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The development of a Mental Health Technology Program at Middlesex Community College is proposed. The 2-year program would train the student to become a middle-level generalist in the field of mental health with special abilities as a communicator. On successfully completing the program, the student would receive an Associate Degree in Mental Health Technology. The sections of the proposal are: 1. Purpose of the Program (Major Objectives, Job Performance, Specific Agencies to Be Served); 2. Need for the Program; 3. Program Design (Curriculum, Course Descriptions); 4. Clinical Affiliations; 5. Potential Enrollment; 6. Similar Programs; 7. Faculty Requirements; 8. Physical Plant and Equipment; 9. Cost Analysis; 10. Cover Letter and Attachments. (DB)

This report provides both a focal (part) and a subsidiary (whole) description of the process and results of a primary prevention, paracounseling, research project, funded for two years by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to create and research a "model" program which could be used nation-wide to help prevent drug abuse. Adolescents, young adults, and senior citizens were selected and trained for a period of 200 hours. Training combined didactics and experiential learning and emphasized high synergy; positive, healthy self-development, and project development as the most important training outcome. After training, the youth and senior paracounselors were paired with one or two fifth and sixth grade children who had volunteered to join the program. Most of these children had demonstrated problem behavior in school and home. Through one-to-one and group sharing, the use of complementary alternatives such as crafts and sports, and emphasis on mental health and development of positive potential, a program uniting all ages (generations) was created. As a result, significant increases were noted in the children's self-concept, positive behavior at home and school, in teacher and parent sentiment toward the children, positive attitude of the child toward family; as well as in many factors measured by the children's personality questionnaire such as intellignece, enthusiasm, conscientiousness, self-reliance, confidence, extroversion, and factors predicting better academic performance. (Author)

The primary purpose of this research study was to evaluate the efficacy of BASE, a self-paced online mental health education preventive intervention with middle school students. Two hundred ninety-five adolescent students were randomly assigned to receive BASE modules (n = 156) in a regular education classroom setting over a 5-week period or to a wait-list control (CO) group (n = 139). Change in student- and teacher-report outcome measures was investigated. Students in the BASE condition showed significant gains in mental health knowledge and teacher-reported school engagement over the intervention period whereas CO students showed declines in these areas. In addition, students who spent more time engaged in the BASE intervention modules showed significantly greater gains in BASE mental health knowledge. Because our study sample included a large percentage of Hispanic students (44%), we were able to conduct follow-up analyses to test for differential intervention effects by demographic sub-groups. Findings revealed use of the BASE modules were particularly positively impactful for Hispanic students, including positive changes in self-reported self-efficacy and school engagement as well as life skills over the intervention period compared to Hispanic students in the CO group. Discussion focuses on the potential for digital universal mental health intervention in schools. Tables and figures are appended.

Over the last decade, California leaders have made tremendous progress on supporting kids in some crucial areas. They have vastly increased the percentage of children enrolled in health insurance and made paid family leave available for most workers. They have also invested in free school meals, committed to universal transitional kindergarten, and significantly cut school suspensions among students of color. On too many issues, however, California has failed to significantly improve outcomes for kids, allowing unacceptable racial and economic disparities to stagnate and in many cases grow. That lack of progress is why low grades are seen all across the 2024 Report Card. What's particularly disturbing is that California continues to trail far behind other states on a number of important indicators of child well-being. Despite the relatively high tax burden, the progressive leanings, and the enviable 5th largest economy in the world, California is far from a leader when it comes to kids. That's not only a threat to the state's collective future, but to the entire country as well since California is so often a bellwether for the nation. The issues in this report must be the top priority issues for state policymakers. The report card is organized into the following sections: (1) Health; (2) Education; (3) Family Supports; (4) Child Welfare; and (5) Cross-Sector Issues.

