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Harris County Resources for Children and Adults will implement AWARE Harris project in 3 high-need LEAs (Channelview ISD, Sheldon ISD and Waller ISD) to address social emotional, behavioral and mental health (MH) needs. The purpose is to develop a sustainable infrastructure where students have adequate access to MH resources. The designated LEAs are located in the outlying parts of Harris County. They are ethnically diverse and over 60% of their students are Hispanic. Since 2017, Harris County has experienced many adversities and traumatic events. Hurricanes, winter storms and the pandemic greatly impacted the most vulnerable; low-income families and children. Increased cost of living, poverty, lack of resources, access issues and political/social issues regarding immigration status make these three communities very vulnerable to MH and substance abuse issues. To achieve this purpose, LEAs will be provided with services based on a Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS) framework which includes universal screening; MH promotion/prevention; targeted, early MH interventions; and intensive MH interventions. This project will work with families, teachers and the school community to support their MH and make strides towards a sustainable resiliency plan. This will ultimately lead to improved student and school outcomes, decreased disciplinary actions and better social emotional and behavioral functioning for students. Project goals and objectives are: 1. Increase MH awareness and literacy among students, families and school staff through trainings, outreach and engagement.1A. By end of Year 1, 40%, by end of Year 2, 75% of the teachers/school staff will have received training on Youth MH First Aid. 1B. By end of Year 2, 1000+ parents/guardians and community members will have attended youth MH related training. 2. Increase capacity of designated LEAs to implement trauma-informed, culturally inclusive, comprehensive school MH systems through universal prevention and supports. 2A. By end of Year 1, all schools will have been trained in Emotional Backpack Project (EBP) and will have at least 2 teachers per school implementing it. 2B. By end of Year 1, 3 schools will have received PAX Good Behavior Game training and will have at least 2 teachers per school implementing it. 2C. By March 2024, first universal screening for each district will have been conducted. 3. Increase access to high-quality, culturally inclusive, comprehensive school-based mental and behavioral health services and supports through MTSS. 3A. By February 2024, school districts will have developed a school MH referral pathway. 3B. By March 2024, all school staff will have received training in MH referral pathways. 3C. By end of Year 5, 24000 students will have received Tier 1, 2 or 3 services. 3D. By end of Year 5, 3750 students will have received substance abuse related Tier 1,2,3 services. 4.Improve LEA policies and procedures for Comprehensive School MH Systems through trainings and evaluation. 4A. By end of Year 1, 75% of school administrators will have received trainings related to student MH such as Administrators Impact on School Mental Health. 4B. By end of Year 1, each LEAs School Safety and Crisis Response plans will have been reviewed and updated.4C. By end of Year 1, all LEAs will participate in the School Health Assessment Performance and Evaluation (SHAPE) System. 5.Build and support a sustainable infrastructure with referral pathways that will continue to meet the behavioral and MH needs of school-aged youth and their families. 5A. By end of Year 2, at least 10 collaborative partnerships will have been created to support the sustainable infrastructure. 5B. By end of Year 2, each LEA will have built a sustainability plan.5C. By end of Year 5, each LEA will have established a sustainable infrastructure for student MH needs. This project will serve: 2000 students in Year 1, 5500 students in Year 2,3,4, and 5; a total of 24,000 youth over the 5-year period.

Newark Public Schools/Newark Board of Education (NBOE)* is New Jersey’s largest school district serving one of the most racially and ethnically diverse and under-resourced communities in the state. Students and families in NBOE experience significant inequities across all social determinants of health including lack of access to vital health, mental health, economic, and social/community resources. NBOE staff recognize the need to create an affirming, equitable, culturally- and linguistically-relevant, trauma-informed learning environment to promote the wellness and resilience of their students. Therefore, Project AWARE Newark will enhance equitable access, experiences, and outcomes for students (37,911 Year 1; 47,000 unduplicated students Years 2-5 in 64 schools), including those from historically underserved racial/ethnic communities, LGBTQI+ students, and students with serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness (SED/SMI). Strategies/Interventions: NBOE will deepen their relationship with the NJ SEA, NJ SMHA, and Newark community mental health agencies to build a comprehensive tiered system of equitable mental health supports. Equity will be embedded in a research-based tiered system of supports. Specifically, Tier 1 – a culturally aligned, affirming socio-emotional universal curriculum will be implemented and ALL students will access, including students with SED/SMI. Resources will be dedicated to promoting empowering messaging through school assemblies and to safe spaces such as after school clubs that promote affinity groups for historically marginalized youth. Tiers 2 & 3 – Partnerships with various community organizations specializing in mental health will bring in school-based mental health clinicians trained on how to provide affirming small group and individual mental health care for LGBTQI+ youth, SED/SMI youth, and youth from historically underserved racial/ethnic communities. Research-based wellness and resilience interventions that will be implemented include: Sources of Strength, Question. Persuade. Refer, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools, Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Signs of Suicide. Project Goals and Measurable Objectives: There are 18 goals and 71 objectives for Project AWARE Newark. Goal 1: Increase access to mental health services for youth with and without SED/SMI. Goal 2: Establish collaborative community relationships through a Newark AWARE Advisory Board. Goal 3: Conduct a mental health needs assessment. Goal 4: Develop an implementation plan for a three-tiered system of supports. Goal 5: Implement a socio-emotional learning curriculum. Goal 6: Establish a safe and empowering school climate for marginalized youth. Goal 7: Establish a suicide awareness training policy and program. Goal 8: Implement prevention program for suicide and substance use. Goal 9: Train adults on mental health awareness, literacy, signs/symptoms, and referrals. Goal 10: Implement a school safety and violence prevention program. Goal 11: Implement Tier 1 & 2 screening for students. Goal 12: Implement Tier 2 mental health services. Goal 13: Establish a referral pathway for mental health supports for all youth. Goal 14: Establish a research-based crisis intervention and de-escalation response plan for students with severe behaviors. Goal 15: Develop a sustainability plan for grant activities. Goal 16: Promote staff wellness and resilience. Goal 17: Train clinicians on affirming therapeutic practices. Goal 18: Promote healthy relationships for youth with and without SED/SMI. Through this project, over 37,911 students will receive increased access to culturally and linguistically competent and affirming mental health supports and services that will be organized under NBOE’s tiered system of supports. *NPS/NBOE will be used interchangeably throughout the proposal.

