Student Safety & Wellness
SCOE Spotlight
Solano County Office of Education
30 New Student Wellness Centers Opened SCOE Spearheads $1.7M Student Mental Health Initiative In order to better support student safety and learning, SCOE has applied for, and received, three grants totalling $1,763,530 to support the establishment of schoolbased wellness centers across Solano County. Grants awarded to SCOE include $509,378 from the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant issued by the California Department of Education, and a grant from Solano County Behavioral Health (SCBH) totaling $954,152. Additionally, SCOE received a $300,000 Health Systems Development Grant (HSG) from the County Medical Services Program (CMSP). SCOE assisted with the implementation of 30 new wellness centers on school campuses and adult eduation sites throughout the county with the grant funds. Schools completed an application and interview process to receive furniture, supplies and assistance from SCOE on the implementation process. Covid-19 created some challenges for the centers, but virtual meeting platforms have helped maintain the structure needed to support student wellness going into school year 2020-21.
Youth Mental Health First Aid Youth Mental Health First Aid Training teaches adults how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders in youth up to age 18. In 2019-20, SCOE staff members became certified as instructors for these important courses, allowing SCOE to provide courses for the Solano community. Four free courses were offered to local educators to grow the capacity and supports at schools.
Telehealth Counseling Sessions
During the Covid-19 shelter-at-home orders, the mental health program staff were eager to address ways to continue to offer mental health support to students and staff. In partnership with the BH-Works platform by MDLogics, program staff were able to quickly provide telehealth counseling sessions to students and their
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families. Students were able to log onto to their electronic device and still receive on-going mental health support from the comfort and safety of their own home. Staff were also able to modify social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum so that it could be offered via Zoom to groups of students throughout the county. Benicia fourth graders were able to attend a weekly series of SEL instruction that focused on addressing the emotions that surfaced related to the pandemic. High school students from various schools participated in a weekly series that allowed them to ask a mental health clinician questions they had related to mental health and wellness. Mental health staff continued to support educators as well, offering virtual trainings on topics related to addressing mental wellness during difficult times.
