Action steps to take today

6 Steps to Cha

Identify

01

Assess

Identify a champion within the school system. This can be a teacher, administrator, school board member, parent, nurse, counselor, psychologist, or anyone within the school who is passionate about mental health and social emotional learning.

Support

04

Share

Work with your identified school champion to build school—and community—support for implementing new mental health and social emotional learning practices within the school or district. Use the What do I need to know? section of this toolkit to share data and facts about why mental health matters in schools.

Share both the school ass information with intereste school and community. O potential short-term and sources within the distric initiatives be funded? sec partners, grant opportuni funding sources (such as l local companies) that wou health services in your sch

4

nge

Advocating for Better Mental Health in Schools

02

Promote

03

ve mental health and programs already in vocating for changes in district, it is important to xist and what is lacking the What works? our School Assessment which services they they feel is missing.

Identify the best practices to promote. After the assessment is complete, identify which best practices:

• Are needed in the school/district

• Schools are willing to implement

• You are most passionate about

05

Follow Up

06

essment and funding d members of the ffer to help identify sustainable funding t, using the How can tion. Identify community ties, and other potential ocal ballot initiatives or ld help finance mental ool or district.

Once you’ve identified your school champion, chosen best practices to implement, and funding opportunities, you will need to regularly follow up. If you are a community or school leader who is able to make these changes internally, share your outcomes with other schools who might benefit. If you are a parent, student, or community advocate who is unable to make these changes directly— keep showing up. Meet regularly with your school and community partners, speak at school board meetings, and call administrators to ensure changes are happening.

5

Many Colorado schools ha social emotional learning place. Whether you are ad one school or in an entire determine what services e or absent. After reviewing section in this toolkit, use Tool to ask school officials already provide, and what