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), the report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS collects data from public school principals about violent and nonviolent crimes in their schools. The survey also collects data on school security measures, school security staff, mental health services, parent and community involvement at school, and staff training on school discipline and safety policies and practices. SSOCS data can be used to study how violent incidents in schools relate to the programs and practices that schools have in place to prevent crime. In addition to collecting data on these core topics, SSOCS:2022 collected data on schools' responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-22 school year. A total of 2,687 elementary, middle, high/secondary, and combined/other schools2 responded yielding a weighted response rate of 60.1 percent. Since the response rate was less than 85 percent, a unit nonresponse bias analysis was performed. The purpose of this First Look report is to introduce new data by presenting selected descriptive information from SSOCS:2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic and recovery period is a unique opportunity to understand contemporary issues in high school reform. Evidence has clearly demonstrated lingering COVID impacts on adolescent students that have deepened pre-existing inequities and worsened teen mental health. There's a natural desire to regain normalcy after the pandemic. But it's essential, and urgent, that researchers examine why that "normalcy" failed in the past to support every student's needs. They must identify effective, even new, ways to level the playing field for today's students, and for future generations. Research has shown that many high school educators and administrators experimented with new approaches during the pandemic. Can the lessons learned in this period contribute to more lasting, transformative shifts? Researchers studied a group of New England public high schools during the pandemic recovery period to explore this question and hear directly from students and adults about their experiences. This report presents a set of recommendations for educational leaders and policy makers at the state and local levels -- along with caregivers, employers, higher education, and other community partners -- to help schools overcome barriers and think more broadly about how best to prepare graduates for a variety of paths to success after high school.

Using data from the School Survey on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), this report presents findings both on crime and violence in U.S. public schools and on the practices and programs schools have used to promote school safety. SSOCS is managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences and collects data from public school principals about violent and nonviolent crimes in their schools. The survey also collects data on school security measures, school security staff, mental health services, parent and community involvement at school, and staff training on school discipline and safety policies and practices. SSOCS data can be used to study how violent incidents in schools relate to the programs and practices that schools have in place to prevent crime. In addition to collecting data on these core topics, SSOCS:2022 collected data on schools' responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic during the 2021-22 school year. The national sample for SSOCS:2022 was made up of 4,800 U.S. public schools. Data collection began on February 15, 2022, and continued through July 19, 2022.

Working with young children is intellectually, emotionally, and physically demanding. These challenges are compounded by the inadequate compensation that characterizes the early care and education (ECE) sector and lack of workplace support such as access to health benefits, retirement plans, and time off (Montoya et al., 2022). The cumulative strain can intensify the stress experienced by early educators, adversely affecting both their emotional and physical well-being (Cumming, 2017). The California Early Care and Education Workforce Study is an ongoing longitudinal study that provides comprehensive statewide and regional information on the center- and home-based ECE workforce. The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) launched the current workforce study in 2020 to provide an update on the status of the workforce since the previous study in 2006 (Whitebook et al., 2006). Phase 2 of the present study was conducted during 2023, collecting information predominantly from educators who had participated in 2020. This report focuses on the emotional and physical well-being of California's ECE workforce who work with children birth to age five. It is the first in a series on early educator well-being, highlighting findings from Phase 2 of the California Early Care and Education Workforce Study. [Also acknowledged was funding by Blue Shield of California Foundation.]

The EdResearch for "Action Overview Series" summarizes the research on key topics to provide K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students. Authors -- leading experts from across the field of education research -- are charged with highlighting key findings from research that provide concrete, strategic insight on persistent challenges sourced from district and state leaders. The central question to this brief is: What evidence-based practices can schools and districts implement to identify and support students experiencing homelessness? Students experiencing homelessness tend to have lower attendance and academic achievement than similar low-income students, and academic outcomes vary widely based on residential context. Training school staff on students' legal and educational rights and signs of homelessness is crucial to identifying and supporting students experiencing homelessness and is required by McKinney-Vento. Regular communication with student-identified trusted adults allows schools to tailor practices to meet individual student needs and improve outcomes. The brief provides evidence-based practices and practices to avoid. [The University of Kentucky, Utah State University, and Simmons School of Education and Human Development are additional collaborators for this report.]