Battle Ground Public Schools (BGPS) is steadfast in the commitment to three priorities: 1) providing a safe and caring environment, 2) delivering high quality instruction, and 3) engaging in collaboration that cultivates trust. The BGPS Project AWARE application addresses the need for expansion and enhancement of our capacity to respond to the behavioral health and academic needs of our students by 1) increasing knowledge, awareness, and prevention of youth behavioral health issues through training opportunities for students, staff, and community members, and 2) enhancing Tier 2 & Tier 3 infrastructure and supports through a multi-tiered, interconnected systems framework (ISF) to connect youth to needed school-based behavioral health services. As one of three LEAs to participate in Washington State’s first Project AWARE (FY14), we built the initial infrastructure, services, and supports of a MTSS, with a focus on the implementation of PBIS (Tier 1). With this funding we plan to scale up Tier 2 and Tier 3 services and support, identify youth with “internalizing” issues, and purposely integrate our education and behavioral health systems through an ISF. BGPS is situated in the southwest corner of Washington State in Clark County. The district serves the communities of Amboy (pop. 1,838), Battle Ground (pop. 20,743), Brush Prairie (pop. 2,738), and Yacolt (pop. 1,482). The district’s 18 schools (2 comprehensive high schools, 6 middle schools, 7 primary schools, and 3 alternative learning environments) are spread over 273 square miles, serving a population of 12,474 students. The surrounding communities of Amboy and Yacolt are home to a large population of eastern European residents (Russia and Ukraine) as well as a long-established Apostolic population. Due to the regional isolation of some of the district’s schools, these buildings not only play a central role in the community, but also provide an array of critical services that would otherwise only be available in Battle Ground proper. BGPS Healthy Youth Survey data (2021) show high rates of anxiety and depression, with more than one in three youth reporting recent depressive feelings. Nearly one-in-five students surveyed reported considering suicide in the past year. These data indicate the need for sustained and effective school- and community-based mental health services and supports for BGPS youth. Project funding will give us the opportunity to increase knowledge and improve the skills of our students, parents, staff, and community partners of effective strategies that improve school climate, mental wellness, and safety. We will provide well-designed trauma-informed training, district-level coaching, continued policy development, and strong coordination of services, with an intentional focus on our most vulnerable students. To enhance the development of Tier 2 and Tier 3 services, teams will function collaboratively to assess, refer, triage, case manage, and monitor student progress. For Tier 3 services, community-based MH providers will be embedded into the school system to deliver SMH services that are culturally and developmentally appropriate and evidence-based. To meet project goals, objectives will measure the implementation of universal suicide prevention training policy and a SEL curriculum, as well as the number of students, staff, and other adults trained in mental health awareness and promotion. To address the scaling up of Tier 2 and 3 infrastructure and supports, the project will measure the level of partnership and coordination with community-based provider organizations embedded into the school system, Tier 2 EBP implementation, and the number of students screened, referred to, and accessing school-based behavioral health supports. The project will serve nearly 13,174 school-aged children and their families, and over 1,222 school staff; thus, reaching an estimated 14,396 persons each year, with nearly 18,450 persons engaged by the end of the grant.

Educational Service District (ESD) 105’s proposed implementation of FY2023 Project AWARE would partner with ESD 113, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Washington Health Care Authority to build the capacity of five high-need, rural public school districts and the Wa He Lut Indian School to integrate mental health services into these schools to meet the mental health needs of middle school aged children. These school districts are disproportionately low-income compared to the rest of Washington State and serve large populations of Hispanic, Native/Indigenous, English Language Learner, and migrant students. According to the Washington Healthy Youth Survey (2021), the youth in the schools that the project will serve experience high rates of anxiety and depression and substantial portions report not having an adult to turn to when feeling sad or hopeless. Both suicidal ideation and attempted suicide rates are concerningly high among these schools’ youth. The project will address these concerns by developing partnerships with schools and community organizations and implementing school-wide multi-tiered systems of supports (MTSS) in the middle school in each of the five school districts and in the Wa He Lut Indian School which serves grades K-8. The MTSS structure will include universal mental health screenings; referral processes; group and individual school-based mental health services; and mental health awareness interventions such as trainings for both youth and adults, school-wide campaigns, and campaigns directed at parents and the communities. The project will mitigate some of the major barriers typically faced by youth in need of mental health services by providing those services to youth at no cost and in their school where they spend the majority of their time. The project will provide trainings to school staff, families, and community members to increase awareness among adults who have contact with youth about the trauma and mental health issues experienced by youth so that they can properly identify youth in need of services and connect them with those services. Finally, the schools participating in the project will implement comprehensive student suicide awareness and prevention training policies codifying the practice of providing suicide awareness training to all students. The specific goals of our Project AWARE implementation are: 1. Build capacity of participating schools to integrate culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, trauma-informed mental health services into these facilities to meet youths’ needs. 2. Increase awareness and literacy of youth mental health issues among youth and adults in contact with youth to ensure youth in need of services are identified and referred to services. 3. Identify youth in need of services and connect them and their families to integrated school-based behavioral health services and supports. 4. Establish and implement school-based student suicide awareness and prevention training policies. The project plans to provide mental health services, both group and individual, to approximately 3,000 children over the five years of the project.

Summary: Chinle Unified School District Project AWARE will serve Native American PreK-12 students by implementing a school-based, recovery-oriented, tiered system of school- and community-based mental and behavioral health interventions. The project will provide counseling, cultural mentorship, suicide awareness and prevention, and related trainings to students, school staff, families, and members of the community. Project Name: Chinle Unified School District Project AWARE Population Served: Universal prevention services for Native American PreK-12 students, with tiered interventions for students experiencing trauma and related mental/behavioral health needs. Strategies & Interventions: This project will equip students with the prevention, intervention, and postvention to promote recovery and reduce the prevalence and impact of trauma-induced mental and behavioral health challenges, substance use, and suicidality. This will be accomplished through school-based mental health counseling, behavioral health counseling; screening, third-party service referrals, and cultural mentorship; teacher and school staff training; and family and community member training. We will use evidence-based programming to promote positive behaviors among students, especially with curriculums and programs designed for use with Native American students. This includes the WhyTry program, QPR, and Connections to Medicine, among other approaches. All students will receive universal prevention services, and students screened and determined for higher tiers of service will receive individualized counseling plans and the support of a wraparound support specialist to provide coordinated care and community connections. Project Goals & Objectives: Goals include (1) increasing student access to trauma-informed, culturally-informed behavioral/mental health interventions by integrating services into their school environment, (2) increasing knowledge of students, staff, families, and community members to identify, refer, and support students demonstrating behavioral/mental health consequences of trauma to promote positive youth development, and (3) increase student social and emotional competencies and decrease emotional challenges and negative behaviors among students by implementing school-based, trauma-informed, multi-tiered mental health and social emotional services. Goal-aligned objectives include (1a) implementation of individual and small group counseling, (1b) development of a formal crisis response procedure, (1c) collection of informed consent, (2a) training for staff members at Chinle Unified School District, (2b) training for parents and families of students, (2c) provision of universal prevention services for students, (3a) decreasing the need for referral to the highest level of services, and (3b) reducing the incidence of negative behavioral occurrences within the school environment. Number of Individuals Served: This project will serve 5,435 unduplicated individuals throughout the five year project period (2,659 in year 1, 1,681 in year 2, and 365 each year in years 3, 4, and 5) including children, youth, school staff members, and members of the community. Throughout the entire project, including retrainings (duplicated services on a year-over-year basis), the project will serve 19,875 total individuals.

