The school nurse is often a student’s first point of contact when they need help. With physical and mental health intertwined, school nurses are at the front lines of picking up on what could be underlying indicators of a mental health issue. Stomachaches and headaches can be a sign of anxiety because, for many kids, stress manifests first as a physical symptom.
School nurses help to manage students’ chronic health conditions, render first aid, administer medications, monitor communicable disease, provide immunizations, and conduct vision and hearing screenings. Not all school districts in Wisconsin have a school nurse. In many cases, school nurses split their time between different schools or serve an entire district.
What We Can Do
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Parents – Share your child’s medical and mental health status with the school nurse. If your district doesn’t have a full-time school nurse, advocate for one.
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Schools – Include school nurses on the mental health team, school safety team, attendance committee, and in 504/IEP meetings.
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Providers – Involve school nurses in care coordination and case management.
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Policymakers – Invest in consistent and sustained funding to support school nurses in every school district, with a focus on staffing rural areas in particular.
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Communities – Invite school nurses to local board of health meetings and to share school health data.
Read the Fact Sheet and more of “What We Can Do.”
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Marinette and Waupaca School Districts value the important role school nurses play in student well-being. Each has more than one school nurse serving their district.
When a school nurse has a consistent and predictable presence in school facilities students can, and do, seek them out and share their needs. School nurses are a trusted resource by both students and parents.
Read about Marinette and Waupaca School Districts use of school nurses in the latest OCMH Showcasing Solutions.
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OCMH Lived Experience Partner Shalene Fayne shares her thoughts on and experience with school nurses.
Describe your relationship with the school nurse and how they help your child thrive.
The school nurse at my child’s school checks on my child when she is sick and makes sure she is doing well throughout the school day. She has helped my child thrive by making sure my daughter is healthy and has all the proper nutrients she needs to grow and be healthy while in school.
Why are school nurses important?
School nurses are essential because they are there when parents aren't to help keep children healthy – they are an extra person to care for our children while they're in school.
What should decision-makers know about school nurses?
Lawmakers and decision makers should know that we need school nurses to help keep our children safe and healthy while in school. Without them we wouldn't have an extra set of eyes that have the ability and skills to look out for our children.
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October is bullying prevention month, a time for organizations to take action at the local level to foster safe and supportive communities. Bullying occurs across ages and environments, in-person and online. The statistics are alarming:
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More than half (54%) of Wisconsin girls think bullying at their school is a problem.
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74% of parents are worried their child is being bullied.
We also know from the National Survey of Children’s Health that Wisconsin kids who are in resilient families are less likely to be bullied. Resiliency is a skill that can be taught. We encourage families to build their resiliency.
Bullying prevention can also serve as suicide and violence prevention. We encourage every organization, school, and community to take time this month to support bullying prevention and cultivate safe supportive communities.
See OCMH’s Children’s Mental Health Fact of the Month on bullying.
See OCMH’s Fact Sheet on Bullying Prevention.
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OCMH has posted new video training exploring “What Youth Want from Supportive Adults.” In a 31-minute panel discussion, youth candidly speak with OCMH about supportive adult relationships. A training toolkit accompanies the video, making this ideal for team training:
- View the video with your team and learn from the youth panelists.
- Learn from each other in your group by discussing the questions in the training toolkit.
Access the video and training toolkit here.
Panelists include:
- Andrea Turtenwald, Family Relations Coordinator - Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health (panel moderator)
- Aniah, 17-year old senior in Milwaukee
- Kayla, 17-year old senior in Racine
In addition to the video and discussion questions, the toolkit includes:
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Partners Share their Thoughts on OCMH
OCMH has incredible partners joining us in our work to improve child and family well-being. Each month of our 10th Anniversary Activities we are sharing quotes from some of our dedicated and long-term partners. See what Jane Penner-Hoppe, Senior Policy Advisor at the Department of Children and Families, and Monica Caldwell, Consultant and prior Comprehensive School Mental Health Consultant at the Department of Public Instruction, say about OCMH listening, maintaining a steady focus, and bringing people together. Read their quotes.
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Children and young adults born between 1997 and 2012 are known as Generation Z, and, according to a report by the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) in partnership with Gallup, are a generation that is more often spoken about than spoken with. A 2023 WFF/Gallup study dug into the lives of Gen Z and learned this group is struggling with their wellbeing and mental health. Additionally, Gen Zers are optimistic about their future but do not feel prepared for it. They do not feel engaged in their schoolwork and jobs. And they are unsure how to articulate or pursue their purpose in life.
In the second year of the study (2024), WFF and Gallup found:
- Just over half (51%) of Gen Zers are thriving in their lives and Gen Z adults ages 18 to 27 are eight points less likely to be thriving than their K-12 peers (47% vs. 55%).
- 79% of Gen Zers agree they have a great future ahead of them, though only about half (51%) feel prepared for that future.
- Engagement in school is critical to improving Gen Zers' wellbeing and future outlook, however nearly every measure of engagement declined from 2023 to 2024. Gen Z K-12 students who do not want to attend college are especially unlikely to feel engaged in their schoolwork.
- Gen Z middle and high school students lack information and experiences related to their post graduation futures — especially those that do not involve college.
