EC Division Meeting

May 18, 2020

Overview of Cleveland County Schools

23^rd Largest school system in NC

20^th Largest in number of EC Students

64% Free & Reduced Lunch

29 schools

• 16 Elementary
• 2 Intermediate
• 4 Middle
• 4 High

• 1 ECHS
• 1 Special Purpose
• 1 Alternative
• 2 18-21 Post-school programs

SAMHSA Federal Grant

Cleveland County Schools is excited to be one of three North Carolina School Systems to be awarded a Project 2018 AWARE Grant (Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education).

Substance Abuse Mental Health Services�Administration (SAMHSA) awarded NC the grant�in support of NC Project ACTIVATE, a 5 year program�that increases mental health awareness for students, provides training for staff in recognizing and accommodating students with mental health needs, continues research into early prevention plans for substance abuse, and more. NC DPI and NC DHHS will be collaborative partners.

PROJECT AWARE/ACTIVATE Personnel

District Needs Assessment

• Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM)
• School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE)
• These self-assessments with data dives and executive team meetings were used to determine areas of need.
• In March of 2017, the MTSS Oversight team (after a District Data dive), completed the SAM from a district perspective.
• The results revealed that there was a wide variance in the implementation of MTSS across the system.

MTSS and Social Emotional Behavior

The resulting Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAM) scores were:

• Leadership (26.7%)
• Building Capacity (27.27%)
• Communication/Collaboration (16.67%)
• Data-Based Problem Solving (9.52%)
• Three Tiered Instruction/Intervention (22.22%)
• Data Evaluation (5.56%).

It was also revealed that CCS was much further along in using MTSS to address academics needs than for social-emotional behavior needs.

SHAPE School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation

LEA oversight team formed Fall 2017

• Assistant Superintendent
• EC Director
• Elementary Director
• MTSS Coordinator

Completed both sections of SHAPE: Sustainability and Quality survey to document our service array and multi-tiered services and supports.

Received free customized reports outlining this information for your school or district.

• Two School psychologists
• Student Services Coordinator
• Behavioral Liaisons

SHAPE

Identified needs:

• Defined infrastructure for identifying and serving Tier 2 Students
• Curriculum to train staff on the implications, signs, and practices to use when working with the growing mental health needs in the schools
• Increased service options across all tiers
• Utilization of community resources and more targeted involvement of community agencies
• Service and progress monitoring (e.g. outcome variables such as academic progress, attendance, suspensions, etc.).
• District completed revised SHAPE in Spring 2020

Change of Focus

Shift to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) after district level self-assessments

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MTSS District Plan [Social | Emotional | Behavior]

Using a three-tiered instruction/intervention model, district staff will support school leadership teams in building the knowledge and capacity to utilize data-based problem solving to direct behavior instruction.

• All Staff at Pilot Schools, School Administrators, Student Support Staff and Community Members will receive training in the Community Resiliency Model (CRM).
• Identify schools at the elementary and middle school level to pilot the CRM at the awareness and implementation level.
• Build capacity at the district level to add additional trainers in the CRM.
• Provide follow-up support with implementation of the CRM strategies.

MTSS District Plan [Social | Emotional | Behavior]

• Complete the development of the MTSS Tier I District Blueprint, and ensure language aligns with the language in CRM.
• All Staff at Pilot Schools, School Administrators, Student Support Staff and Community Members (CIS, DSS, DJJ) will receive training in Youth Mental Health First Aid.
• Set up a multi disciplinary mental health team with community members
• Utilize grant writing and the Medicaid process to ensure the maximum effectiveness of the various initiatives

Changes to Supplemental & Intensive Supports

Tier 2/ Supplemental Supports

• Students in targeted schools will be screened using SRSS to determine a more accurate percentage of students that should be receiving Tier 2 social emotional/behavioral supports.
• Group instruction-social-emotional/behavior skills will be implemented with fidelity for targeted students
• Develop a MTSS District Blueprint for SEL/MH
• Establish Resiliency Rooms to help students with self-regulating and reestablishing the resilience zone.

Tier 3/ Intensive Supports

• Develop a plan for establishing a short-term Therapeutic Support & Intervention (TSI) to serve selected K-5 students
• Relocate the day treatment programs to school campuses to increase inclusion opportunities and facilitate a smoother transition back to home schools.
• Renegotiate the MOU with Alexander Youth Network to include pro bono day treatment services for students without a funding source and clinician support for the intervention class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H8R2ZHHN0Y&feature=youtu.be

Highlighting Project ACTIVATE Initiatives

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• Behavior and Mental Support Framework- Service Options for students
• CRM for ALL staff at Pilot Schools
• Calming Corners and Resiliency Rooms
• Core Curriculum (Zones of Regulation and other programs)
• Supplemental interventions for those that need it
• Therapeutic Intervention & Support Classroom

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Community Resiliency Model (CRM)

• Hexagon Tool used to look at several models
• Reasons CRM was chosen:
• Evidence-informed
• Needed something that addressed trauma and ACEs
• Aligns with the Neurosequential Model of Therapy
• Easy to implement with fidelity
• Blended other strategies (e.g. mindfulness)
• Cost Effective
• Helps change “culture” of a school� It’s for students, staff, parents, community – everyone!

Resiliency Rooms

Excellent tool for helping students return to their resiliency zone and return to learning.

Started in 5 pilot schools 2019-2020 school year

• 2 new schools added in 2020-2021

Used when students need to remove themselves from class�in order to practice self regulation strategies

Helps mitigate discipline referrals and teach coping skills

Calming Corners in EC Classrooms

CRM and Zones of Regulation

Therapeutic Support Intervention Classroom

Goals of the TSI Classroom

• Establish a short-term therapeutic environment
• Reduce the number of students requiring higher level MH services
• Providing intensive structure and support while maintaining an academic setting
• Helping students learn self regulation strategies and coping skills
• Create a successful transition back to the home school environment

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Suicidal Ideation Protocol

Timeline

June 2018 Committee formed

November 2018 Mental Health staff hired

Spring 2019 Protocol rolled & staff trained

Fall 2019 Protocol updated, staff re-trained + QPR Trained

2019-2020 School Year Data

• Assessments completed: 138
• Contacts to crisis support: 85

CCS District Wide Training Data

Threat Assessment

CCS Timeline

January 2019 Development/Research began to create a threat assessment

December 2019 Consultation with Dr. Melissa Reeves

January 2020 School Safety grant with Dr. Jamie Powell

March 2020 Threat Protocol Completed

March 2020 District Wide Training in Protocol - Additional schools trained in Winter 2021 due to COVID-19

March 2020- June 2021 CCS MH Counselors will be coaching schools in threat assessment process

CCS Project ACTIVATE Website

https://sites.google.com/clevelandcountyschools.org/projectactivate/ProjectACTIVATE

Project ACTIVATE

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