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The capacity of schools to address behavioral health concerns presents an emerging challenge, exacerbated by major shortages in the workforce. Schools across the U.S. are struggling to hire licensed behavioral health professionals, with additional barriers encountered when seeking to hire practitioners with experience in educational settings. In 2023, a school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, partnered with The Ohio State University to launch a "grow your own" policy pilot. The priorities focused on addressing workforce shortages and leveraging the experiences of current teachers/staff to support growing needs related to student mental health and well-being. More specifically, the district utilized COVID-19 relief funds to recruit, train, and transition 25 teachers/staff into school mental health positions by underwriting the costs of each professional's Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Here, we (a) describe the district-university partnership and the processes guiding the implementation of the "grow your own" model, (b) distill preliminary findings about district needs regarding behavioral health, and (c) explore facilitators, barriers, and outcomes associated with learning among participants in the program. The findings from a district-wide staff survey indicated a high level of need for individual counseling, crisis intervention, and small group interventions. Additionally, qualitative interviews revealed that learning among the program's participants was facilitated by effective classroom strategies and specific learning experiences integral to the program's design. These facilitators supported key learning outcomes, including general social work knowledge, self-awareness, and therapeutic skills that are foundational for engaging with students, parents/families, teachers/staff, and the broader school community. This innovative policy pilot and training model demonstrate how universities and local educational agencies can partner to address workforce development challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and education.

Objectives: Literature regarding Montessori-based activities with older adults with dementia is fairly common with early stages of dementia. Conversely, research on said activities with individuals experiencing late-stage dementia is limited because of logistical difficulties in sampling and data collection. Given the need to understand risks and benefits of treatments for individuals with late-stage dementia, specifically regarding their mental and behavioral health, this study sought to evaluate the effects of a Montessori-based activity program implemented in a long-term care facility., Method: Utilizing an interrupted time series design, trained staff completed observation-based measures for 43 residents with late-stage dementia at three intervals over six months. Empirical measures assessed mental health (anxiety, psychological well-being, quality of life) and behavioral health (problem behaviors, social engagement, capacity for activities of daily living)., Results: Group differences were observed via repeated measures ANOVA and paired-samples t-tests. The aggregate, longitudinal results-from baseline to final data interval-for the psychological and behavioral health measures were as follows: problem behaviors diminished though not significantly; social engagement decreased significantly; capacities for activities of daily living decreased significantly; quality of life increased slightly but not significantly; anxiety decreased slightly but not significantly; and psychological well-being significantly decreased., Conclusion: Improvements observed for quality of life and problem behaviors may yield promise for Montessori-based activities and related health care practices. The rapid physiological and cognitive deterioration from late-stage dementia should be considered when interpreting these results.