Summary: St. Francis Indian School AWARE will serve Native American K-12 students on the Rosebud Indian Reservation by implementing a school-based, recovery-oriented, tiered system of school- and community-based mental and behavioral health interventions. The project will provide counseling, cultural mentorship, suicide awareness and prevention, and related trainings to students, school staff, families, and members of the community. Project Name: St. Francis Indian School Project AWARE Population Served: Universal prevention services for Native American K-12 students, with tiered interventions for students experiencing trauma and related mental/behavioral health needs. Strategies & Interventions: This project will equip students with the prevention, intervention, and postvention to promote recovery and reduce the prevalence and impact of trauma-induced mental and behavioral health challenges, substance use, and suicidality. This will be accomplished through school-based mental health counseling, behavioral health counseling; screening, third-party service referrals, and cultural mentorship; teacher and school staff training; and family and community member training. We will use evidence-based programming to promote positive behaviors among students, especially with curriculums and programs designed for use with Native American students. This includes the Reconnecting Youth, Healing Journey of the Canoe, and QPR, among other approaches. All students will receive universal prevention services, and students screened and determined for higher tiers of service will receive individualized counseling plans and the support of a wraparound support specialist to provide coordinated care and community connections. Project Goals & Objectives: Goals include (1) increase student access to trauma-informed, culturally-informed behavioral/mental health counseling by integrating services into their school environment, (2) increase knowledge of students, staff, families, and community members to identify, refer, and support students demonstrating behavioral/mental health consequences of trauma to promote positive youth development, and (3) increase student social and emotional competencies to decrease emotional challenges and negative behaviors among students by implementing school-based, trauma-informed, multi-tiered mental health and social emotional services. Objectives are aligned to each goal and are summarized herein: (1a) provision of individual and small group counseling for students identified at-risk for trauma-induced mental/behavioral health warning signs, (1b) establishment of a crisis response line for client students, (1c) rate of secured informed consent compared to total student body, (2a) rate of staff trained in universal trauma-informed mental health support each year, (2b) staff and community trainings about identifying at-risk warning signs, including of suicidal behavior, (2c) provision of universal prevention services, (3a) decreasing the rate of suicide attempts, and (3b) reducing the rate of negative behaviors in school occurring as a result of student trauma. Number of Individuals Served: This project will serve 1,213 unduplicated individuals throughout the five year project period (446 in year 1, 506 in year 2, and 87 each year in years 3, 4, and 5) including children, youth, school staff members, and members of the community. Throughout the entire project, including retrainings (duplicated services on a year-over-year basis), the project will serve 4,425 total individuals.

Project will address 1) Educators, Behavioral Health Professionals Lack Professional Development; 2) Increased School-Aged Youth Mental Health Needs; &, 3) No Systematic Coordination of Services for Connecting School & CBO Services. Through three-tiered system of support, BBGPR Project AWARE will increase the number of students & faculty who utilize SEL curriculums, suicide prevention training, violence prevention education, MHAT training, evidence-based behavioral health& substance-use services& referrals. Population: 1,943 youth (6-17), families, teachers, & faculty at five Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) schools & BGCPR clubhouses. Specific service areas include five public housing complexes & associated public school; BGCPR Arecibo, Bayamón, San Lorenzo, Llorens Torres & Las Margaritas (San Juan) clubhouses. Nearly 100% Hispanic, 60% youth impoverished, & 24.6% of PRDE students need behavioral, emotional, or health support. 60% of PR population experience traumatic events. Services: System of support to address: Tier 1: 1) Youth Mental Health First Aid Training. 2) Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, & Social Emotional Learning Curriculum. 3) Creation of COST & CIT teams in each school. 4) School-based Suicide Prevention & Awareness Education& Training. 5) School Safety & Threat/Violence Prevention Program. Tier II: 1) Process to screen & identify students needing additional support based on SAMHSA’s Ready Set Go Review Screening for Health Risks in schools. 2) Brief Intervention services by licensed mental health professional. Tier III: 1) Referral pathways for youth requiring intensive services receive referrals to critical behavioral health, substance use, or co-occurring supports/services. 2) CIT & developing crisis response plan for schools & BGCPR. Partners: PRDE, ASSMCA, Albizu University, Psychotraumatology Institute of PR, & the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Goal 1: Increase capacity of educators & behavioral health professionals to recognize the signs of mental health needs, de-escalate situations, respond to individuals in crisis,& refer school-aged youth to services. Objective 1.1: Yearly at least 25 educators/staff receive training in prevention/mental health promotion = 150 by Y5. 1.2: Y1 Develop & implement capacity building program for BGCPR workforce & Educators to expand ability to recognize signs of violence/mental health disorder & de-escalation to assist individuals in crisis diverted to treatment. 1.3: Deploy Suicide Prevention & Awareness Training, & train 100 educators by Y5. Y3, develop suicide awareness policy for each school; increase to referrals & CIT deployment. Goal 2: Increase the quality & quantity of evidence-based mental health supports & services available to school-aged youth & the number of school-aged youth able to use those services. 2.1: Annually 90% of those trained better prepared to identify & address mental health. 2.2: Y3 5 new organizations have entered into formal written agreements to improve mental health-related practices/activities. 2.3: Y1, develop a sustainable referral infrastructure & implementation plan for providing comprehensive school-based mental health programs & services. 2.4: Conduct needs assessment & generate formal report that fulfills AWARE requirements. 2.5: Students & families at AWARE schools perceive higher awareness of & accessibility to mental health services. Goal 3: Increase quality & size of the network of referral mental health partners available to students. 3.1: Start in Y2, 150 students annually screened for mental health interventions. 3.2: Start in Y2, at least 75 students are annually receiving mental health or related services. 3.3: Start in Y2, at least 100 students are annually referred to mental health or related services. 3.4: By Y5, 75% of school staff trained in COST & CIT referral processes. 3.5: Start in Y3, 5% annual increase in students referred to COST, 15% increase during grant.

This application, titled Saginaw Chippewa Project AWARE, will support continuation of trauma-based mental health awareness and service improvement in cooperation with Saginaw Chippewa Academy (SCA), Mount Pleasant Public Schools (MPPS) and Shepherd Public Schools (SPS). Funding will be used to continue implementing youth trauma and mental health awareness activities, developing consistent trauma-informed policies in all schools, training teachers and other youth-serving staff across Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe (SCIT) Departments as well as Mount Pleasant and Shepherd Public Schools teachers and staff. Saginaw Chippewa Academy (SCA) is SCIT's K-5 school, and SCIT also has Sasiwaans Ojibwe Language Immersion School for 2-to-5 year olds. SPS consists of two elementary schools, Shepherd Middle School, Shepherd High School, and Odyssey, an alternative middle and high school. MPPS includes five elementary schools, West Intermediate, Mount Pleasant High School, WAY-Oasis alternative high school and Mount Pleasant Adult Education. This project will serve SCIT's Isabella Reservation (located in Isabella County, Michigan), the Village of Shepherd, Michigan, and the City of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, serving a total of 5,375 students, 510 staff, and 22,764 Mount Pleasant and Shepherd population annually. SCA, SPS and MPPS will provide services to school-aged youth and their families, including but not limited to: supervising contracted counselors, offering counseling and mental health services, school-based, trauma-informed counseling and development of policies, procedures and action plans. The following goals and objectives will be used to guide programming: 1) Maintain current capacity of LEAs to implement day-to-day mental health services to students through staffing of counselors and administrative staff in LEA schools grades K-12 and alternative education institutions in participating districts; 2) Increase capacity of LEAs, staff and community to address mental health issues in youth through development of multi-disciplinary teams and plans that target areas of missing service in current Project AWARE programming, including but not limited to: Restorative Justice training, Advisory Board development and Sustainability Plan creation; 3) Increase services, processes and programs for mental health wellness in students across three LEAs, including but not limited to: TRAILS training, Signs of Suicide training, Recreation Therapy and Equine Therapy; 4) Increase previously implemented mental health services in three participating LEAs, including but not limited to: uniform screening, identification and referral pathways, increased parental communication, and digital storytelling implementation; and 5) Collect and analyze data to identify program areas that need improvement in implementation and for reporting purposes.

