The Jones PREP Academy Integrated Continuum of Care - The Jones PREP Academy, led by Springdale Public Schools in collaboration with the 15-member Northwest Arkansas Education Service Cooperative, will establish a regional School-Based Behavioral Health and Trauma Recovery Center serving an area with more than 50,000 prekindergarten through grade 12 students. The Center will provide intensive behavioral health services to 396 unduplicated children and youth ages 5-17 over 4 years—70 in Year 1, 90 in Year 2, 110 in Year 3, and 126 in Year 4—prioritizing students with serious emotional disturbance, trauma-related and other behavioral health conditions, suicide or self-harm risk, and disabilities requiring multidisciplinary support. Strategies will include a comprehensive Multi-Tiered System of Supports, universal screening and referral, school-based mental health services, trauma-informed care, Therapeutic Learning Communities, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports focused on school climate, behavior, and individualized student supports, Youth Mental Health First Aid, crisis prevention, coordinated suicide prevention and 988 protocols, family engagement, case management, and community behavioral health partnerships. Jones PREP Academy will also serve as a regional demonstration, training, and technical assistance center to build sustainable infrastructure, strengthen workforce capacity, empower families, and improve services through continuous quality improvement and sustainability planning.
