The California Department of Education's Project Cal-Well aims to promote awareness of student mental health and improve access to mental health services for youth, families, and school communities. This brief introduces a series of Project Cal-Well Legacy Briefs that highlight successes achieved by Project Cal-Well partners. WestEd developed the…

This overview highlights Del Norte Unified School District's (DNUSD) approach to enhancing student mental health services via Project Cal-Well. DNUSD is committed to fostering positive school environments and has expanded its Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee to further this goal. The district has launched various mental health…

This brief outlines how the Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE) supports the educational and mental health needs of 25 school districts in the county. SCOE partnered with three school districts--Hughson Unified, Patterson, and Turlock--to enhance their school-based mental health programs for approximately 22,000 students. The brief…

Multidisciplinary teams of school- and community-employed mental health, health, and educational staff work together in schools to offer a full continuum of mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention, and treatment services and supports. Intentional teaming structures and practices are essential to ensure teams deliver effective,…

Redwood City School District (RCSD) has a long history of attending to the needs of its students and their families, and it has responded to the current incidence of mental health challenges among youth by setting a goal that by June 2024, every student will receive "appropriate social-emotional supports designed to meet their needs. The plan…

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each…

Redwood City School District (RCSD) has a long history of attending to the needs of its students and their families, and it has responded to this moment of crisis by setting a goal that by June 2024, every student will receive "appropriate social-emotional supports designed to meet their needs." The plan for achieving this goal includes…

Much attention has been focused on the importance of providing physical and mental health services to students in educational environments in recent years. Millions of students receive school-based health services, and for many students, schools are their first and only option to receive health care. State policymakers have a lot to consider in…

Objectives: This case study examined multi-level social-ecological supports in promoting well-being through college students impacted by one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. Participants: College students attending a large public university were surveyed (N = 354, M[subscript age] = 22.7, 76.2% female, 61% white).Methods: Measures…

Out-of-school time (OST) programs that work with historically marginalized youth, employ staff that match the demographics of participants, and are well connected to mental health resources are uniquely positioned to support participants to recognize the risks and assets linked to their mental health and well-being. Such programs can…

As districts in California have opened for the 2021-22 school year, they have faced the challenging task of keeping students learning safely in person in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which intensified right before schools opened with the spread of the Delta variant of the virus. This brief compiles preliminary information on reopening for…

This study explored the role of occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) in school-based practice addressing mental health (MH) needs of all students. A sequential explanatory mixed method design which included two stages. Stage One: 61 OTPs in Southern California completed an online survey. Stage Two: 15 OTPs engaged in either an interview or a…

Dual-factor models of mental health are increasingly supported but little is known about longitudinal trends in dual-factor mental health. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to empirically identify dual-factor mental health classes at each of Grades 9 through 12 and latent transition analysis (LTA) to examine stability of classes…

Across the education, public health, and human and social services arenas, there has been renewed interest in bringing agency representatives together to work on the promotion of student mental health and wellness. When effective, it is believed that collaboration among agencies can build cross-system partnerships, improve referral processes and…

This report has been prepared to document the in-person instruction practices developed and implemented by colleges during the pandemic. The report is intended to provide assistance to California community colleges in planning for continuity of instruction when fully returning to in-person instruction for career and technical education (CTE)…