1. Mental Health in Schools
Preparing Students for Success

2. Agenda What is Mental Illness? Mental Health in Schools
Services available in High School
Services available in College
Self Advocacy
Homeless and Foster Care Youth
Resources

3. What is Mental Illness
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

5. Mental Health Statistics

6. Health Education in our Schools
Grades K-5
Health is required: Must teach the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for health education.
Grades 6-8
Health is required: Must each the TEKS for health education.
High School
Health education is not required for graduation.
Districts may make a local decision to require health or offer it as an elective.

7. Public School Best Practice Based Resources
DSHS annually updates a list of recommended programs for public school implementation.
Topics:
Early mental health intervention;
Mental health promotion and positive youth development;
Substance abuse prevention;
Substance abuse intervention; and
Suicide prevention.
Several of these programs are classroom curriculums, but many are knowledge-based for educators themselves.

8. Suicide Prevention Training for Educators in Public Schools
House Bill 2186, 84th Texas Legislature, 2015
Requires suicide prevention training for all new school district and open-enrollment charter school educators annually and for existing school district and open-enrollment charter school educators
Training must be selected from the list of recommended best practice-based programs that is provided by DSHS

9. School Health Advisory Councils (SHACS)
Texas Education Code
Title 2, Chapter 28, Section
Board of trustees of each school district shall establish a local school health advisory council to assist the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district's health education instruction.
A school district must consider the recommendations of the local school health advisory council before changing the district's health education curriculum or instruction.

10. Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child
“Call for Greater Alignment, Integration, and Collaboration between Health and Education to Improve Each Child’s Cognitive, Physical, Social, and Emotional Development”

11. Services Available in High School
Special Education Services –
Students receiving services through an IEP may have modifications and accommodations provided to help students be successful in school.
Meetings are held annually for parents, students, and teachers to discuss annual progress.
504 services –
Sudents receiving services through 504 may have accommodations to help them be successful in school.

12. Services Available In College
Colleges are not required to offer special services, however; most colleges have a student support center that offers tutoring, counseling, career exploration, etc.
Students are responsible for seeking out these services.

13. Self Advocacy
One of the hardest concepts for students to adjust to in transitioning from high school to college is self advocacy.
No longer will their be annual meetings to discuss progress, no longer will parents be able to make a phone call or schedule a parent conference to discuss items such as accommodations.
Students have to advocate for themselves.

14. Self Advocacy
One good way to start preparing students for this is to have them take a more active role in ARD meetings, 504 meetings, and/or parent conferences.
This will help encourage students to take ownership of their plan and education.

15. Design Your Portrait of a Graduate
Discuss at your table:
What skills do you feel graduates need in order to be successful in college?
What community resources are available to help with developing these skills?

16. Decisions, Decisions
Helping students determine their pathway and future career choice is an important process in college and career success. There are many resources that you can use with students to help them with these difficult decision. A few things to think about when choosing a college and/or career are:
Do I want to stay close to home?
Do I want to be in a big city/college or smaller city/college?
Do I prefer smaller teacher/student ratios?
*these are questions to help students determine what is a “best fit” place for them to be after graduation.

17. I Dream SA! Vision: Mission:
All youth have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
Mission:
To educate, connect, and empower youth in San Antonio to reach their Dreams.

18. Importance of Sleep
Children today are averaging an hour less sleep a night than children 30 years ago.
Problem:
reduces academic performance
affects emotional stability
increases the incidence of medical conditions such as obesity and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Teenagers:
Lack of sleep and association with teenage moodiness and/or symptoms of depression
Reference: Nurture Shock

19. Students lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate living situation.
Homeless Youth
Students lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate living situation.
A major determinant of outcomes for children, youth, and their families is their mental health.  
Low income children, youth, and their families are disproportionately affected by mental health challenges
This impairs the ability of youth to succeed in school & places them at risk of involvement with child welfare and juvenile justice.
Reference: National Center for Children in Poverty

20. Homeless Youth
Rates of serious mental health disorders among homeless youth range from 19% to 50%.
Homeless youth have a high need for treatment, but rarely use formal treatment programs for medical, mental, and substance use services
Reference: National Center for Children in Poverty