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each of its twelve schools in order to bolster district capacity to support mental health and wellbeing. This study aims to identify strategic opportunities for understanding and advancing the counseling program's impact as it moves into its third year. With these goals in mind, this research brief will describe findings related to three questions: (1) What is the role of RCSD's school-based mental health counselors?; (2) What are early signals or "lead indicators" of the value or impact of the counseling program?; and (3) What considerations might further improve the program as it moves into Year 3? To answer these questions, the authors conducted 19 interviews with district administrators, site administrators, and mental health counselors; and 22 participant observations of meetings related to the counseling program and student services more broadly. While the research team employed qualitative data analysis software (Dedoose 9.0.90) to facilitate the coding of qualitative data, the analysis of coded data followed a more traditional, iterative approach, moving between deductive and inductive reasoning. This research brief summarizes key findings and offers considerations for leveraging the counseling program to strengthen a district-wide, coordinated system of support for mental health and wellbeing and developing a theory-based evaluation of impact during Year 3 of program implementation. [This work is generously funded by Stanford's Office of the Provost through the Office of Community Engagement.]

Gun violence and school shootings have become more prevalent in recent years, and beginning in 2017, firearm-related injuries became the most common cause of injury-related death for children ages 1 to 24. Students also face the threat of bullying, gangs, racism, drugs, and abuse. In recognition of the need for collective action, the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) established a joint task force early in 2022 centered on identifying models for collaboration between police and school districts to address the safety of students in communities and schools throughout the United States. The impact of crime and violence in schools and communities goes beyond the immediate threats to student safety. Students who experience or witness crime and violence often face lasting trauma that may impact their long-term mental health and academic achievement. In response to these threats, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was passed into law by Congress in the summer of 2022. The Act seeks to help keep schools safe and reduce the threat of violence across the country. This document proposes new and innovative approaches to reducing incidents of violence in schools and communities with a focus on shifting mindsets and reframing relationships and practices related to schools, police, and communities.

Children in the United States are facing unprecedented mental health challenges. In October 2021, First Focus on Children joined other leading children's health organizations to declare a national state of emergency regarding child mental health in the Sound the Alarm campaign, and in December 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory titled "Protecting Youth Mental Health" which precipitated a wave of hearings and legislation by Congress. This fact sheet discusses significant barriers to mental health services and presents recommendations.

Emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges make it difficult for many children and adolescents to engage and succeed at school. Research indicates that at least 20% of all children and adolescents have been diagnosed with one more mental health disorders. Behavioral problems, anxiety, and depression are the most diagnosed mental health issues, and they often co-occur. Moreover, these conditions are being diagnosed at increasingly younger ages. In the past several years there has been a rise in the number of adolescents and young adults with serious mental health issues such as major depression and suicidal ideation, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems for children and adolescents. Schools offer promise for providing intensive clinical support to the most at-risk students, and schools are necessary environment to explore the implementation of multi-modal youth mental health services. This paper provides an analysis of an intensive, in-school mental health services model developed and implemented by Effective School Solutions (ESS), a New Jersey based provider of high acuity school based mental health services for K-12 students. We analyze this multi-modal model for its effectiveness in improving educational outcomes for over 3,000 students identified as requiring intensive clinical mental health support across the 2021-22 school year. This analysis reveals that those students receiving High- versus Low-fidelity programming (i.e., multiple sessions per week for at least half of the school year versus for less than half of the school year) had better educational outcomes. Students receiving High-fidelity programming had greater improvements in grade point average (GPA) and greater reductions in absences across the school year. A higher number of in-school clinical sessions per week significantly predicted a greater increase in GPA and a greater reduction in total disciplinary incidents (including out of school suspensions) across the school year. This report provides initial promising evidence that in-school intensive mental health clinical services yield positive effects on students' educational outcomes. Though future research is needed to validate and extend these findings, schools may consider implementing such services onsite to meet students where they are and to optimize students' mental, behavioral, and educational well-being. [This white paper report was published by the Yale Child Study Center."]

