The Northwest Educational Service District’s (NWESD) Behavioral Health & Prevention Services (BHPS) department began several years ago with just a handful of programs and has now grown to support over 20 diverse initiatives blanketing multiple programs. The support now extends to programs concentrating on substance abuse prevention, mental and behavioral health, student reengagement, threat assessment, and crisis response, just to name a few. When viewed through a lens of “student and community health and safety,” the work of the BHPS team coalesces into a robust and expansive network of services and resources that school districts can pull from.
During a recent conversation with Chris Jury, the department’s Prevention Coordinator, Chris shared that, “The largest portion of our team consists of Student Assistance Professionals (SAPs, who allow themselves to be called “SAPs” because they are very secure.” Chris noted that SAP work focuses on student substance abuse prevention and intervention services.
“Our SAPs deliver a wide range of services, from universal school-wide education to one-on-one counseling. They coordinate with the WA State Health Care Authority, working to establish and expand the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative (CPWI) efforts, design outreach activities, run prevention clubs and a myriad of other school-based endeavors,” said Chris.
The BHPS staff has delivered support in Student Threat Assessment for years, training regional districts in the Salem–Keizer Threat Assessment System (STAS). BHPS’s Student Threat Assessment Team (STAT) is focused on both level one and two Threat Assessment (TA) trainings, as well as providing aid to school districts in responding to and recovering from threat incidents. They have been conscientious of applying a trauma-informed, equity-focused lens to the STAS model, moving from a fear-based, reactive response toward student-centered service delivery.
The BHPS team has assisted school districts in creating a coordinated Regional Crisis Response Team to ease this burden on district staff during a crisis.
The plan includes:
- Identifying district personnel in all buildings and making sure they are trained and prepared for crisis response.
- Staff receives robust, comprehensive training on how to adapt, respond rapidly, and be ready to assist neighboring districts with larger-scale events.
This work has already begun with district staff becoming certified trainers in the PREPaRE model. These staff currently work to provide overviews of the curriculum and build support to utilize this resource–sharing model. By the end of this school year, they intend to offer three-day trainings in the PREPaRE model for early-adopter districts. They are also exploring partnerships between existing sub-regional crisis response teams and interested neighboring schools.
During the 2018-19 school year, OSPI revamped the guidance on discipline for Washington state schools in response to changes in the Revised Code of Washington (RCWs). Those changes focused on support (especially around substance use issues) and keeping students in school. The BHPS’s Youth Marijuana Prevention Education Program funding has been aimed at helping regional schools align their discipline policies with those changes. Program staff has served to conduct self-assessments of regional districts, reviewing district capacity to enact these changes. The department partnered with OSPI leadership in providing training for regional administrators and they continue to offer these resources.
With the passing of RCW 28A.310.510, Educational Service Districts were designated to provide regional Behavioral Health Coordination and Navigation within school districts. The BHPS team responded and is currently conducting Behavioral Health system assessments and data collection through a survey process with each district. Each region has a unique makeup of districts and resources and by speaking to superintendents and school staff associated with behavioral and mental health supports, the department will gather data to help guide the BH Navigator. The support role of the Navigator will work to build links with current resources and practices already in place, determine what gaps exist and coordinate BH resources and supports, service providers and communities, in the NWESD region, to close those gaps.
These are just a few of the irons the BHPS department has in the fire of their ongoing support of students, teachers, schools, and districts. Throughout these programming threads, the BHPS team performs their work with a lens of equity, inclusion, and health promotion. They believe strongly that each piece of this work is critical to improved educational outcomes for some of our most at-risk and trauma-impacted students.
Questions: Chris Jury, Prevention Coordinator
Coming up:
The Behavioral Health and Prevention Services department will be presenting a month-long 2021 Virtual Student Support Summit, in March. Hour-long lunch-time presentations will be offered, covering content such as Vaping Prevention Toolkit, Equity in Threat Assessment, and Substance Use School Discipline Policies and Practices. A total of eight presentations will be offered in this series.
