Supporting Student Mental Health: 10 Back-to-School Resources

It's back-to-school time, and many of our colleagues are helping their own children as well as those they work with transition to new routines, classrooms, and expectations. It's an exciting but often stressful time of year.

To help educators, behavioral health providers, parents, caregivers, and youth prepare for the new school year, we compiled this (non-exhaustive) list of ten relevant resources for supporting student mental health, developed by CHDI and our colleagues around the country:

1. School Mental Health Overview | KidsMentalHealthInfo.com: Helpful information for parents, caregivers, and educators on the effects of mental health on learning and behavior, plus an overview of services available in schools and the community.
2. How States Can Support Student Mental Health Using the SHAPE System | CHDI Policy Brief: For state and local policymakers and education leaders, this policy brief shares strategies for aligning statewide policies using The SHAPE System to support school mental health infrastructure and improve outcomes.
3. Trauma ScreenTIME Course for Schools | CHDI: Free online course for school administrators and staff to learn best practices for trauma screening and develop screening programs that match their school or district's needs and capacity.
4. Mobile Crisis: Specialized mobile crisis intervention services available statewide to assist children and youth experiencing behavioral health crises at school, at home, or in the community. Call 211 or 988 24/7/365 to reach a trained crisis counselor; in-person teams are available to respond 6am-10pm M-F and 1-10pm weekends/holidays.
5. Back-to-School Parent/Educator Toolkit | Crisis Text Line: A back-to-school checklist for parents and educators, a self-care planner for students, tips for managing stress and anxiety, and more.
6. Back-to-School Toolkit on Navigating Virtual Spaces for Youth | Mental Health America: Information and resources for youth, parents/caregivers, and schools on how to protect children's mental health in a digital world.
7. Partnering with Schools to Improve Youth Mental Health | National Council for Mental Wellbeing: Comprehensive guide to developing partnerships between schools and community mental health organizations.
8. 2023 Virtual School Mental Health Learning Series | National Center for School Mental Health: Series of upcoming webinars on various school mental health topics led by nationally recognized experts.
9. Understanding Secondary Traumatic Stress for Educators | National Child Traumatic Stress Network: Webinar providing an overview of signs of secondary traumatic stress in educators, as well as prevention and self-care techniques to help educators preserve their own mental health (published pre-pandemic, but still relevant; find a more recent resource on this topic geared towards all child-serving professionals here).
10. How to Signal You are an LGBTQ+ Ally in a Hostile Environment | The Trevor Project: A guide for teachers and other youth-serving professionals on ways to signal your support if you are working in an anti-LGBTQ environment.

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