Saturday, May 18, 2024
5/18/2024
The purpose of South Carolina’s AWARE: Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education (SCA) is to build the state’s capacity to increase awareness of school mental health services statewide, to provide a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) to address mental and behavioral issues within the partnering local education agencies (LEAs)—Anderson School District 2, Florence School District 1, and Sumter School District—and their schools, and to provide evidence-based practices (EBPs), training, and supports to help them respond appropriately to students, families, and caregivers. Reaching approximately 67,000 unduplicated individuals each year and approximately 78,450 unduplicated throughout the project, SCA will improve mental health services in these LEAs where more than 60% of students are living in poverty and in-school suspension rates exceed the state’s average. SCA will reach approximately 500,000 individuals through marketing at the community and state levels. Using an interconnected systems framework (ISF), SCA will bring together MTSS offered by School-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) and integrate them into school-wide mental health plans that include EBPs, mental health professionals, and an organized system to identify, screen, and refer students for mental health services and follow up with families and caregivers through outreach activities. Goals include (not inclusive): 1. Increase and improve access to culturally competent and developmentally appropriate school- and community-based mental health services, particularly for children and youth with severe emotional disturbances (SED) or serious mental illness; 2. Develop school-based mental health programs staffed by behavioral health specialists to screen for, provide early intervention for, and address any ongoing mental health needs of children with symptoms consistent with a mental disorder(s) or SED; 6. Equip schools with the ability to immediately respond to the needs of youth who may be exhibiting behavioral/psychological signs of a severity indicating the need for clinical intervention; and 7. Develop an infrastructure that will sustain and expand mental health and behavioral health services and supports for school-aged youth when federal funding ends. Objectives include (not inclusive): 1. By September 2023, at least 90% of the partner LEAs’ 56 schools will implement School-Wide Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports with fidelity to foster a positive mental health learning environment, promote resiliency, and prevent serious behavior problems; 2. At least 25,000 students in the partner LEAs will receive training annually to increase their awareness of mental health issues and their knowledge of how to get assistance; 3. At least 400 people who interact with students will receive training annually in youth mental and psychological health evidence-based practices; 4. By September 2023, the partner LEAs will have established consistent screening processes; 5. Access to in-school and community-based mental health services for students and their families in partner LEAs will increase substantially, as demonstrated by placing more MHPs in schools, increasing referrals, services, and follow-ups, and implementing telehealth in schools; 6. During the project period, at least 15 memoranda of agreement (MOAs)/memoranda of understanding (MOUs) will be established between the partner LEAs and community mental health service and resource providers; and 7. During the project period, at least 75,000 individuals (family members, community members, students) will be contacted through program outreach efforts and at least 500,000 individuals will be reached though mental health awareness marketing.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
