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The Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework: Shifting Perspectives about Mental Health

By Liz Krubsack, School Mental Health Consultant and Jess Frain, School Mental Health Consultant, Department of Public Instruction

For many years, Wisconsin communities have worked to support mental health in the school setting. Oftentimes these efforts have focused on providing mental health treatment or other services aimed at addressing mental health challenges. Despite these efforts, disparities persist in student mental health outcomes across the state. In order to overcome these disparities, educators must undergo a perspective shift in how they understand mental health work in schools.  Rather than approaching mental health as an individual student problem, school leaders can embrace mental health as a community asset that schools can build by adopting comprehensive, trauma sensitive, and culturally responsive programs, practices, and policies. Central to this perspective shift is understanding that mental health is more than the absence of illness; mental health is a state of well-being that includes having positive emotions and moods, feeling fulfillment and a sense of satisfaction with life, coping well with daily stressors, and making positive contributions to the community.  

Kristen Waters Guetschow, PhD, Mental Health Coordinator at Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD), has taken a lead in moving her district toward a more comprehensive approach to supporting student mental health. Guetschow emphasizes that a shift in perspective on mental health is an important step in this process. “We all have mental health, which is a continuum from places of concern to places of wellness and thriving. We really need to figure out a way to restate this narrative [about mental health] so that we are focusing on resilience and the capacity for joy that we all have.” MMSD is working to expand the framing to include a focus on wellbeing and resilience, universal mental health promotion, and healing through relationships.  Additionally, the district will continue to work to provide opportunities to increase mental health literacy for all staff, including understanding the impacts of trauma, racism, and discrimination on mental health.

Building staff mental health literacy not only benefits students, but promotes staff well-being.  Staff well-being is foundational to a quality school mental health system, an idea that may represent a perspective shift for some.  “We have to support every person in our community because if we have teachers and staff who aren't feeling well, our students are not going to feel well and then parents don't feel well. So we really have to work on those pieces as a whole community,” says Guetschow. Like MMSD, schools can promote an accurate, shared understanding of mental health by providing opportunities for students, staff, and the community to develop mental health literacy. 

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) offers a variety of resources that schools can use to increase mental health literacy of students, staff, and caretakers: 

  • The Stigma Reduction Toolkit includes lessons that can be used with secondary students in a variety of settings, caregiver engagement materials, and a discussion guide for educators to examine their own stigmatizing beliefs and behaviors. 

  • The Mental Health Literacy Units of Instruction include lessons for elementary, middle and high school students, and focus on developing the skills that students need to maintain mental health and wellbeing and recognize and support others who may be struggling. These units were developed in partnership with the Office of Children’s Mental Health and many lived experience partners. 

  • Youth Mental Health First Aid is a training is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.  

  • Trauma Sensitive Schools Online Professional Development System is a free e-learning module series that supports schools as they embark on the process of becoming a trauma sensitive school.

With an increase in mental health literacy and a shared commitment to systems change, schools can begin to shift their efforts toward promoting well-being and increasing protective factors by implementing Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems. 

Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems: 

  • provide an array of supports and services that promote positive school climate, social and emotional learning, and mental health and well-being, while reducing the prevalence and severity of mental illness,

  • are built on a strong foundation of school professionals, in strategic partnership with students and families, as well as community health and mental health partners, and 

  • assess and address the social and environmental factors that impact mental health, including public policies and social norms that shape mental health outcomes (Lever 2019).

To better understand this approach, school leaders can look to DPI’s “The Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework: Building and Sustaining a Comprehensive System.” The framework establishes a common language and approach to implementing a system for coordinating and delivering school mental health services. The updated framework builds on the Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework published in December 2015, approaching mental health as an asset and focusing on the social influencers that impact mental health. 

To build a comprehensive system, schools work to integrate mental health resources and supports into their existing academic and behavioral supports. This integration occurs through six key aspects of a comprehensive system: a continuum of mental health supports, collaboration, needs assessment and resource mapping, mental health referral pathways, sustainability, and data.  

As the mental health needs of Wisconsin communities continue to shift, the way school leaders approach mental health also needs to adapt.  With a commitment to changing the systemic barriers that keep students and staff from being well and thriving, schools can move towards more equitable health and educational outcomes for Wisconsin students. 

References

Hoover, S., Lever, N., Sachdev, N., Bravo, N., Schlitt, J., Acosta Price, O., Sheriff, L. & Cashman, J. 2019. Advancing Comprehensive School Mental Health: Guidance From the Field. Baltimore, MD: National Center for School Mental Health. University of Maryland School of Medicine.