Family & Community Partnership

Healing Centered Framework

This framework is designed to articulate what it will require to be a school district that centers healing and wellness in its work. The information aims to clarify what being “healing-centered” looks and feels like for the different members of the CPS community in different roles. It also outlines five different components of a healing-centered district that apply, in unique ways, to each stakeholder.

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Supporting Mental Health in Schools

Concerning trends in rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicidality have brought the mental health of America’s youth to the forefront. While an estimated 1 in 6 children and adolescents meet the criteria for a
diagnosable mental health disorder, few receive needed treatment. Inequities and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) exacerbate risks. This report highlights Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems (CSMHS) in schools across the U.S. and the core features that make up a successful CSMHS.

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Center of Wellness in Schools: Case Example

This school district is transforming schools into centers of wellness by placing mental health teams in every school in the county. No longer do students need to be in crisis to receive the mental health supports they need. This approach acknowledges that everyone can benefit from mental health support and emphasizes the importance of accessing these services before a crisis occurs.

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Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Can Experience Traumatic Stress: A Fact Sheet for Parents and Caregivers

This handout offers parents and caregivers information about how children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience traumatic stress. This fact sheet provides information on the intersection of IDD, trauma, and mental wellness; what intellectual and developmental disabilities are; how trauma might impact children with IDD; why children with IDD are at higher risk for trauma exposure; and how trauma service providers should partner with parents and caregivers. For more information on support, check out the handout, Choosing Trauma Informed Care for Children with Intellectual Disabilities, from NCTSN.

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Cultivating Relationships in Secondary Schools

The science of learning and development demonstrates the value of positive relationships for student success and well-being. This brief describes structures that secondary schools can integrate to cultivate conditions that enable healthy attachments to grow. Specifically, it highlights structures that can foster personal teacher–student relationships, including those that create small learning communities, promote safety and belonging, support culturally sustaining and relevant education, and foster student voice and agency. In addition, it describes structures that enable relationship-building between and among staff and families so that relationships can become more fully embedded into a school’s culture and fabric. School structures can create opportunities for relationships to develop, but those structures are only as powerful as the interactions within them.

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Recognizing Healing-Centered Community Practices as a Complement to Trauma-Informed Interventions and Services

This brief from the Praxis Project showcases the importance of addressing community trauma through identifying and making space for healing-centered practices that communities have evolved over time, acknowledging and understanding the roots of trauma, and addressing the persistent, structural causes of trauma. It describes how trauma shows up in our communities and institutions, how it can be addressed through community- centered healing, and the role that trusted partners can take in supporting community healing. Download a free copy of the brief from this link.

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Students Exploring Gender Identity

Teachers play an important role in establishing and maintaining healthy environments for students to learn and grow. As leaders and guides in setting and maintaining the culture of their classrooms and school communities, teachers are critical in establishing welcoming, respectful, and safe environments, explaining expectations for student interactions, and modeling inclusive language, which continues to evolve over time. This primer and podcast help teachers understand how they can support students who are exploring gender identity.

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Insights from the Field: Learnings from Organizational Journeys in Centering Equity

This anthology of three papers lifts up the journeys of nonprofit organizations across the country that are focusing on centering racial equity within their internal programming and operations. This report surfaces learning in three specific areas: leadership perspectives in stewarding organizational race equity journeys; organizational approaches to cultivating a supportive culture for racial equity work; and organizational approaches for fostering individual journeys toward shared racial equity practice.

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