Behavioral Health Services
The NCESD Behavioral Support Services team supports districts in efforts to enhance students’ emotional and behavioral wellness while seeking to reduce or remove related non-academic barriers to learning. Our goal is to assist students to be emotionally and behaviorally healthy and supported so they may attend and engage at school to their fullest potential and graduate ready to achieve their goals in life.
The services offered by the Student Support Services Department vary somewhat annually, integrating a number of funding sources, but an enduring core of our work has been and remains the Student Assistance Program. We also offer a menu of training and technical assistance offerings for school staff related to student emotional and behavioral health, skills, programs, and strategies.
What does Behavioral Health mean?
Behavioral Health is defined as the promotion of mental health, resilience and wellbeing; the treatment of mental and substance use disorders; and the support of those who experience and/or are in recovery from these conditions, along with their families and communities. (SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration)
Upcoming Trainings
Upcoming events listed on pdEnroller with the tag “Behavioral Health” will appear below. You can also view all upcoming events on pdEnroller.
Annual Calendar
The calendar below is for your reference of student health campaigns through the year. We keep this document updated. You can view the Google Doc here.
News & Resources
Sign up to receive news and resource from the NCESD Behavioral Heath team in your email inbox. The team sends out a regular monthly newsletter filled with great resources, and sometimes they send “alerts” for timely information and news.
Archives
Check out our archive of past resources and news below. Use the filters to narrow down the topic you are interested in learning about.
Vaping: Tiered Supports
Youth vaping has reached epidemic proportions, and school personnel are compelled to address it as both a health issue and a disciplinary issue. To help counselors, teachers and administrators confront youth vaping, we have investigated numerous programs for prevention, intervention and cessation. Below, in an interactive slide presentation, you will find the best resources that we have found.
Please note the navigational links, as well as links to more information about each resource.
Should you find any broken links, please report them to Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org so that we can correct them right away.
In reviewing prevention resources, we have considered our Washington State Healthcare Authority guidance Prevention Tools: What works, what doesn’t. We strongly encourage you to review this resource, and to alter, discard or add to any materials that you adopt, according to this guidance and according to the norms of your school and community.
Please note that the intervention programs we highlight here are not to be used universally.
- The intervention programs are Tier 2 programs, indicated for students who have been caught vaping in violation of school policies, or have expressed a desire to stop vaping.
- These students should also continue to receive prevention/Tier 1 support.
- You may choose to implement cessation, or Tier 3, programs in your school, or you might choose to refer your students to them for private, voluntary participation.
To assess suitability for your students, school and community, please preview all resources before utilizing them.
Additional Resource
Vaping: Alternatives to Suspension
Vaping, a Red Flag for Student Support
The 2016 Healthy Youth Survey revealed that Washington State students who reported vaping, smoking, and using tobacco were far more likely to also be using other substances, experiencing depressive symptoms, and thinking about suicide. While youth smoking and vaping are often more likely to be observable, these serious associated behaviors often are not readily seen until their impact has become very serious. Thus, students who are found to be smoking and/or vaping can be considered to be giving us an early-warning indicator that they may very well be in need of social-emotional care and screening for interventions.
Vaping Discipline: Alternatives to Suspension
NCESD Recommendations for Targeted Interventions for VAPING
Consider these intervention recommendations as alternatives, or “other forms of discipline,” to short- or long-term suspensions or in-school suspensions (i.e., exclusionary discipline).
- See WAC 392-400-110(1)(e); WAC 392-400-435(1); WAC 392-400-440(1); WAC 392-400-445(1)
- OSPI Student Discipline Policies: Substance Use and Possession – re: banishment of zero-tolerance practices, minimum length suspensions, and discipline best practices for substance violations from Mandy Paradise & Joshua Lynch, OSPI, 2020.
Should you find any broken links, please report them to Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org so that we can correct them right away.
Trainings, Programs & Technical Assistance
Our team keeps the slides below updated with the latest information about trainings, programs and assistance that NCESD can provide to school districts. For more information, please connect with Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org.
Are you interested in Behavioral Health training for your district staff? Fill out our Request Form
Emotional & Behavioral Distress Planning
Our team updates the slides below on a regular basis with information about Emotional & Behavioral Distress Planning. For more information, please contact Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org.
Suicide Prevention, Intervention & Postvention
Our team updates the slides below on a regular basis with information about Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention. For more information, please contact Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org.
Local Resources & Crisis Lines
Our team keeps the information below updated with the latest information. If you see something that needs to be updated or added, please contact Shelley Seslar at shelleys@ncesd.org.
