1. GREATER ESSEX COUNTY special education advisory committee
Mental Health
GREATER ESSEX COUNTY special education advisory committee
DR. Sharon pyke
Superintendent of Education – Student Well-being
March 19, 2019
Good evening

2. GECDSB Strategic Plan
Practice and promote positive and healthy behaviours
Act responsibly to self and others through good citizenship
As part of our strategic plan, the safe school portfolio really focuses on these two areas.

3. GECDSB Board Improvement Plan – Increased Well-being
Whole school approach to creating safe, accepting, inclusive, respectful, healthy learning environments
Healthy school policies and programs
Daily physical activity
Awareness of mental illness and where to get assistance
Supports for students to copy with stress
Promotion of a shared language
In our Board Improvement Plan there are three pillars – Academics, Equity and Well-Being. In the Safe Schools portfolio, all three are interdependent.

4. GECDSB Mental Health and Well-being Strategic Plan
1. Increased awareness of signs of mental illness and where to get help
2. Increased ability of children and youth to cope with stress
3. Increased staff capacity in intervention and tier one programming

5. Ministry Priorities Feb. 12, 2019
Schools and classrooms
Students feel supported related to their mental health
Students and parents know where to turn to for help if mental health problems arise
Educators and administrators feel supported in their role to promote student mental health
Educators and administrators know how to access services to support students who need more help
New Mental Health Workers in Secondary Schools
Boards will access evidence-based, implementation-sensitive programming and related high-quality training
SMH Workers (regulated health professionals) need to provide direct service, in secondary schools, with a focus on early identification and tier two prevention
Boards need to monitor progress in use and impact of the new workers
Suicide Prevention
All educators and school leaders will have a working knowledge of the board suicide prevention, intervention and postvention protocols and will know how to support students experiencing suicidal distress

6. Responding to Students in Crisis
Our social work department has 1.5 personnel assigned exclusively to responding to student crisises. Student crisis is defined as a students in imminent risk to self. Typically, the primary reasons for referral is an expression of suicide ideation and by self cutting.
Our social workers go to the school to work with the student individually to assess their level of need. A detailed individual plan is devised. In some cases, the student is directly to the Emergency room for more indepth assessment and potential admittance into the hospital, or directed to the RCC walk in clinic, or family doctor. In all cases, the parent/guardian must agree to our social worker completing an assessment.
This downward trend is encouraging that our preventative work with staff is having an impact. We work with staff on identifying signs and symptoms for early intervention.

7. Worrisome & Threat Risk Assessment Data:
When behaviour is very concerning, or when the behaviour is above the student’s baseline behaviour, our administrators have tools at their disposal. The violent Threat Risk Assessments protocol is one such tool.
Working with their school based team which includes the administrators, their social worker, their psychological staff, and other school based staff, they meet to discuss student behaviour. In most cases, the worrisome assessment is adequate. This assessment by itself takes .5 day to complete. The outcome may be to recommend to a full VTRA. Our system relies on our community partners as we examine issues – these Case Conference meetings can take place of a worrisome.
However, there are times when a fulsome assessment is needed. There are two levels in a TRA. Level one has the social workers and psychology staff interviewing the students, the families, witnesses, teachers to examine the incident. If there is a need to involve community partners: ex. Police, children’s Aid Society, RCC, Maryvale, NB, (we have 20 partners), then it becomes a VTRA 2. The purpose of either, it to determine the level of risk that the student exhibits: low risk, medium risk, and high risk. These assessments take at a minimum 2 days to complete.

8. Take care of yourself Take care of each other Take care of the system
This quote has been adapted by Caring and Safe School Document.
While this is a glimpse into some of the elements in the safe school work, know that all of us are working towards a
Whole school approach to creating safe, accepting, inclusive, respectful, healthy learning environments as indicated on our BIPSA