice University Wellbeing Center, University of Houston, and The Steve Fund. On Tuesday, July 28 (3 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. PT / 9 a.m. HT), JED is co-hosting “
Amplifying Voices of Future Leaders: Supporting the Mental Health of Students Speaking Up Against Racial Injustice
.” The webinar is co-sponsored with The Steve Fund, and it will focus on how higher education professionals can provide support, share resources, and advocate for the emotional health of students.
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The School Reform Initiative (SRI) is hosting an
SRI Summer Virtual Meeting 2020
— a conference where educators create a community of learners who share their professional practice and learn from its close, public examination. Join the virtual Summer Meeting to practice the skills, habits, and dispositions of professional collaboration and reflective discourse using SRI protocols and resources.
August 5, 2020 – Opening and Keynote 10:00-11:30 a.m. ET / 7:00-8:30 a.m. PT / 4:00-5:30 a.m. HT
(
view your time zone
)
August 6-7, 2020 – Virtual Reflective Learning Groups 8 a.m.-1 p.m. / 5-10 a.m. PT / 2-7 a.m. HT (with breaks)
(
view your time zone
)
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These resources come from the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement and the Coalition to Support Grieving Students, led by our colleague and partner Dr. David Schonfeld. They include helpful recorded presentations (15-25 minutes), such as the two modules for educators and parents on “Talking to and Supporting” our students and children.
Need help navigating the online materials? The Coalition put together
this cheat sheet
.
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Research Brief:
A
new
analysis
by the Black Male Institute (UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies) details an exponential increase in incidents in the Los Angeles Unified School District that require response from individuals with expertise in mental health, rather than police intervention. The researchers highlight that these mental health events, such as suicidal behavior, underscore the need for more counselors and social workers.
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» New Research Considerations & Resources from Child Trends
Research Considerations & Resources:
Child Trends (Fulks, Garcia & Harper, 6/28/2020) recently released new research considerations as schools reexamine school-police partnerships. School mental health and climate factors include evidence-based violence prevention alternatives. See
Research Considerations for School-Police Partnerships
for more information.
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Study:
Alvarez (2020) recently published a new systematic review of research on youth trauma in educational contexts from a race-conscious perspective. This article uses a racialization framework to examine how trauma is discussed in the literature with respect to youth in pre-K–12 educational contexts. This review sheds light on the potential ways a structurally racist and White supremacist system can shape students’ experiences with trauma and the dominant explanatory frames for discussing and addressing trauma. Finally, this article contributes ideas for conducting race-conscious trauma research, shifting trauma discourses, and building race-conscious pathways for supporting trauma-exposed youth. See more
here
.
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A Playbook for School Reopening from Kaiser Permanente Thriving Schools:
As schools and districts across the nation look to reopen in the coming weeks, they are likely to face even greater strain as they seek to meet the academic and health needs of students, staff, and teachers with already limited resources.
To assist schools in proactively addressing the health needs of the school community, a number of nationally recognized and trusted school health organizations have come together to develop a playbook for school reopening. This guide aims to equip school and district leaders with specific, evidence-informed guidance and operating procedures for keeping school communities mentally and physically safe as we shape a new approach to learning.
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Tip Sheet:
ASAP (Act, Support, and Protect), in partnership with the NCTSN (National Child Traumatic Stress Network), released this three-page tip sheet for trauma-informed guidance regarding safety assessments. Some recommendations are tailored to COVID-19; others are applicable beyond the current pandemic.
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Fact Sheet:
This document uses the NCTSN’s “Creating, Supporting and Sustaining Trauma-Informed Schools: A System Framework,” to consider how, in the time of COVID-19, schools can adapt or transform their practices by using a trauma-informed approach to help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. The fact sheet includes tips for the physical and emotional well-being of staff, how to foster a trauma-informed learning environment, identifying and assessing traumatic stress, partnering with students and families, cultural responsiveness, and more.
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New resource to guide reopening schools: While we know that districts in our region have varying plans for the new school year, the newly released "RETURNING TO SCHOOL DURING AND AFTER CRISIS: A Guide to Supporting States, Districts, Schools, Educators, and Students through a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Framework during the 2020-2021 School Year" from the Center on PBIS and partners offers tangible recommendations for state leaders, district leaders, school leaders, and educators to prioritize health and safety, social and emotional needs, and behavioral and academic growth amidst the global pandemic.
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Contact the Pacific Southwest MHTTC
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Disclaimer:
The views, opinions, and content expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
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