- In Gen Zers’ ideal lives, living comfortably and having close relationships with friends and family are significantly more important than becoming wealthy, buying a house, or landing a high-status work position.
Download the report.
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Since early in the year we’ve explored an aspect of Healing Centered Engagement in our monthly newsletter. We wrap up this series this month by focusing on building capacity for Healing Centered Engagement in organizations.
Healing Centered Engagement is a new approach to understanding youth and the issues they face. It is a holistic approach and differs from a trauma-informed care approach by shifting away from asking “what happened to you” to “what’s right with you."
Organizations that want to build capacity to implement this approach can consider the following:
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Create a space that builds empathy. Youth workers can practice empathy with coworkers by reflecting on their adolescent experiences, their personal journey to form identity, or other situations and stressors that young people may face. They can recognize the value of inclusivity and belonging and foster a culture of connectedness.
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Incorporate practices that reinforce to young people that they matter. For example:
- Create opportunities to involve young people in reviewing organizational policies.
- Establish a youth advisory board to better engage young people and receive their feedback.
- Provide sufficient time for youth workers to build and maintain relationships with young people.
- Have flexible policies that encourage relationship building and promote the Protective and Promotive Factors.
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Heal the healers. Adulthood is not a final, trauma-free destination. Supervisors should consider how to support youth workers' well-being, such as establishing retreats, sabbaticals, and incentives for continuing educational opportunities that deepen their learning about well-being and healing. This includes supporting staff in caring for themselves and dealing with the stress inherent in working with young people who have experienced significant adversity.
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Train staff in Healing Centered Engagement and the Protective and Promotive Factors. Use resources and trainings on Healing Centered Engagement and Youth Thrive to support and incorporate these into practice. With these in place, staff at all levels of an organization can create an organizational culture that promotes healing and thriving.
Recapping what we've learned from this series
For organizations and adults considering a shift to Healing Centered Engagement, keep the following in mind:
- Start by building empathy.
- Encourage young people to dream and imagine.
- Act with love and caring.
- Build critical reflection that draws upon the collective, moral, and emotional aspects of healing.
- Use culturally grounded principals.
- Take collective action in communities where young people live.
- Build capacity and focus on the protective and promotive factors within organizations.
Source: "Healing Centered Engagement supports not only young people, but adult providers with their own healing." by Dr. Shawn Ginwright, CEO, Flourish Agenda. Read the article.
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Mental Health Parity Rule. On September 9, 2024, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury released new final rules implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The final rules amend certain provisions of the existing MHPAEA regulations and add new regulations to set forth content requirements and timeframes for responding to requests for nonquantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) comparative analyses required under MHPAEA, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA, 2021).
The changes are intended to address the continuing disparities in coverage between mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits and medical/surgical (M/S) benefits which have persisted and actually increased. Among other items, these final rules:
- Make clear that MHPAEA protects plan participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees from facing greater restrictions on access to MH/SUD treatment
- Reinforce that health plans cannot use: prior authorization requirements and other medical management techniques, standards related to network composition, and methodologies to determine out-of-network reimbursement rates
- Require plans to collect and evaluate data and take reasonable action to address material differences in access to MH/SUD benefits
- Prohibit plans from using discriminatory information, evidence, sources, or standards that systematically disfavor or are specifically designed to disfavor access to MH/SUD benefits
- Implement the sunset provision for self-funded non-Federal governmental health plans to opt out of compliance with MHPAEA.
These rules should improve network composition by making MH/SUD provider networks more robust and making it easier for individuals to receive this care due to fewer and less restrictive prior authorization requirements and medical management techniques.
Fact Sheet on the final rule. Press Conference coverage of the rule.
New Medicaid Opportunities to Support Youth Leaving Incarceration. In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) issued rules on Medicaid coverage of assessment, treatment, and care management services required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023. These services include physical and behavioral health screening indicated as medically necessary 30 days prior to release from incarceration. Care management services include: assessment; an individualized, person-centered care plan; referral and service linkage to services and supports; and other needs as identified in care plan. These Medicaid provisions are effective beginning January 1, 2025. See the Center for Health Care Strategies report for more on these provisions.
World Mental Health Day
October 10th is World Mental Health Day. The goal is to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health. Learn more:
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UpliftWI – New Hours
UpliftWI is Wisconsin's peer-run warmline operated by Mental Health America of Wisconsin. They are pleased to announce new hours of operation:
Open daily (including holidays) from 10 am to 10 pm
Call 534.202.5438
The support is free of charge
A warmline is a nonemergency source of support for people experiencing increased stress or symptoms from mental health and substance use concerns. The operators are certified peer specialists. UpliftWI is an anonymous and confidential service. Learn more.
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Emerging Leaders Program
The Division of Care and Treatment Services (DCTS) is accepting applications for the 2025 Emerging Leaders Program. This workforce development program is for community-based behavioral health professionals who support underserved communities. There is no cost to participate in this program. Attendance at virtual training sessions scheduled for January, February, March, April, May, and June is required. To apply.
Hispanic Heritage Month
From September 15th through October 15th, Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated nationally through festivals, art shows, conferences, roundtable discussions, and community gatherings. Learn more.
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