School Based Mental Health Supports

 

Mount Katahdin

Click HERE for Free Asynchronous Trainings and Presentations

Resources for Parents: 

National Child Traumatic Stress Network responding to child trauma reactions  

Assisting Parents/Caregivers in Coping with Collective Traumas 

Creating Supportive Environments When Scary Things Happen 
 

Resources For Educators: 

Supporting Our Schools Modules for Staff Support 

Psychological First Aid for Schools (PFA-S) Field Operations Guide 

Helping Youth after Community Trauma: Tips for Educators 

Providing Psychological First Aid: Teachers 

Click HERE for Resources in Response to a Traumatic Event
Click HERE for Free PK-12th Grade Student Mental Health Support Modules 
  • The following resources can be incorporated into a School Counseling, Health or MTSS approach that prioritizes stress reduction through mental and physical wellness routines that include daily opportunities for movement, mindfulness activities, and any additional calming routines to promote self-regulation (e.g., lights off, music, breathing, drawing). Supporting students in establishing these routines promote resilience and health among children who have experienced trauma, reduce stress and negative behaviors while increasing health and focus.
  • These modules are available through the SEL4ME platform and can be accessed by creating a free account.
  •  Click HERE for the Mental Health Support Modules webpage 
Click HERE for the June 2021 Student Mental Health Survey Report 
  • On April 12th, 2021, the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs held a work session for LD 742, “Resolve, To Track Youth Mental Health during COVID-19 by Ensuring the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey is Conducted during the 2020-21 School Year.” The bill was tabled, and the bill sponsor and House chair met with representatives from the Maine Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to discuss alternative pathways to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health.

  • In response to LD 742, the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs submitted a letter to the Commissioner of Education outlining the following request:

"…that the Department, in coordination with the Maine CDC, conduct an immediate survey of informed persons working in schools, including school-based counselors and social workers, school nurses, administrators and others on the status of student mental health. The Committee understands that it is not possible to survey students directly but believes that valuable information may be gathered from mental health professionals working in the schools."

  • Commissioner Makin directed the DOE’s Mental Health Specialist to work in collaboration with the Maine CDC to develop a research instrument that could appropriately meet this request before the end of the school year. The survey instrument was provided to targeted school-based positions on May 21, 2021. Data was collected through June 4, 2021.

  • Please find the survey report here:

Children today are increasingly exposed to many social forces that negatively affect their role as students. Good mental health is critical to children’s success in school and life. Research demonstrates that students who receive social–emotional and mental health support achieve better academically. School climate, classroom behavior, on-task learning, and students’ sense of connectedness and well-being all improve as well. Mental health is not simply the absence of mental illness but also encompasses social, emotional, and behavioral health and the ability to cope with life’s challenges. Left unmet, mental health problems are linked to costly negative outcomes such as academic and behavior problems, dropping out, and delinquency.

School counselors, school psychologists, licensed clinical professional counselors and school social-workers provide the vast majority of school-based services. They are specially trained in school system functioning and learning, as well as how students’ behavior and mental health impacts their ability to be successful in school. Areas of expertise include but are not limited to: education law, curriculum and instruction, classroom and behavior management, individual and group counseling, learning disabilities, school safety and crisis response, effective discipline, cultural competence, and consultation with educators, families and community providers.

 Increased access to mental health services and supports in schools is vital to improving the physical and psychological safety of our students and schools, as well as academic performance and problem-solving skills. School mental health supports that encompass social–emotional learning, mental wellness, resilience, and positive connections between students and adults are essential to creating a school culture in which students feel safe and empowered to report safety concerns, which is proven to be among the most effective school safety strategies. Additionally, in the aftermath of a crisis, school-employed mental health professionals provide supports that facilitate a return to normalcy, are sustainable, and can help to identify and work with students with more intense or ongoing needs.

Comprehensive mental health services are most effective when provided through a multitiered system of supports (MTSS) but school-employed mental health professionals. MTSS encompasses the continuum of need, enabling schools to promote mental wellness for all students, identify and address problems before they escalate or become chronic, and provide increasingly intensive, data-driven services for individual students as needed. Access to adequate staffing of school-employed mental health professionals is essential to the quality and effectiveness of these services.

Maine DOE School and Student Support staff work closely with colleagues in the Departments of Health and Human Services and other statewide partners to maximize the effectiveness and efficient delivery of resources that help students thrive emotionally and socially.