This is the 25th edition of Indicators of School Crime and Safety. This report provides summary statistics to inform the nation about current aspects of crime and safety in schools. This report does so by highlighting selected findings from 23 indicators on various school crime and safety topics. By synthesizing findings in this way, the report allows readers to gauge the breadth of the content more efficiently and make connections across indicators. This report covers a variety of topics on school crime and safety. It first examines different types of student victimization, including violent deaths and school shootings, nonfatal criminal victimization, and bullying victimization. Then, the report presents data on teacher victimization. This report concludes the section on crime and safety issues at the elementary and secondary level by examining data on school conditions--such as discipline problems, gangs, hate-related speech, possession of weapons, and use and availability of illegal drugs--as well as data that reflect student perceptions about their personal safety at school. [For the 2021 report, see ED620652.]

Given the central importance of positive parent and infant-early childhood mental health to children's long-term mental health and development, it is important to examine a wide range of approaches that show promise for strengthening supports for parent and infant-early childhood mental health in home visiting programs, especially programs serving diverse families. This report provides a view of promising strategies from the perspective of staff in home visiting programs that span multiple types and models and serve families from different cultural, racial/ ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. Following a brief discussion of the project's methods for identifying and learning from a sample of home visiting programs, the report examines key strategies for promoting parent and child mental health as described by home visiting staff and expert respondents. The report concludes with recommendations for policy, program implementation supports, and research that could help advance the field's understanding and use of the most effective strategies. [Funding for this report was provided by the Perigee Foundation.]

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is a federal advisory committee that advises the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It was established by the "Children's Health Act of 2000" (Public Law 106-310), reconstituted under the Combating Autism Act of 2006 (CAA; Public Law 109-416), and was most recently renewed under the "Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act of 2019" (Public Law 116-60). One of the statutory responsibilities of the IACC under the CAA and subsequent authorizations is the development of a strategic plan for autism, to be updated annually. The "Autism CARES Act of 2019" requires that the strategic plan address the "conduct of, and support for, autism spectrum disorder research, including as practicable for services and supports." With each update of its "Strategic Plan," the IACC re-evaluates the needs of the autism community and the best ways to achieve progress. The "2021-2023 IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Research, Services, and Policy" summarizes current understanding of autism-relevant topics and addresses current gaps and opportunities in autism research, services and supports, and policy. As in previous years, the "IACC Strategic Plan" is organized around seven general topic areas that are represented in the Plan as community-focused Questions. Each question is assigned a chapter in the "Strategic Plan" that provides an Aspirational Goal, or long-term vision for the question; a description of the state of the field; the needs and opportunities in research, services, and policy; and three broad Objectives. In this edition of the "IACC Strategic Plan," the Objectives from the "2016-2017 IACC Strategic Plan" have been updated and renamed as "Recommendations." The 24 total updated Recommendations in this "Strategic Plan," including the new equity Recommendation and the Budget Recommendation, address critical gaps and potential opportunities for advancement that were identified by the IACC. The IACC's goal during the development of this "Plan" is to present a collective voice detailing the current status and future goals of autism research, services, and policy. [For the "Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorder, 2018-2019 Update," see ED608308.]

Mental health supports for students refers to a broad range of wraparound services and interventions provided by schools to support students' social, emotional, and mental well-being. Access to high-quality, culturally responsive mental health supports in schools is critical to students' long-term growth and development. This brief lays out the challenges and barriers that exist for students experiencing mental health issues, and offers steps that can be taken at both the national, state, and local level.

