Oregon has received almost $11 million in federal funds to address the critical mental health needs of Oregon's school communities.
The Strengthening Mental Health in Education (SMHiE) Initiative addresses the considerable need for a robust, community-driven, linguistically and culturally responsive behavioral health infrastructure in Oregon school communities. The Initiative consists of 4 primary components:
1. Increasing mental health literacy via
Oregon Classroom WISE, an asynchronous digital learning educational program and a large suite of accompanying resources
2. Developing and deploying credentialed behavioral health courses and professional learning communities.
3. Co-designing and implementing the Community Care Project (CCP) to enhance behavioral health infrastructure and workforce in four school districts that represent the racial/ethnic, linguistic, geographic, and socio-demographic diversity of Oregon.
4. Understanding formative and summative project impact and recommendations for implementation, sustainability, and continuous quality improvement.
Measurable outcomes include increased mental health literacy, better identification of youth needing support, improved service referral, augmented suicide prevention, intervention and postvention efforts, enhanced student and staff health and well-being, school climates embodying belonging, care and connection, fewer disciplinary referrals, and improved academic success.