AFMC’s Arkansas AWARE 2023 is designed to impact educators, students, parents, and community stakeholders by implementing statewide initiatives critical to the healthy social and emotional development of our youth and prevention of violence in school settings. We will build on current AWARE efforts throughout the state while focusing on three school districts with social and economic disparities. Critical to making an impact is supporting educators and our plan implements a statewide teacher support line with coaching and referral resources for all of Arkansas’s teachers and school staff. All program activities will develop awareness of mental health-related behaviors, and provide prevention, intervention, and resilience tools supporting school and student well-being with access to appropriate and effective behavioral health services. On the LEA level, the project will focus activities on the Earle and Marion School Districts in Crittenden County, and the Searcy School District in White County. Earle School District students are both 95% African American and low-income. The students in Marion School District are 55% African American and 72% low-income. Searcy School District students are 47% low income. By working in those 3 districts, we will be reaching over 8,000 students. The specific goals of Arkansas AWARE 2023 for these focus counties are as follows: Goal 1: Increase resilience and mental health well-being for school-aged youth by increasing access to appropriate school- and community-based direct mental health services, training school district staff in evidence-based programs, encouraging engagement and increasing awareness among parents, and promoting the use of healthy social media. Goal 2: Increase and improve access to appropriate school- and community-based services by developing a collaborative Advisory Board to support and inform the project, conducting district-level needs assessments to identify gaps and needs, developing and implementing a plan based on a three-tiered public health model that includes screening and referral to appropriate services, developing a school safety and threat/violence prevention plan, and developing a sustainability plan to continue efforts as the funding ends. Goal 3: Build on current AWARE efforts to increase knowledge, understanding, and support for those involved with school-aged youth by creating a teacher support line, developing, and maintaining a microsite of educational tools for educators, and providing training in the state. Our Sustainability Plan builds on Arkansas AWARE’s current efforts to increase resources and support for Arkansas educators. A statewide teacher support line will provide resources and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) referrals to address stress and wellbeing for teachers and staff. This helpline is a needed resource to serve all 261 districts across the state of Arkansas (1,056 schools) that employ over 32,000 certified teachers, approximately 40,000 other support staff, and close to 477,000 students. In The State of Mental Health in America 2022, Arkansas ranked 47th in prevalence of youth mental illness and 42nd in access to mental health services. In addition, Arkansas ranks 50th in the rate of students identified with emotional disturbance for an Individualized Education Program in 2021 (2.42 to 1,000). Arkansas has one of the highest rates of traumatized youth, ranking 48th nationally for young people with more than two Adverse Childhood Experiences (America's Health Ranking, 2021). Our statewide approach will address deficiencies by training those who work with school-age youth to provide effective assistance and reverse these trends.

Integrating Wellness for Eureka City Schools Program Abstract Project Objective: Eureka City Schools (ECS) is applying for funding through Project AWARE. As an LEA with significant need, and several innovative mental health and wellness-focused programs, we will use the funding to improve the infrastructure for providing mental health and wellness services and educational opportunities for students in our district, work with partners to provide additional school-based mental health and wellness services, and plan for long term sustainability of these vital support programs. Our Program Goals are: Increase the Capacity of ECS Schools to Provide Mental Health Education & Supports: Implement district-wide policies and practices to develop a positive, culturally responsive, trauma-informed learning environment around mental health and wellness, with a focus on peer support programs, EBPs, and school-embedded services from Tier 1 to Tier 3. Expand Partnerships to Improve MH Services Available on All Campuses: Develop formal agreements with community partners to provide school-based services, with a focus on organizations using EBPs and serving specific high-needs populations (i.e. BIPOC and LGBTQI+ youth), while prioritizing Tier 2 and 3 services. This includes the creation and implementation of a comprehensive suicide prevention and education program for youth in grades 6-12. Improve Screening & Referral Pathways for Mental Health & Wellness Services: Create a comprehensive referral and screening process for the district, and do annual trainings for staff and partners on the process. This includes a comprehensive prevention plan and workflow for screening youth at risk of suicide. We will use baseline data collected in 2023 to assess improvements in services and systems in future grant years. Create a Youth & Community Informed Implementation & Sustainability Plan. Have our Advisory Council, with significant input from community partners and youth leadership, create implementation and sustainability plans for the mental health and wellness services across Eureka City Schools district. Plans will be reviewed and updated annually, and will be revised on current student needs data, with an eye towards long-term sustainability of these vital programs. Project AWARE: Integrating Wellness for Eureka City Schools will promote resilience building and mental health well-being for all ECS students, provide positive mental health and wellness supports, and provide improved access to culturally appropriate, trauma-informed services.

Populations to be served - Northeast Georgia Regional Educational Service Agency joins with its partners, Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, and community mental health agencies, as NEGA RESA Project AWARE to support three school districts in northeast Georgia - Barrow, Jackson, and Walton County Schools - that will serve most of NEGA's students with severe emotional disturbance and severe mental illness starting in Fall 2023. The regional school for students with SED and SMI will close in May 2023 and the regional students with SED and SMI will transition to the three district LEAs supported under this Project AWARE grant. Through AWARE, the three district LEAs will build a much needed infrastructure for reducing suicidal ideation among all students, including those with SED and SMI, effectively responding to crises, preventing mental health concerns, promoting mental wellness, and increasing mental health literacy among all students and staff, with an additional emphasis on building a comprehensive system of support for the increased population of students with SED and SMI, their teachers, and families. Through the implementation of culturally and linguistically responsive, trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate mental health and wellness activities, all 40,000 students across the three district LEAs, including 205 students aged 9-17 with SED and SMI, will have fundamentally better and increased access to appropriate mental health supports and services. This grant will improve the way all students, including those with SED and SMI, are supported within the three district LEAs by increasing access to much needed mental health supports and services across the tiers of intervention. Across the district LEAs, a large number of students reported seriously considering and attempting suicide in 2021. The majority of students reported regularly being depressed. Strategies and Interventions - The district LEAs will implement multiple evidence-based practices under the three-tier public health model of prevention that will create a culture of health promotion, knowledge, awareness, and support for mental health concerns and crises. Four of the many EBPs to be implemented include PREPaRE, Signs of Suicide, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools, and Youth Mental Health First Aid. In addition, each district LEA will choose from school-wide EBPs to ensure that all classrooms in the district LEAs are promoting mental wellness for all students in a culturally responsive and trauma-informed way. Finally, through the partnership between the SEA and SMHA, each district LEA will have mental health clinicians provide school-based, clinical supports to students with and without SED or SMI. Project Goals and Measurable Objectives - There are 14 goals and 58 objectives for this project. Goal 1 - Increase access to mental health services for youth with and without SED or SMI. Goal 2 - Implement a socio-emotional learning curriculum. Goal 3 - Establish suicide awareness training policy. Goal 4 - Implement prevention program for suicide and substance use. Goal 5 - Train adults on mental health awareness. Goal 6 - Implement a school safety and violence prevention program. Goal 7 - Implement Tier 1 and 2 screening for students with and without SED. Goal 8 - Implement Tier 2 mental health services. Goal 9 - Establish a referral pathway for mental health supports for youth with and without SED or SMI. Goal 10 - Establish a crisis response plan for students with severe behaviors. Goal 11 - Establish collaborative community relationships through a Local Advisory Board. Goal 12 - Develop a sustainability plan for grant activities. Goal 13 - Promote staff wellness. Goal 14 - Promote healthy relationships for youth with and without SED and SMI.

