SBHA’s Senior Program Manager Addie Van Zwoll recently presented a poster at NatCon23, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s annual conference in Los Angeles. “Youth Mental Health Matters: Innovative Programming to Address Mental Health Needs in Schools” shows how school-based health centers are an excellent resource for students to receive a variety of mental health services. Take a look at the poster and please reach out to Addie if you have any specific questions.
SBHA’s work with the Council goes beyond its conference. We’ve been partnering with NCMW’s Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions on a six-month learning collaborative that wraps up in July. The collaborative is for community mental health and substance use treatment organizations, including Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, to support their partnerships with or integration into schools and SBHCs.
SBHA selected eight community mental health organizations in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Oregon to participate. They collaborate to solve problems, network, establish relationships for expert technical assistance from SBHA, and are creating a cohort for continued peer support. In addition, participating sites receive biweekly virtual learning sessions, access to virtual convening and sharing platforms such as Zoom and Basecamp, and the opportunity to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The overall goal of the collaborative is to support community mental health and substance use treatment organizations by enhancing partnerships with and providing services to schools, offering quality mental healthcare to students where they are every day.
