This session provides opportunities for participants to think about ways school systems help or harm students, families, and staff, and how the Interconnected Systems Framework promotes wellness, healing, and equitable mental health supports in schools. Committing to equity means committing to disrupting harm interpersonally as well as institutionally.
Learning Objectives:
Resources
Dr. Jessica Swain-Bradway is the Executive Director for Northwest PBIS Network. Her work in school-wide positive behavioral interventions and supports (SW-PBIS) and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) focuses on equipping teachers with high leverage strategies for instruction, relationship-building, and designing effective learning environments. She has extensive experience supporting districts and states to build capacity for PBIS implementation and working across agencies to maximize resources for developing the organizational health of the school environment. Dr. Swain-Bradway also has expertise aligning restorative practices, mental health practices, including trauma informed care, and academic RtI into the SWPBIS framework.
Kurt Hatch M.Ed. A former teacher, instructional coach and award-winning principal, Kurt Hatch has served as a leader in a variety of systems including Puyallup, Kent, University Place, North Thurston and Shanghai, China. Currently based out of Olympia, Kurt serves as Associate Director at the Association of Washington School Principals. His work includes policy analysis, advocacy, leading the Mastering Principal Leadership Network and facilitating professional learning on topics such as: Systems Improvement; Distributed Leadership; and Equity, Bias and Race. Kurt also mentors early-career principals and trains school leaders on the implementation of a school-wide student support system that has helped recapture thousands of hours of instructional time, increase teacher efficacy and eliminate the use of suspensions.
Susan Barrett, MA, serves as a Director for the Center for Social Behavior Supports Center (CSBS) at Old Dominion University and an Implementer Partner with the U.S. National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). She assists with large-scale implementation of PBIS; partners with researchers to evaluate the impact of PBIS on students, school staff, and school communities; and serves on the Association of Positive Behavior Supports Board of Directors. She also co-leads the development of the Interconnected Systems Framework, a mental health and PBIS expansion effort. Susan has been published in the areas of large-scale adoption of PBIS, mental health, cost-benefit analysis, advanced tier system development, and adoption of evidence-based practices in schools.
The Northwest MHTTC and the Pacific Southwest MHTTC are continuing our partnership to provide and extend deeper technical assistance on the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF).
Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) is a structure and process that maximizes effectiveness and efficiency by blending the strengths of school and community mental health with strengths of the multi-tiered framework of PBIS (Barrett, Eber, Weist, 2013)
This past year, we offered three webinars on the Interconnected Systems Framework (see below for recordings) and followed the learning series up with monthly discussion hours led by Susan Barrett and field leaders from our region.
This year, we are offering more programming to deepen your ISF work and contextualize ISF to this moment of COVID-19 and beyond. Our fall offering is made up of four modules and ends with a town hall for you to be able to ask faculty your questions and resource one another. Each module includes teaching from Susan Barrett and field leaders on ISF systems, and USC faculty on ISF practices.
Want more information and school mental health resources? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's School Mental Health page and sign up for our monthly newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.