AWARE 3 Project Abstract Kentucky youth are impacted by the current behavioral health crisis and existing school-based behavioral health supports are unable to meet current needs. Students from marginalized groups are experiencing mental health challenges at greater rates. KY AWARE 3 will work to create a public health model for the successful implementation and sustainability of a three-tiered comprehensive school behavioral health system, that is supported by collaboration between schools, districts, and community behavioral health providers, to provide a continuum of supports and resources from prevention and promotion through intensive intervention. The purpose of the KY AWARE 3 is to develop a comprehensive school behavioral health system that supports Tier 1 (universal) and Tier 2 (targeted) of a three-tiered public health model. The project will strengthen or expand Tier 1 and Tier 2 services to decrease the need for Tier 3 (individual) interventions, which will positively impact the behavioral health needs of students. KYAWARE 3 will also address student substance use in relation to youth mental health, the needs of youth who identify with the LGBTQI+ community (as related to suicide prevention), bullying, youth suicide prevention, and overall school staff wellbeing. The goals of the project will be as follows: Goal 1: Develop a comprehensive, three-tiered, school behavioral health system through a collaborative interagency infrastructure that involves LEAs (Local Education Agencies), CMHCs (Community Mental Health Centers) and other youth serving agencies (YSA) to address student behavioral health needs. Goal 2: Enhance the implementation of a three-tiered behavioral health intervention model of universal prevention and promotion, secondary prevention and brief supports, and treatment interventions, in each of the LEAs, that includes developmentally and linguistically appropriate, trauma-informed, inclusive, restorative, and evidenced based practices. Goal 3: Promote prevention and promotion services for youth substance use, bullying, and suicide prevention, and increase the number of students engaged in behavioral health interventions in all tiers of support in the LEAs. Goal 4: Sustain the engagement of key stakeholders to implement and maintain behavioral health interventions in the LEAs, through the development of both school and district teams, that promote and support interagency collaboration, youth and family engagement, and continuous improvement.

Colonial’s Project AWARE Grant “Return to Learn” proposes to provide mental health support to target groups of students who are at an elevated risk of suicide for a number of factors, including history of mental illness, criminal and legal problems, substance use, high conflict and violent relationships, etc. . Secondary students who are receiving educational services outside their home school due to behavioral or mental health concerns will receive support during their placement, participate in a transition meeting prior to returning to their home school, and receive ongoing support and monitoring to ensure the student is connected to mental health supports to address the root cause that led to the need for alternative placement. The goal of this project is to (1) reduce the time a student is away from their home school, (2) increase the number of students who are connected to mental health supports, and (3) reduce the likelihood that a student will be placed outside their home school again for the same reason. Return to Learn will involve a partnership between the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), Delaware’s Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families’ (DSCYF) Division of Prevention of Behavioral Health Services’ (DPBHS), and a local community partners, such as Children and Families First (CFF). Mental Health Providers will work with the school team to utilize a multi-tiered system of support to connect students to school-based mental health supports.

Two Feathers Project Aware will promote the healthy social and emotional development of school-aged AI youth and prevent youth violence in school settings through collaborative partnerships with schools, tribal education, and behavioral health program using a tiered behavioral health related promotion, awareness, prevention, and intervention activities in Humboldt County, California. Two Feathers Project Aware will develop sustainable infrastructure for school-based mental programs and services collaboratively with Two Feathers-Native American Family Services' tribal behavioral health program, Hoopa tribal Education, three Local Education Agencies -- Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified, McKinleyville Union, and Loleta Union Elementary school districts -- along with school personnel, community, families, and school-aged youth. The goals of this grant are to: 1. Increase awareness of mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders among school-aged youth, 2. Increase the mental health literacy of individuals who interact with school-aged youth to understand and detect the signs and symptoms of mental illness, substance use/misuse, and co-occurring disorders, 3. Promote and foster resilience building and mental health well-being for all school-aged youth, 4. Provide positive behavioral health supports; targeted services to those who need more support; and intensive services to those who need them, 5. Connect school-aged youth who may have behavioral health issues, including serious emotional disturbance or serious mental illness, and their families to needed services, and 6. Increase and improve access to culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate, and trauma-informed school and community-based AWARE activities and services. Two Feathers will use a public health tiered service model that includes the following strategies and components: Needs Assessment, Workforce Development and Training Planning, Sustainability Planning, Public Health Tier 1-3 Intervention. Intervention will include Project Venture, Mental Health First Aid, Question-Persuade-Refer, Youth Ambassadors and Work Pods, Screening and Brief Intervention, Referral, Treatment, PHQ9, CRAFFT, crisis intervention, safety planning, care coordination, and direct provision of behavioral treatment services. The impact of this program will be measured by the 1. number of individuals who have received training in prevention or mental health promotion, 2. number of organizations that entered into formal written MOUs and MOAs to improve mental-health related practices, 3. number of individuals screened for mental health or related interventions, services, or referral, 4. improvements in mental health-related knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs, 5. trainings conducted and delivery method, 6. number of students training by demographics, and 7. number of help-seeking reports made by students after implementation of the policy.

Noblesville Schools seeks funding through the Project AWARE Grant to address the need for school-based mental health awareness, intervention, and support for all students with the goal of establishing a multi-tiered, comprehensive mental health program which encompasses a suicide prevention program and a comprehensive school counseling and mental health plan. The comprehensive mental health program will be preventative, data driven, developmental, and collaborative for all 10,900 students across grades PK-12. A comprehensive mental health program has been a growing need for Noblesville Schools as we have seen a 22% increase in the number of students experiencing suicide ideation and the number of suicide screeners our school mental health staff have been administering. Additionally, the 2021 YRB Survey by the Indiana Department of Health indicated that 27% of Indiana students considered suicide in the previous year and 22% had a plan to die by suicide. The data is showing a growing need for mental health education, mental health intervention, and mental health support in schools. Noblesville Schools’ diversity continues to expand through ethnicities, languages, socio-economic status, and so much more. The students in Noblesville Schools represent 53 spoken languages. Noblesville Schools also has more than 22% of its students eligible for the National School Lunch Program, 152 students experiencing homelessness, and approximately 70 students in the foster care system. These statistics make Noblesville Schools stand out in Hamilton County. Noblesville Schools has been utilizing an annual needs assessment tool. Within the tool, the district has been measuring student’s sense of belonging and emotion regulation. When compared nationally, Noblesville Schools’ students are 10% lower in sense of belonging and 30% lower in emotion regulation. The needs assessment has been given for four school years, and these gaps have not lessened. This indicates that Noblesville Schools’ tier 1 mental health, social, and emotional supports are lacking. The data also indicates that the following populations have continuously scored lower than their peers: students receiving free or reduced lunch, students in special education, and students of racial and ethnic minorities, especially Hispanic. With the Project Aware Grant, Noblesville Schools will create a sustainable and accessible comprehensive school counseling and mental health program, including a suicide prevention education program, to meet the need of our ever-changing student population. Students’ sense of belonging and emotional regulation will be increased by focusing on establishing a learning centered and collaborative culture by integrating restorative practices, trauma-informed care, cultural competency and equitable practices. Students’ mental health literacy and access to supports and resources will be increased by implementing social emotional learning curriculum, suicide prevention education, and through improved data collection and referral processes for the school counselors and school social workers. Staff’s mental health literacy will be increased by implementing staff training and offering mindfulness and stress management programming.