Parenting students work hard every day to pursue their goals, often juggling work, classes, and caregiving responsibilities. Public systems and programs can provide critical support, but frequently create additional hurdles for parenting students and their families-- especially those with low incomes. In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on how public systems too often cause and exacerbate stress, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges for parenting students and their families. While parenting students persevere in order to support their children and pursue their goals, these systemic problems slow their progress and undermine their health and wellbeing over the long term.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education's (PDE's) Office for Safe Schools partnered with REL Mid-Atlantic to conduct a study using data from PDE's school climate survey. This survey, which is available on a voluntary basis to any school in the state, provides a way to track school climate and identify schools that need additional support to improve school climate. The REL study analyzed changes in scores from a pre-pandemic year (2018/19) to the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, both of which were affected by COVID-19 and related policy changes. In a sample of Pennsylvania public schools that took the survey consistently across multiple years, students and teachers reported more positive perceptions of school climate in the 2020/21 school year, during hybrid and remote learning, compared to 2018/19 and 2021/22. This was an unexpected positive bump in the year in which schools experienced the most pandemic-related disruption. In contrast, school climate scores were steady across the years before COVID-19. The study also found no evidence of a significant decline in school climate scores between 2018/19 and 2021/22, suggesting the pandemic did not have a lasting negative effect on school climate in this sample of schools. One important caveat of this study is that the sample of schools was small and not representative of the rest of the state of Pennsylvania. The study also examined the relationship between school climate scores in 2021/22 and the amount of virtual and hybrid instruction used during 2020/21 and found no association. However, this analysis was limited by the small sample size and could only rule out a large association; a small or moderate association is still possible. [For the appendixes, see ED629791.]

These are the appendixes for the full report, "Changes in School Climate during COVID-19 in a Sample of Pennsylvania Schools." The REL study analyzed changes in scores from a pre-pandemic year (2018/19) to the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, both of which were affected by COVID-19 and related policy changes. These technical appendixes are meant to supplement the slideshow to provide extended detail on the methods and analyses used to answer the study's research questions. Appendixes: (1) Data and methods; (2) Supporting analysis; and (3) Nonresponsive bias analysis. [For the full report, see ED629789.]

A rise in the number of school shootings over time has driven increasing attention to school safety. However, school shootings are not the only physical safety threat students may encounter at school. Other types of violence include sexual assault, robbery, physical attack or fights, and threats of physical attack (with or without a weapon). In addition to immediate physical harms, school violence can have long-lasting effects that undermine students' engagement and mental health. It can also increase drug use and risk of suicide. Although there is widespread agreement that all children and youth deserve a safe and healthy school environment, there is significant debate about how best to promote student safety. As states, districts, and schools consider policies and practices that will promote school safety, they can look to existing research to understand more about the effectiveness of proposed strategies and the potential risk of unintended consequences. This report summarizes what is known about the prevalence and effectiveness of strategies to improve student safety in schools. The authors acknowledge that schools are not the only place where young people experience violence, and there is much to be done to ensure safety in all homes and social spaces.

Youth mental health concerns are on the rise and can have serious implications for student well-being and success (Clayborne et al., 2019). Consequently, more educators and mental health professionals are identifying mental health as an important student need (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021). This report summarizes the key principles underlying comprehensive school mental health and trauma sensitive schools. The present synthesis of studies and reports emphasizes core features, key principles, and associated core components. [This report was co-produced by the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative and originally prepared for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).]

Transforming education starts with ensuring all children attain foundational learning--literacy, numeracy and socio-emotional skills which provide the building blocks for all other learning. To this end, a global coalition has been established, inviting governments and stakeholders to endorse the Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning as a first step to accelerate the agenda on foundational learning. Organized around the RAPID Framework, this report presents insights on the progress countries have made towards securing foundational learning, using data based on survey responses from 94 low- and middle-income countries and UNICEF's yearly monitoring exercise with its programme country offices. Complementing the Foundational Learning Action Tracker, an initiative by UNICEF and the Hempel Foundation, this report presents findings on the extent to which RAPID policy actions are being implemented and enabling systems are in place to support them, towards the goal of achieving foundational learning for all. [The Hempel Foundation provided support for this initiative.]