21. McKinney-Vento Liaisons
All Districts and Charters must appoint a McKinney-Vento Liaison
Ensure that:
Students in homeless situations are identified by school personnel & through coordination with agencies.
Students are immediately enrolled and provided with full opportunities to succeed in school.
Provide referrals for health, mental health, dental services, substance abuse, and housing.
Inform parents of services available to students, including transportation.
Assist students with obtaining necessary immunizations and medical records.
Ensure unaccompanied homeless youth are enrolled immediately.
Ensures identification, enrollment, transportation, services, dispute resolution, and awareness.
Works in coordination with all the schools in the district, as well as the community.
School personnel providing McKinney-Vento services receive professional development and other support.
Children, youth and families have access to and receive educational services for which they are eligible, including Head Start, early intervention (IDEA Part C) and other preschool programs.
Children, youth and families receive referrals to health care, dental, mental health, substance abuse, housing and other services.
Disputes are resolved and assistance to access transportation is provided.
Unaccompanied youth are enrolled in school and that procedures are implemented to identify and remove barriers that prevent them from receiving credit for full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed at a prior school, in accordance with State, local, and school policies. (TX-SB1494)
Liaisons must participate in professional development and technical assistance as determined appropriate by the State Coordinator (g)(1)(F)(ii)

22. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Homeless Youth
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
State plans must describe how homeless youth will receive assistance from school counselors to advise, prepare, and improve their readiness for college.
Local liaisons must ensure that unaccompanied homeless youth informed of their status as independent students for college financial aid and may obtain assistance to receive verification for the FAFSA.

23. Foster Care Youth
Reports indicate up to 80% of children in foster care have significant mental health issues, compared to approximately 18-22% of the general population.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthy Foster Care American Initiative, identifies mental and behavioral health as the “greatest unmet heath need for children and teens in foster care.”
Reference:

24. Foster Care Youth
Foster Care Alumni Study, performed by Casey Family Programs in 2003

25. SB 1220 – 85th Legislative Session
Requires schools to accept education-related decisions for children in foster care or experiencing homelessness entering a new school made at a previous school until the new school develops an IEP or provides a comparable program.
Texas Education Agency will ensure schools’ timely transfer (within 10 days) of student records and transcripts.
SB 1220 requires schools to accept education-related decisions for children in foster care or experiencing homelessness entering a new school made at a previous school until the new school develops an IEP or provides a comparable program. Texas Education Agency will ensure schools’ timely transfer (within 10 days) of student records and transcripts. In addition, CPS, in collaboration with Texas Education Agency, local workforce development centers, foster care transition centers, and community and technical colleges will develop a program that assists youth currently or formerly in foster with completing high school requirements or obtaining a GED; provides career guidance; and informs them about the tuition and fee waivers available.

26. HB 2537 – 85th Legislative Session
Foster Care Youth
HB 2537 – 85th Legislative Session
Requires high school counselors to inform foster care students about the Education and Training Voucher program (ETV) and the college tuition fee waiver the first year the student is in high school and every year afterwards.
Effective September 1, 2017
During the first school year a student is enrolled in a high school or at the high school level in an open-enrollment charter school, and again during each year of a student ’s enrollment in high school or at the high school level, a school counselor shall provide information about postsecondary education to the student and the student ’s parent or guardian.AAThe information must include information regarding:
(1)the importance of postsecondary education;
(2)the advantages of earning an endorsement and a performance acknowledgment and completing the distinguished level of achievement under the foundation high school program under Section ;
(3)the disadvantages of taking courses to prepare for a high school equivalency examination relative to the benefits of taking courses leading to a high school diploma;
(4)financial aid eligibility;
(5)instruction on how to apply for federal financial aid;
(6)the center for financial aid information established under Section ;
(7)the automatic admission of certain students to general academic teaching institutions as provided by Section ;
(8)the eligibility and academic performance requirements for the TEXAS Grant as provided by Subchapter M, Chapter 56; [and]
(9)the availability of programs in the district under which a student may earn college credit, including advanced placement programs, dual credit programs, joint high school and college credit programs, and international baccalaureate programs; and
(10)the availability of education and training vouchers and tuition and fee waivers to attend an institution of higher education as provided by Section for a student who is or was previously in the conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services.

27. Resources http://www.twc.state.tx.us/ www.Applytexas.org www.fafsa.gov

28. Contact Information
Mandy Tyler, M.Ed., RD/LD
Coordinator, Coordinated School Health
Education Service Center, Region 20
1314 Hines Avenue
San Antonio, Texas 78208