Texas Education Agency SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS HOUSE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE, MAY 17, 2018
C.E. King HS, Houston TX Current Mental Health Leadership and Engagement
TEA is involved in the following mental and behavioral health programs:
• State Behavioral Health Coordinating Council
• United Services for All Children (USAC)
• Hurricane Harvey Task Force on School Mental Health Supports
5/16/2018 2 Texas Education Agency Current Mental Health Leadership and Engagement
Mental and Behavioral Health Initiatives:
• Implement Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Behavior Network and Restorative Discipline
• Educators required to participate in Suicide Prevention Training (Jason Flatt Act, TEC § 21.451)
• Mental Health and Prevention Resources are available on TEA website (THSC § 161.325)
• In development: Trauma-Informed Education Toolkit and comprehensive TEA Mental and Behavioral Health website
5/16/2018 3 Texas Education Agency Lessons Learned from Hurricane Harvey and MH Task Force
1. Need for increased statewide infrastructure to address mental and behavioral health of students.
2. Importance of Education Service Center (ESC) engagement and collaboration to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) concerning mental health.
3. High interest in addressing mental health needs of school age children (Task Force and beyond).
4. Need for increased awareness, planning and coordination between Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), TEA, Local Mental Health Authorities (LMHAs) and ESC/LEA.
5. Necessity of mental health providers and schools to work together to address the unique and specific needs of each community.
5/16/2018 4 Texas Education Agency Recommendations and Opportunities
Need for Statewide Infrastructure to support school-based and school- linked services • Designate points of contact in all ESCs and LEAs.
• Implement professional development, training and coaching with ESCs and LEAs – utilizing existing and underutilized opportunities such as Mental Health First Aid.
• Encourage and promote partnerships between LMHAs, ESCs, LEAs, and other mental health providers - develop agreements and shared processes and procedures.
• Incentive grants to scale infrastructure at all ESCs and LEAs.
• Create a sub-committee of the State Behavioral Health Coordinating Council to explore federal and state funding to address mental and behavioral health of school-aged children.
5/16/2018 5 Texas Education Agency Recommendations and Opportunities to Strengthen Understanding of Mental Health Issues in Schools
Strengthen Understanding of Mental and Behavioral Health in Schools
• Increase educator preparation and awareness of trauma-informed practices and strategies.
• Promote positive school culture and climate by including mental health in multi-tiered, cross disciplinary and integrated frameworks in the school setting.
• Explore opportunities for mental health promotion, resiliency building, self-regulation and competency skills in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).
• Increase educator understanding of the importance of mental health and links to academic performance.
5/16/2018 6 Texas Education Agency Appendix
5/16/2018 7 Mental Health Task Force
At the request of Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas Education Agency, in partnership with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) and the Health and ⦁ Human Services Commission (HHSC), is spearheading the Hurricane Harvey Task Force on School Mental Health Supports (Task Force) to help address mental health needs at Texas schools.
The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI) is providing the Task Force with administrative, operational, and subject-matter support. ⦁
5/16/2018 8 Texas Education Agency Overview of Purpose
The purpose of the Task Force, and all related workgroups and subcommittees is to identify needs and spur federal, state, and local coordination to link schools with ⦁ resources to address identified mental and behavioral health needs.
Short-term – Matching needs with appropriate resources
Long-term – Strengthened mental and behavioral health infrastructure
5/16/2018 9 Texas Education Agency Task Force Structure
The Task Force has over 50 members to date. This includes members from 4 State Agencies, 4 Universities, 11 non-profits, 4 ESC Regions, and 1 Federal Partner. ⦁ Efforts are guided through a Leadership Advisory and supported through collaboration with Education Service Centers. ⦁ An ESC Mental Health Response Group (Region 2,3,4,5) was created to support these efforts. ⦁
5/16/2018 10 Texas Education Agency Alignment To Statewide Behavioral Health Plan
• TEA coordinates with state agencies, ESCs and LEAs to support the Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan:
• TEA serves on the Statewide Behavioral Health Coordinating Council under the leadership of HHSC • TEA assisted with developing and implementing the Strategic Plan • TEA convenes an interagency workgroup to support the prevention, early intervention and behavioral health needs of school-aged children and youth– Unified Services for All Children
• TEA aligned the work of the Hurricane Harvey Task Force on School Mental Health Supports to address a number of Gaps, Goals and Objectives outlined in the Statewide Behavioral Health Plan.
5/16/2018 11 Texas Education Agency Task Force Deliverables
Leverage existing networks, resources and supports and link to impacted schools and communities
Support development of Survey and assess needs of regional and individualized impacted schools and community responses that communities and link them reflect the needs of each to resources community
Engage Education Service Centers to convene Develop a comprehensive coordinated and triaged list of statewide resources responses and supports and regional resources
Link responders to school communities in need of services and available supports
5/16/2018 12 Texas Education Agency Progress on Task Force Deliverables
Developed comprehensive TEA Hurricane Harvey Mental Health Resources for Schools website. ⦁ Worked with HHSC to include ESC Regions 2,3,4,5 in the FEMA/SAMSHA funded Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP). ⦁ Facilitating Local Education Agency, Local Mental Health Authority (LMHA) and ESC collaboration to address student and staff mental health needs in impacted ⦁ communities.
Implemented School Mental Health Challenges and Needs Post-Harvey Survey. Follow-up and engagement with survey-identified high-need LEAs underway. ⦁ Collaborating with university and federal disaster experts to identify best practice assessment strategies and screening tools to address mental health post-disaster. ⦁
5/16/2018 13 Texas Education Agency Progress on Task Force Deliverables
Collaboration with FEMA Joint Field Office and U.S. Department Health and Human Services Recovery Support Function to promote School Superintendent Peer-to-Peer Recovery ⦁ Convening’s in impacted ESC regions.
Linking school districts with philanthropy and private resources to fulfill resource and service gaps. ⦁ Coordinating with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) to expand mental health services through telemedicine and provide clinical services to school districts in rural ⦁ communities.
Higher Education Coordinating Board is linking university interns in high-need communities with local schools to support mental health service delivery. ⦁ 5/16/2018 14 Texas Education Agency