Mental Health

Welcome to the School Mental Health Page!

We can all help prevent suicide. The 988 lifeline provides 24 hour 7 days a week, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. Call or text 988 anytime or click here to chat online. 

Today, the impact of a student's mental health on their ability to learn and achieve academically is becoming more and more widely understood, accepted, and addressed. In order for students to reach their greatest potential, they must be educated in a safe and emotionally healthy environment. This page offers resources, links, and materials that are related to mental health and its importance in the school setting.

For more information, please contact Scott Hutchins, School Behavioral Health Unit Supervisor, at HutchinsS1@Michigan.gov or 517-241-7099.

Michigan’s Guidance for a Comprehensive School Mental Health System of Supports

Supplemental Brief to Michigan's Guidance for a Comprehensive School Mental Health System of Supports

9/9/2024 31aa/31n Webinar Slide Deck

Section 31aa Supplemental—Only Applicable to Public Schools

31n Resources

• 31n Manual
• 31n Single Page Overview
• Flexibility with 31n(6) funds
• FY 19 31n Legislative Report
• FY 20 31n Legislative Report
• FY 21 31n Legislative Report
• FY 22 31n Legislative Report
• FY 23 31n Legislative Report
• FY 24 31n Legislative Report
• Needs Assessment and Resource Mapping

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies and Support Documents

• Social and Emotional Learning Competencies
• Michigan Integrated Continuous Improvement Process and Social Emotional Learning: Learning Bites
• Michigan Model for Health and CASEL SEL Competencies Alignment
• Michigan Model for Health and MDE Social Emotional Learning Crosswalk Guide
• CASEL- Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
• Tips for Talking about SEL

School Tragedy Resources for Parents and Educators

• Children and Violence - National Institute of Mental Health
• Coping with Violence and Traumatic Events - SAMHSA
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network
• Tips for Talking to Kids About Traumatic Events

Suicide Prevention Resources:

• US Department of Health and Human Services 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center 
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Suicide Prevention
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services - Suicide Prevention

Additional Resources:

• How to Help Anxious Kids - Child Mind Institute
• Guidance Recommendations for Supervision of School-Based Mental Health Clinicians
• Center for School Mental Health Analysis and Action - The Center provides many very useful tools and resources geared specifically to school mental health.

• UCLA School Mental Health Project - This is the other federally funded assistance school mental health technical assistance center. They have many good suggestions for implementing school-wide programs.
• Edutopia - George Lucas Educational Foundation
• Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports - Positive Behavior and Intervention Supports were established to address the behavioral and discipline systems needed for successful learning and social development of students. The center provides capacity-building information and technical support about behavioral systems to assist states and districts in the design of effective schools.
• Child and Adolescent Health Centers - Child and Adolescent Health Center Program services are aimed at achieving the best possible physical, intellectual, and emotional status of children and adolescents by providing services that are high quality, accessible, and acceptable to youth.
• Second Wind Fund, Inc. - serves youth with a new and unique approach for youth at-risk for suicide, collaborating with communities through schools and professional therapists to ensure suicidal youth have access to mental health services quickly and efficiently.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• Youth Peer Support Services (YPSS) Overview
• HIPAA_FERPA Guidance for School-Based Health Providers
• Advancing Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems-Guidance From the Field
• Choosing and Using Screeners and Assessments

Local Programs for Schools: 

• National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children - Equipping professionals with the right tools for trauma counseling.         
• MINDS - The Mental Illness Needs Discussion Sessions is an organization that aims at educating young people about mental illness. 
• The University of Michigan's Depression Center - The nation's first comprehensive center devoted to depression education and information. 
• Ele's Place - A healing center for grieving children. 

Additional Information:

• Federal Grant to Pay Stipends to School-Based Mental Health Providers
• The National Association of Social Workers - Michigan Chapter 
• School Social Work Association of America 
• Michigan Association of School Social Workers 
• Michigan Association of School Psychologists 
• Michigan School Counselor Association
• Michigan Association of School Nurses
• Michigan School Health Coordinator's Association