We cannot believe it is already September. Our team had a busy month planning and hosting training events for school mental health workers beginning a new school year, airing the second webinar in our Coming Home to Primary Care: Pediatric Integrated Health series, and ramping up universal and targeted training opportunities in serious mental illness.

The Mid-America MHTTC is excited to announce the development of a new webinar, Student Mental Health During COVID-19: How to Prepare as Schools Reopen,

geared toward emergency managers, public health professionals (state and local health departments) and school administrators who are working together to create school reopening and response plans.

The webinar will air at 11 a.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 4. Session content will focus on the mental health needs of children, adolescents and educators related to crises and how community and school organizations can partner to develop responsive plans that address these needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions upon registration, enabling our MHTTC Network specialists to shape content to meet audience needs. Presenters will devote the first segment of the hour-long presentation to the topic, then address attendee-submitted questions.

The recording of the webinar as well as additional resources will be posted on the web page. Certificates of completion are available to viewers of 50% or more of the live webinar.

This webinar is brought to you by the Mid-America MHTTC in collaboration with the MHTTC Network Coordinating Office, National Center for School Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH).

A new webinar series kicking off in early September will present well-being skills to education professionals, administrators, and stakeholders who are working together to create a culture of well-being that supports students and educators.

The introductory session for Well-Being Wednesdays: Taking Care of Educators Who Take Care of Kids, airing 12-1 p.m. Central Time Sept. 9, will cover the what, why, and how of the Adult Resilience Curriculum (ARC) and present strategies aimed at enhancing resilience and well-being.

Each successive session in this monthly series will focus on one of the 10 ARC practice modules and follow a tell-show-do approach. Session leaders will teach one skill per 30-minute session, outlining the skill, providing examples, and promoting use of the skill. During the last session of the series, participants will be encouraged to identify and practice strategies that align with their personal and professional values, resulting in a “personal recipe for well-being.”

Content is tailored to address needs within our region, but all are welcome to attend. Certificates of completion will be provided to viewers of 50% or more of the live webinars.

The Mid-America MHTTC's school mental health program is excited to announce that the application period has opened for our upcoming professional learning community, Supporting School Mental Health During a Pandemic.

This learning community will be a collaboration between the Mid-America MHTTC team and the National Center for School Mental Health. The target audience for this learning community is administrators at the state, district, and building level. This learning community will be a year-long learning group with specific topics focused on providing SMH supports during the pandemic. The goal is to provide an opportunity to help teams problem-solve around specific challenges they are encountering.

Applications are due by close-of-business Friday, Oct. 2, with notifications to be issued by Friday, Oct. 9. The official start date is TBD and will be posted on the web page.

To view the webinar, watch the video embedded above or click here.

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Learn more about our monthly series Coming Home to Primary Care: Pediatric Integrated Health.

Kalal, a Community Alliance volunteer, said that after his daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2012, the stress of caring for her led him to struggle with controlling his emotions. A friend directed him to Dr. Sookram at Community Alliance, and eight years later, he is still deeply involved with the family peer support group.

Kalal said he has spoken with hundreds of people since he joined, and the empathy and bonds that form are lasting. Now, he advocates for families undergoing similar situations.

The Family Peer Support: An Emerging Workforce webinar will be expanded into a monthly series beginning in October. To learn more, check out the area of focus spotlight on our serious mental illness program below.

To watch the webinar, play the embedded video below or click here.

In our nascent years, the majority of our serious mental illness training has been delivered at the intensive level and developed for specific entities. Now, our program is expanding to offer more universal and targeted training opportunities that will be shared online.

One such training opportunity is a new monthly webinar series building from content shared in our Aug. 20 Family Peer Support: An Emerging Workforce webinar, co-hosted by Omaha-based Community Alliance. This series will expand upon concepts outlined in this webinar, drawing from SAMHSA-published competencies in peer support. It will explore how persons with lived experience as a family member, friend or other caregiver of a person with a mental illness can support others in a similar situation, and discuss the training needs of this emerging workforce. Mark your calendars for the following sessions:

Thursday, Nov. 19, 12-1 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 17, 12-1 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 21, 12-1 p.m.

Registration links and speaker information will be released soon. Bookmark this page for updates.

Hannah West, PhD, is our newest regional trainer for the Mid-America MHTTC and postdoctoral behavioral health provider at Sunflower Pediatric Behavioral Health in Shawnee, Kansas. Dr. West completed an undergraduate degree in psychology at Henderson State University, a master’s degree in clinical psychology at Missouri State University, and a doctorate in school psychology at Oklahoma State University.

Dr. West is gearing up for an exciting year, professionally and personally. She and her husband are settling into their new home in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, as they also prepare to welcome their first child in the coming weeks.

Mid-America MHTTC | 402.552.7697 | MHTTCnetwork.org/midamerica

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