Tulsa Public Schools (TPS), the largest independent district in Oklahoma, serves 33,211 students at 78 schools and charter partners. Accredited by the state board of education, TPS offers PK-12 grade education with a standards-based curriculum, preparing school-aged youth (SAY) for post-secondary education. The district's student body is diverse, with many SAY who are multilingual learners (encompassing 76 different languages) and/or economically disadvantaged. TPS serves diverse neighborhoods across its 174 square-mile district, with differing cultures, social conditions, and poor social determinants of health. Disparities across the Tulsa community are dramatic and reflect historical trauma and systemic inequities. Poverty rates in north Tulsa are more than 35%, compared to 17% in the rest of the city, and, in 2021, one in five Tulsa children youth aged 5-17 lived in poverty - a rate that is often higher for children and youth experiencing severe emotional disturbance. The Tulsa AWARE Multi-Tiered System of Support initiative will serve all children and youth enrolled at TPS. Tulsa AWARE goals and objectives present a pragmatic and practical approach to increasing mental health skills and literacy, promoting positive mental health development, and connecting school-age children, youth, and families to treatment and supports that are culturally relevant and foster resilience building. Through Tulsa AWARE, TPS will formalize partnerships with the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the area's two CCBHCs (Family and Children's Services and Counseling and Recovery Services of Oklahoma) and Healthy Minds Policy Initiative for a coordinated and equitable system of care for students and families. The initiative will facilitate understanding of mental health and social emotional skills, screen students for mental health issues, refer students to appropriate support when needed, and provide families and stakeholders with tools and support. This is a much-needed program designed to address service gaps and provide the necessary resources for students and their families to thrive.

Abstract Summary: The Laconia Wellness and Mental Health Partnership is a comprehensive, multi-tiered strategy developed by the Laconia School District to improve mental health and well-being for its students and staff, with a focus on supporting all demographic subgroups, including race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The project will span five years and involve partnerships with various stakeholders, including state and local organizations, community mental health centers, and school personnel. The main goals of the project include enhancing collaborative partnerships, increasing mental health awareness and knowledge, increasing workforce capacity, developing MTSS-B infrastructure, and supporting Tier 1-3 implementation to promote a positive school climate, school safety, and access to mental health services. To accomplish these goals, the project will implement a series of milestones and activities across various timelines. An Advisory Board will be established to support improvements in school-based mental health systems. A needs assessment of risk and protective factors and current prevalence and incidence data will be conducted, disaggregated by demographic subgroups. Partnerships with community-based organizations and Wellness Fairs will be held to ensure access to culturally competent services and increase mental health awareness. Mental health training and awareness programs will be implemented for staff, students, and families, including Teen Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Trauma-Informed Skills for Educators (TISE), and LGBTQI+ student support through Sexual and Gender Alliance (SAGA) groups. The project will also aim to increase district workforce capacity by hiring licensed mental health clinicians, MTSS-B coaches, restorative justice coaches, and student outreach coordinators. Each school will develop MTSS-B tiered teams to identify students in need of mental health services and supports, streamline referrals, and ensure appropriate service matching within the MTSS-B framework. A district-wide social-emotional curriculum will be implemented, promoting positive school climate, resilience building, and social-emotional competencies. Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions will be developed and implemented to provide targeted support for students with more significant needs, including facilitated referral pathways to school- and community-based mental health and substance misuse services. To support staff wellness, partnerships with local health and wellness organizations will be developed, providing health, fitness, and mindfulness classes for district staff. Workshops for educators will be offered to assist in self-regulation and overall stress reduction. Restorative Practices, Nonviolent Crisis Prevention Institute verbal de-escalation training, and ALICE strategies will be provided for staff and students to promote a safe and supportive environment. Throughout the five-year project, the Laconia Wellness and Mental Health Partnership aims to serve approximately 1,860 students annually with a total of 2,140 unduplicated individuals, fostering a positive and supportive environment for the well-being and mental health of students and staff across all demographic subgroups.

Advancing Behavioral Health & Wellness in the Manchester, NH School District The Manchester School District, through Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) is committed to improving outcomes for youth in its schools by implementing NH’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports for Behavioral Health and Wellness (MTSS-B). In collaboration with community partners, the school district will implement tiered supports in the schools from prevention through intervention that support students with mental health, substance misuse, and school safety. The Manchester School District is the largest urban school district in New Hampshire and has twenty-one (21) schools, including 13 elementary, 4 middle, and 4 high schools serving 12,508 students, with 51.18% of the population considered to be economically disadvantaged. The schools boast diversity, with 49.2% of the district’s enrollment being students of color and over 18.11% of students are English language learners. Mental health and school safety is a rising area of concern for students across the nation, and the Manchester School District recognizes this critical need through its application for Project AWARE. Over a period of five years the project will: 1) Implement a three-tiered public health model (MTSS-B Framework) in all 21 schools in the Manchester School District to support student behavioral health, reduce incidents of exclusionary discipline and school violence, & increase the high school completion rate. 2) Increase protective factors for students with systemic training for all school district staff in mental health promotion and trauma awareness, and through the implementation of district and community messaging, systems, & behavioral health integration to reduce stigma and increase help seeking behaviors in students and families to improve access to behavioral health services. 3) Decrease the percentage of youth who are vaping regularly by implementing evidence-based programming and prevention education in middle and high schools (6,540 students) that informs staff & students of the impacts of vaping on physical health. MTSS-B is a school-based behavioral health framework that blends Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, social-emotional learning, and evidence-based practices from prevention through intervention, in collaboration with community partners to target behavioral health integration and improve access to services using a behavioral health equity lens. Professional development for administrators and school teachers in school-wide mental health promotion, peer conflict resolution, and building positive relationships will set a strong foundation to address school wellness and safety. Evidence-based interventions for students in need of brief intervention support for trauma, mental health, and substance misuse will be available to all students. A mental health clinician will be placed in each high school, along with a person-centered planning intervention to support students at risk of not completing high school. This project will serve the Manchester School District student population by: 1) establishing school-based teams for behavioral health prevention and targeted intervention in all schools across the district 2) forming a behavioral health integration team at the district level to support school-based teams 3) implementing a screening process in all schools to connect students to services as early as possible 4) establishing brief intervention services in all schools for mental health and substance misuse 5) launching a community and district-wide campaign to raise mental health awareness and support school safety 6) providing professional development to staff in systems and practices aligned to the MTSS-B framework.

Humboldt County School District (HCSD)’s Project AWARE grant program scales-up the district’s existing multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) infrastructure to deliver school-based mental health services. The project serves Humboldt County, Nevada and supports the district’s 3,358 students and 205 teachers, serving 3,563 people annually or 17,815 over the life of the project. HCSD’s Project AWARE improves student mental health and wellbeing through a district-coordinated multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) that delivers equitable access to culturally relevant mental health supports. The project’s goals and objectives are outlined below. Goal 1: Build capacity to sustain evidence-based, mental health programs across the MTSS. Objective1a: HCSD will scale-up the district’s MTSS framework to deliver mental health interventions by January 30, 2024. Objective 1b: HCSD will implement all three tiers of the MTSS framework across the district (i.e., every school) with 75% fidelity by June 30, 2028 as measured by the Nevada Department of Education’s MTSS fidelity monitoring tool. Objective 1c: HCSD will train 100% of licensed staff in Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) by September 30, annually. Goal 2: Improve school climate across the district. Objective 2a: Site service coordinators will case manage a minimum of 10% of each school’s student body by January 30, 2024 and annually thereafter. Objective 2b: HCSD will increase school climate survey results in all twelve domains at every grade level to the 60th percentile by June 30, 2028 as measured through Panorama. Goal 3: Increase access to mental health services, especially for students with serious emotional disturbances or serious mental illness. Objective3a: HCSD will provide 100% of 9-12th grade students with YMHFA training annually as measured through Panorama records. Objective 3b: HCSD will provide a minimum of 728 hours of Tier-3 therapy services through the identified partners annually as measured through service coordinator case management reports and Panorama records. HCSD will achieve the goals and objectives above through the following activities: expanding the communities existing advisory committee to deliver more robust mental health supports, completing a community needs assessment, implementing a Suicide Prevention Policy, delivering Youth Mental Health First Aid training to all staff and high school students annually, providing integrated student supports aligned to a multi-tiered system of support at each school through school site coordinators, providing social emotional learning curriculum at each district school, updating the district’s Hazard Vulnerability Assessment, integrating family medical services to better screen for needs among high-need students, providing brief intervention through school based social workers, and crisis intervention through community-based providers.

