The objective of the Idaho School Mental Health Collaborative is to engage diverse stakeholders invested in Idaho's youth to build a shared family-school-community mental health agenda for reducing barriers to student learning and promote improved student academic outcomes and social-emotional-behavioral functioning. This conversation will be facilitated by Susan Barrett, a national expert on school mental health integration.
Participants will:
Our first event was held on October 18th, 2019 and included community partners and school district stakeholders with the goal of strengthening collaborative efforts across Idaho to support mental health in schools. Participants were given an overview of ISF, discussed strengths and challenges in providing mental health supports in schools, and agreed to work towards continued collaboration. Participants included representatives from Blue Cross of Idaho, Boise School District, Boise State University, BPA Health, Flier School District, Homedale School District, Idaho Association of School Administrators, Idaho Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, Marsing School District, Middle School District, IPBN, Optum Idaho, RK-12, SDE Idaho Lives Project, Twin Falls School District, and United Way of Treasure Valley.
A highlight from each day was the restorative circle that modeled a way for attendees to help promote mental health and foster positive climates through relationship development.
Dr. Katie Bubak-Azevedo, IPBN Director, shared that “School Mental Health is a topic of concern for every school district in Idaho. This partnership, between the UW SMART Center and the Idaho Positive Behavior Network, created the momentum needed to bring together the key stakeholders to begin the conversation of how best to support our students.”
The 5th Annual Idaho Positive Behavior Network Conference will provide an opportunity for both groups to come back together in February 2020 to follow up on their initial convenings. The school teams will review school mental health at Tier 2 and Tier 3 during the pre-conference on February 6, 2020 and the community partners will meet again with schools and districts to continue developing an action plan for collaboratively moving their work forward at a state level during the conference itself on February 7, 2020. The Northwest MHTTC will sponsor Susan Barrett's keynote at the conference as well as several sessions focused on school mental health.
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.
