Leading for Mental Health and Resilience

by Joe Schroeder, Ph.D., Associate Executive Director, AWSA

According to a recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2017), over 16% of Wisconsin high school students reported that they considered suicide within the previous thirty days. Statistically, this means that in Wisconsin as many as 137,600 high school students reported considering suicide that year. In addition, according to DPI officials, approximately 150,000 Wisconsin students with mental health disorders do not receive treatment. And, in line with national findings, of the Wisconsin students who do receive treatment, 75% of those can be expected to receive treatment in school only (Burns et. al., 1995; Farmer et.al, 2003; Atkins et. al., 2010). So regardless of our opinions on this evolving issue, the reality is that schools have become the de facto mental health providers for our youth. And the needs seem to keep rising. Finding productive ways for leaders to meet such needs in their schools and communities is at the heart of AWSA’s Mental Health and Resilience (MHR) Academy, which launched earlier this school year.

The MHR Academy is offered through our partnership with DPI Consultants Beth Herman, Julie Incitti, and Liz Krubsack, who share their expertise and a host of resources with participants. For example, this team helps leaders develop foundations in three universal level components of the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework: Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Trauma-Sensitive Schools (TSS), and Compassion Resilience (CR). Through team learning over several in-person and webinar sessions over the course of the school year, school/district teams are supported in meeting three key objectives for movement forward:

Conducting a mental health/wellness audit to identify entry points at both the school and community level
Facilitating the integration of a selected mental health component (e.g, TSS) into at least one existing local improvement strategy
Identifying and using evidence-informed assessment tools to continuously monitor mental health services and supports.

Within the constraints of this article, we will highlight one application of such team learning and outcomes: developing local pathways for mental health referral. This effort aims to have local “policies and procedures in place to assure a youth with behavioral health needs gets referred, assessed, and funneled to the proper services and resources needed.” (SAMHSA, 2015). Such policies and procedures should ultimately define roles and responsibilities for all partners, include clear procedures for managing referrals, and monitor the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions.

A key resource for any system pursuing such work is the School Mental Health Referral Pathways (SMHRP) Toolkit, which uses an equitable multi-level system of support (MLSS) framework as its guiding conceptual model and which provides comprehensive guidance for leaders to consider in helping more people get the mental health supports they need. For example, teams are encouraged to lay the foundation for progress by assessing their current referral management approach and identifying those in the community and region who could serve as effective partners in mental health support. Considerations for each phase of the community partnership development process are delineated in the Toolkit (including examples) to assist local leaders in defining roles and responsibilities, determining how information and progress monitoring is shared, and articulating how to transition between levels of care. But the Toolkit also provides similar support for the internal work of the system. From (1) how to establish a four-step problem-solving model and problem-solving team to (2) cultural and linguistic planning considerations to (3) sequential actions for developing the local referral pathways, this SMHRP Toolkit is a robust resource for any team striving to make serious headway on this all-too-common challenge.

Participants in the MHR Academy also benefit from a host of resources provided directly from our DPI facilitators. For example, those interested in pursuing this focus in developing clear referral pathways are sure to find tools such as the Referral System Self-Assessment and the Stop Sigma Survey documents integral to their efforts. Moreover, the MHR Academy highlights a host of Wisconsin colleagues/systems already pursuing such efforts, whose work and work products inform others in their own continuous improvement. For instance, as one example in this area of school mental health referral pathways, Adams-Friendship School District (AFSD) has made particularly major strides so MHR Academy participants benefitted from a live-stream interview of a local AFSD leader as well as both process and product examples, such as this student referral form connected to the local school mental health referral pathways they developed.

Perhaps, like me, you are heartened by examples of Wisconsin schools and districts where local leaders are finding the means to make real progress in addressing these often daunting local mental health challenges. If so, I trust that some of the linked resources in this article may be helpful to your own ongoing efforts. Moreover, if you are interested in learning more and doing more with others through a team approach to leading for Mental Health and Resilience in your district and community, consider registering for the 2020-21 edition of our MHR Academy. Further information, including dates and registration information, will be forthcoming by early April. But regardless, as always, thanks for who you are and for what you do. And please do not hesitate to reach out directly if I might be of assistance in ongoing efforts to improve the lives of those you lead and serve.