A recent initiative from America’s Promise Alliance—an organization best known for its efforts to boost high school graduation rates—supports work with communities to improve health in schools. Addressing trauma will be a major focus of that work, which is backed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and reflects growing interest among funders and nonprofits in this area.
The organization is working on six community-led projects to make schools more healthy. Communities identified their own challenges and proposed solutions. Of the six communities, four are addressing trauma and mental health in schools.
Communities in Crook County, Oregon, Jacksonville, Florida, Staten Island, New York and St. Louis, Missouri, are working to bring trauma-informed practices and mental health resources to local schools with support from the alliance’s Every School Healthy initiative, which launched late last year. Each community identified challenges themselves and gets $300,000 to put solutions in place.
In Crook County, the nonprofit Better Together Central Oregon and six other community organizations are partnering with the school district. As part of the work, school staff will learn trauma-informed approaches. The organizations also plan to increase the mental health resources schools offer, and engage youth and community voices to reduce the stigma around mental health and promote positive interactions between students and adult educators.
To read the full article written by Caitlin Reilly, click HERE
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