The goal of Project Aware: Bridges to Resilience is to develop a sustainable infrastructure for school mental health that is grounded in Jersey City Public Schools’ trauma-informed multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). Through our goals and objectives, we will deliver trauma-informed, culturally-responsiveness supports and services for all students, with particular attention to the needs of minoritized youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and students at risk for suicide. Jersey City Public Schools (JCPS) is a large, urban school district of 39 schools serving 26,782 students (27% Black, 38% Latinx, 18% Asian, 14% White, 3% others; 78% qualify for free or reduced lunch. Our project goals are as follows: 1) To establish partnerships with the SEA, SMHA, and community agencies that will both guide a needs assessment and the development of strategic partnerships to serve our students, 2) develop an implementation plan grounded in MTSS that includes culturally competent, linguistically appropriate care, grief, trauma-informed, restorative, evidence-based and evidence-informed practices, 3) establish an advisory board to include key stakeholders to guide out work and improver youth and family serving school-based mental health systems, 4) plan for sustainment of these practices, 5) establish collaborative relationships with families, community groups, family and peer support services, behavioral health providers, and local partners, and 6) provide suicide awareness and prevention training in secondary schools. Key objectives within these goals include: 1) distribution of a refined culturally responsive and equity-focused MTSS model for academic support and student mental health, 2) revision of the district code of conduct to include restorative approaches and culturally-responsive, trauma-informed policies and practices, 3) establishment of Tier 1 mental health awareness practices targeting youth and families (i.e., SEL, restorative practices, stigma reduction curricula), 4) organizational training for staff wellness, 5) training in crisis response and prevention, 6) training in school safety and threat/violence prevention, and safety and risk assessment, 7) training in mental health awareness and literacy to school staff, administrators, parents, and others, 8) implement a screening and referral program which will be used by all 39 schools by the end of the grant period, 9) implement brief intervention services to promote resilience and wellness and to offer targeted support to students experiencing distress, trauma, or bereavement, or are at-risk for development of mental health and substance use disorders, 9) increased availability of more intensive individual services as needed, 10) provide year community forums, 11) provide Trauma Informed Parenting (TIPS) workshops to caregivers, 12) train school personnel in all 10 6-12 serving schools in suicide prevention, assessment, and referral methods, and 13) provide students in grades 6-12 with an evidence-based suicide prevention and stigma reduction programs to reduce the risk of self-harm or suicide. The grant funds will serve 25,000 unduplicated students over the course of the grant, and at least 5000 yearly.

Project Creative AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) is led by the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s (LACOE) Center for Distance and Online Learning, to serve all 79 school district and charter districts in the county. CDOL has created a powerful partnership with state, county and local mental health agencies and nonprofits to create a collective impact on Creative AWARE participants, including the following: (1)Network of support-suicide prevention: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Local Chapter; National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) & Local Chapter; LA Suicide Prevention Network; LA DMH Partners in Suicide Prevention Unit; LA Suicide Prevention Center; L.A. Child and Adolescent Suicide Review Team; CalHOPE; (2) LGBTQ+ support: LA Cnty. Gay & Lesbian Ctr./Local Trevor Proj. ; GSA (Gender and Sexuality Alliance. (3) Community support: LA Dept. of Parks and Rec.; LA Dept. of Arts and Culture (use of Community Centers). (4) University support & coursework: Calif. State Univ. Los Angeles; University of Southern California (5) Student Voice: Directing Change; Spotify, Student Empowerment Conferences. The project will build on CDOL programs to help districts and their schools create sustainable mental health and suicide prevention intervention and postvention programs to support mental health of all students and stem the tide of major increase in behaviors leading to suicide, especially among high-risk youth. CDOL programs include its Suicide Prevention Ongoing Resiliency Training (SPORT) & TEAL/SEL, program that integrates SEL, culturally/linguistically relevant arts, media arts, and strategies for English Learners into content areas, through a blended (online/in-person) curriculum. The project integrates well established programs, activities, strategies (such as PREPaRE, CBITS, and DBT), as well as newer strategies (Check In-Check Out, and Student Ambassadors) that will be evaluated. Creative AWARE will provide more intensive services to 4 districts it has selected because their student populations represent various geographic areas in LA County, differing racial demographics, high percentages of Socio-Economic Disadvantaged (SED), and large populations of English Learners, and high-risk students (LGBTQ+, Females; African American/Black; Latino; and Asian students), students in non-traditional schools). The project will serve annually over 600 (3,000 total) teachers, administrators, school and community health professionals (with potential for many more), and close to 2,000 (10,000 total) students, as well as family members during the project. Most of these students have suffered greater depression, trauma, grief, bullying and harassment, violence, and attempted suicides than other youth. The project will make most services available through in-person and virtual training for All 79 LEAs in Los Angeles County. The project has 3 goals: (1)Create, develop and sustain partnerships and collaborative relationships with schools, universities, mental health and nonprofit agencies to implement mental health related promotion, awareness, prevention, intervention, and resilience activities that are culturally and linguistically responsive to ensure that school-aged youth are connected to appropriate and effective behavioral health services. (2) Increase capacity of adults (school staffs, school and community mental health professionals, families, university professors and preservice teachers) to support and improve youth mental health. (3) Increase the capacity of students to improve their mental health and prevent suicide and other acts of violence, and show improvement in key indicators of mental health. The project has 9 objectives and other performance measures that will be evaluated each year. All project measurements and outcomes are dedicated to support districts/schools with a sustainable infrastructure for inclusive mental health/wellbeing practices for school-aged youth.

