Social Emotional Support for Students in the Wake of COVID-19
When schools reopen in Colorado, we are facing a situation where nearly all students will be coping with trauma from extended social isolation, the loss of loved ones, or increased poverty and economic instability. There will be continued trauma and distress experienced by students and staff that will persist when schools reopen as everyone navigates the “new normal” and adjusts to ongoing public health measures in schools.
Many schools across Colorado partner with community mental health centers (CMHC) to deliver behavioral healthcare and supports within the school environment, and we know that many of those partnerships were disrupted as a result of the pandemic. CMHCs across the state have transitioned to virtual care, and new opportunities for partnerships with schools in creative ways are forming each day. Most school-based health centers throughout the state also provide behavioral healthcare.
We know that school resources to address this increased behavioral health need, amongst the many other needs schools are facing, will be stretched thin in the coming year(s). We hope to be a resource in sharing recommendations on where to start.
Evaluate your district or schools’ level of need for social emotional learning (SEL). The following data sources will illustrate the need prior to COVID-19 and can be used a baseline.
- Healthy Kids Colorado Survey
- Colorado Health Schools Smart Source
- Teaching and Learning Conditions Colorado Survey
Other hyper-localized data you may already have for your district are:
- Student, parent and staff climate surveys
- Suicide risk and threat assessments
- Attendance/chronic absenteeism data (or student engagement during virtual learning periods)
- Discipline/suspension data
- Referrals to care
- Universal behavioral health screenings
Adopt an evidence based SEL curriculum. We recommend:
- The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
- The Wallace Foundation
- The Colorado Department of Education also has a webpage dedicated to remote learning resources for SEL, mental health and behavior.
Prioritize SEL professional development for your staff and evaluate whether your district has adequate qualified professionals to meet the behavioral health needs of your students and staff.
- CDE offers both live and on-demand professional development.
- The Colorado School Safety Resource Center has a calendar full of behavioral health trainings; many of them are virtual.
- Further, we encourage schools to adopt an approach of universal screening to identify and intervene with students who have unmet behavioral health needs.
On behalf of the Colorado Alliance for School Health, thank you for your partnership in planning for the safe return of students and educators to school. We know this is a huge undertaking and we value all that you do on behalf of our state’s children, teachers and schools.
Susan Goldenstein, MNM, is the School Health Outreach Manager at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She also leads the Colorado Alliance for School Health.