Mental & Behavioral Health Roadmap & Toolkit for Schools
SUMMARY – Academic goals are more difficult to achieve when the mental and behavioral health needs of students and staff are not addressed. This resource offers guidance to teachers and administrators for identifying the mental health needs of students and working with their parents and caregivers to help them find treatment.
50%
of diagnosable mental health disorders begin by age 14*
#2
leading cause of death among youth ages 10 – 24 is suicide**
Project Updates
MMHPI Child and Family Policy team members present “The Mental and Behavioral Health Roadmap and Toolkit for Schools” at the 2019 Annual Conference Advancing School Mental Health, hosted by the National Center for School Mental Health, in Austin, TX.
To help mitigate challenges created by COVID-19, MMHPI developed an easy-to-use primer for schools that supports student emotional wellness by implementing evidence-based practices, including Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and Interconnected Systems Framework. Responding to the Trauma of COVID-19: Roadmap for Beginning MTSS in Schools
Project Details
Schoolteachers and administrators are in a position to know a child as well as anyone outside of his or her own family. As such, they are uniquely well positioned to identify students who might have a mental or behavioral health need, and—working with their parents or caregivers—to connect them to appropriate services or resources.
This resource was developed to provide Texas schools and districts information on research-driven, evidence-based practices, as well as practical guidance to more effectively assess and address student mental and behavioral health needs. The document includes both a Roadmap and a Toolkit to best meet the needs of schools and school districts.
The Roadmap provides an overview of definitions, research, evidence-based practices, and other information needed to implement school-linked mental and behavioral health supports. It is built upon the framework of a Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS), which provides an overarching organization of plans to address student needs, broadly, through early identification and intervention.
The Toolkit contains detailed and practical information to better prepare schools to support the mental health needs of their students, including tools that address:
- Funding opportunities
- State legislation
- Trauma-informed care in schools
- Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid
- Staff self-care
- State and community providers, coalitions, and partnerships
- Telemedicine and telehealth
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