Project AWARE Egyptian Health Department (EHD) will formalize a collaborative partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education (state education agency), the Illinois Division of Mental Health (state mental health authority), and Gallatin County School District (local education agency) to implement Project AWARE. The EHD will also partner with Gallatin County Schools (GCS) students and families to develop a three-tier public health model in rural Gallatin County. Gallatin County in Illinois, a rural county of 4,793 residents, is the geographic catchment area. Just over 1,000 children and youth live in the county, 780 of whom are in pre-K through 12th grade. There is one school district and three schools-elementary, junior high, and high school all under one roof. The county has a predominantly non-Hispanic, White population of school-aged children and youth (98%). At 1% of the population, African American children and youth constitute the largest ethnic/racial group; there also is a small percentage of children youth of two or more race/ethnicities (Census Bureau). Based on national data (Jones 2023), we estimate that 25 school-aged youth are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Gallatin County is one of the least healthy counties in Illinois (98th out of 102 counties) with 22% of the population in poor or fair health. County rates for heavy alcohol consumption (17%) and tobacco use (22%) both are higher than the Illinois averages (Gallatin County Community Needs Assessment). Compared to state averages, Gallatin children and youth are more likely to live in single-parent households (32% compared to 25%) and in Poverty (21% versus 14%). Over half of children (56%) are eligible for free or reduced lunches and 30% have limited access to healthy foods (Illinois Community Health Rankings, 2022). Data from Illinois Medicaid indicated that from FY19 to FY20 the number of children enrolled in Medicaid increased by nearly 10%, from 747 to 817. Despite, that increase, according to Illinois County Health Rankings, 7% of the Gallatin County population still did not have insurance coverage as of 2022. Average household income is $44,000 compared to the state average of $71,200. By virtue of participation in universally-accessible prevention programming (three-tiered public health model, Tier 1, children will be at decreased risk for behavioral health conditions and will develop the social and emotional skills necessary to help them succeed academically. The following specific goals will guide Project AWARE : 1) Implement and integrate the comprehensive and coordinated three-tiered public health model for advancing wellness and resilience in the Gallatin County school district and surrounding community. 2) Implement universal prevention and mental health promotion activities within the school district that address Tier 1 services and supports for all students that ensure nurturing and responsive relationships as well as high-quality environments; 3) Increase access to mental health services that are culturally competent and developmentally appropriate for all school-aged youth within the school district need tier 2 services. 4) Increase access to individualized intensive mental health services for youth in the school district who are experiencing significant distress and reduced functioning in Tier 3 and 5) Develop and implement a staff wellness program that provides supports to assist teachers.

Summary: American Horse School AWARE will serve Native American K-8 students on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation by implementing a school-based, recovery-oriented, tiered system of school- and community-based mental and behavioral health interventions. The project will provide counseling, cultural mentorship, suicide awareness and prevention, and related trainings to students, school staff, families, and members of the community. Project Name: American Horse School Project AWARE Population Served: Universal prevention services for Native American K-8 students, with tiered interventions for students experiencing trauma and related mental/behavioral health needs. Strategies & Interventions: This project will equip students with the prevention, intervention, and postvention to promote recovery and reduce the prevalence and impact of trauma-induced mental and behavioral health challenges, substance use, and suicidality. This will be accomplished through school-based mental health counseling, behavioral health counseling; screening, third-party service referrals, and cultural mentorship; teacher and school staff training; and family and community member training. We will use evidence-based programming to promote positive behaviors among students, especially with curriculums and programs designed for use with Native American students. This includes the Reconnecting Youth, Healing Journey of the Canoe, and QPR, among other approaches. All students will receive universal prevention services, and students screened and determined for higher tiers of service will receive individualized counseling plans and the support of a wraparound support specialist to provide coordinated care and community connections. Project Goals & Objectives: Goals include (1) increase student access to trauma-informed, culturally-informed behavioral/mental health counseling by integrating services into their school environment, (2) increase knowledge of students, staff, families, and community members to identify, refer, and support students demonstrating behavioral/mental health consequences of trauma to promote positive youth development, and (3) increase student social and emotional competencies to decrease emotional challenges and negative behaviors among students by implementing school-based, trauma-informed, multi-tiered mental health and social emotional services. Objectives are aligned to each goal and are summarized herein: (1a) provision of individual and small group counseling for students identified at-risk for trauma-induced mental/behavioral health warning signs, (1b) establishment of a crisis response line for client students, (1c) rate of secured informed consent compared to total student body, (2a) rate of staff trained in universal trauma-informed mental health support each year, (2b) staff and community trainings about identifying at-risk warning signs, including of suicidal behavior, (2c) provision of universal prevention services, (3a) decreasing the rate of suicide attempts, and (3b) reducing the rate of negative behaviors in school occurring as a result of student trauma. Number of Individuals Served: This project will serve 650 unduplicated individuals throughout the five year project period (199 in year 1, 226 in year 2, and 75 each year in years 3, 4, and 5) including children, youth, school staff members, and members of the community. Throughout the entire project, including retrainings (duplicated services on a year-over-year basis), the project will serve 1,900 total individuals.

The Rensselaer City School District and Lansingburgh Central School District are collaborating to build resilience among school age children to foster positive behavioral health supports and targeted services to students and families in need. The LEA's plan to increase training opportunities for staff and students to receive culturally competent, trauma focused mental health literacy. The project LEA's will create a Student Resiliency Toolkit that can be shared across Rensselaer County schools and the state for replicable services. We are engaging key community partners to harness the LGBTQ+ communities, Capital Region BOCES for training, Boys and Girls Club for outreach and other key stakeholders. Building collaborative partnerships between the NYS State Education Agency (SEA), our Local Education Agencies (LEA's) and our NYS State Mental Health Agency (SMHA). We are leveraging their partnerships to implement a multi-tiered system for mental health awareness, prevention, intervention, and eliminating barriers to service access.

Communities In Schools of San Antonio (CIS-SA) will partner with East Central Independent School District (ECISD) to deliver a continuum of comprehensive, campus-based, tiered supports, including universal mental health promotion, intensive case-management, on-site mental health counseling, and capacity building. Building on a 4-year partnership with the district, CIS-SA in collaboration with Texas Education Agency, Education Service Center-Region 20, and Texas Health and Human Services Commission, will shape and deliver a district-wide implementation plan that builds on ECISD's behavioral health program, EC Cares, as well as CIS-SA's Integrated Student Supports model of case management, wraparound services, and mental health care. ECISD is a soon-to-be suburban community, due to rapid population growth. Majority of students are male, Hispanic/Latinx, economically-disadvantaged, at-risk of dropping out of school, and only 24.5% of graduates are considered college-ready. Since Spring 2020, both adult and children behavioral health units at the Center for Health Care Services, our county-wide, mental health authority, have been operating at 120% of capacity and have been experiencing a 172% increase in individuals accessing crisis services. In response, over the next 5 years, Project East Central AWARE will reach approximately 10,000 students and their families, 1,200 school personnel, including over 600 teachers, annually. After a campus needs assessment, 12 Site Coordinators (SC), aided by a Community Educator, will deliver universal mental health promotion designed to meet the unique needs of each campus. 12 campuses will receive capacity-building services that increase the mental health literacy of school personnel, enabling them to recognize and address the behavioral health needs of their students. CIS-SA SCs will provide intensive case management to at least 840 referred students, per year, and improve at least 80% of these students' academic performance, attendance, and behavior. Lastly, 6 on-site licensed mental health clinicians (LMHC) will deliver mental health counseling across 12 campuses, ensuring that at least 80% of students served will achieve their care goals. Beginning in September 2023-2028, with the support of our collaborative partners: 1. CIS-SA will promote a supportive school climate and foster positive social, emotional, and behavioral skills of 60% of ECISD students by integrating a Community Educator and 12 Site Coordinators at 12 schools to assess campuses and community Tier 1-3 needs, coordinate responsive school and community-wide services, and provide comprehensive case management, in partnership with district staff. 2.CIS-SA will improve ECISD student's mental health by integrating 6 full-time LMHC across 12 campuses, who will assess 100% of referred students' needs and provide clinical mental health counseling to eligible youth, in partnership with district staff. 3. CIS-SA staff, in coordination with the CIS-SA Community Educator, will improve 60% of school personnel's ability to support, identify, and refer ECISD students for available services by providing capacity-building training at each campus.