February 2024 SBMH Collaborative Updates

Hello WISP Collaborative Members,

Thank you all for participating in our third

WISP School-Based Mental Health Collaborative of the school year.

It was a pleasure to have you join us and

share your insights and experiences.

If you didn't have a chance to complete our feedback survey at the meeting

you can find it here.

As promised, please see below for resources that were shared during the presentation.

We look forward to seeing you at our fourth and final collaboration of the school year on Thursday, May 2nd from 10am-11:30am

Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions.

Thank you!

The WISP Team

Register for the May Collaborative Here

The Wellness in Schools Program Activities and Resource Hub is a place where you can find helpful information, support, and guidance for your mental well-being. We encourage you to explore this page and find activities, information, and resources that suit your needs. Please explore this resource here.

The Wellness in Schools Program would like to express gratitude towards the representatives from Kooth and Brightline, Sophie Weissbourd, Cedric Parilla, and Malissa Watts for taking the time to come to the Wellness in Schools Program Collaborative to discuss the

Soluna and Brightline Kids Apps.

Thank you also to Megan Suh from Dougherty Valley High for her presentation on the work she is doing at Dougherty Valley with Project MindWell and

Zain Memon from Heritage High for his feedback on the Soluna app!

BrightLife Kids & Soluna App - Core Services Review

• Coaching: Pre-clinical and sub-clincal coaching sessions through text or video with behavioral health coaches.
• Educational Content: Age-tailored educational articles, videos, podcasts, and stories.
• Assessment and Tools: Stress-management tools and clinically validated assessments to understand and monitor behavioral health over time.
• Off-Platform Services: Directory and care navigation to connect users to their local behavioral health resources.
• Community Engagement: Moderated forums and programs to connect users with other youth or caregivers.
• Crisis and Safety Protocols: Crisis and emergency safety resources for platform users in crisis.

The Brightlife Kids is a free app is for any family living in California with kids 0-12 year old. Parent and caregivers can turn to Brightlife Kids for peer support and expert advice on how to handle behavioral challenges while teaching resilience, problem-solving, and communication. Kids benefit from resources and coaching that teach them how to manage worries, how to express big feelings like sadness, anger or frustration in healthy ways, and how to navigate complicated or confusing situations. Brightlife Line is an added layer of behavioral health support for students and families. Explore more about this app here:

BrightLife Kids App

BrightLife Presentation

The Soluna App is an innovative virtual behavior health program, developed through a collaboration between the California Department of Health Services and Kooth. The Soluna App will provide youth and young adults (ages 13-25) with immediate access to a comprehensive mental health toolkit, community support. resources, digital journaling, and personal coaching - all at no cost to the user, their parents, or their school. The Soluna App is available to download on all IOS and Android Devices. Explore more about this app here:



The Soluna App Website

The Soluna App Presentation

The Directing Change Program and Film Contest engages young adults throughout California to learn about the warning signs for suicide, mental health, and how to help a friend by creating short films. Throughout the filmmaking process, participants are engaged via all methods of the learning spectrum to see, experience, discuss, and apply concepts learned about suicide prevention and mental health. These films are used in schools and communities to raise awareness and start conversations about these topics.

To learn more about the Directing Change Program and Film Contest, please visit the website here.

To learn more about deadlines for each category, please visit the Directing Change Forms and Copyright Page

February

28

Parent Liaison Collaborative

We invite you to join the Wellness in Schools Parent Liaison Collaborative. The primary goal is to establish a nurturing network for parent liaisons and other school staff who support parents and families across Contra Costa County, focusing on improving mental health communication between parents and schools.

• Strategies that districts have been utilizing to provide guidance for parents regarding school mental health days
• How to determine when its appropriate for students to stay home to take care of their mental health
• Recommended supports that families can provide for their kids to prepare them to return back to school after taking mental health days

More information about this upcoming Parent Liaison will be sent to participants upon registration.

Register here.

March

19

C.A.R.E./Ally Training

WISP is proud to offer two nationally recognized trainings from The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQI+ young people: 

The CARE Training: 

The Connect, Accept, Respond Empower Training provides adults with an overview of suicide among LGBTQ+ youth and the different environmental stressors that contribute to their heightened risk for suicide. 

The Ally Training: 

Designed to create dialogue around being an adult ally for LGBTQ+ youth by informing participants about common terminology, the "coming out" process and challenges at home, in school, and in the community. Offered virtually or in-person at CCCOE

Register here.

February

13

Charlie Health

Higher Education and IOPS: Supporting the Needs of High Acuity Students in Higher Education



Join Charlie Health for a free continuing education event about support high acuity students with virtual intensive outpatient (IOP) care. This one hour session will cover the best practices for telehealth and highlight appropriate IOP referrals.

For more information and registration, click here

February

15

Charlie Health

Dissecting Self-Diagnosis in the TikTok Era



Join Charlie Health for an engaging and timely conversation on self-diagnosis in the TikTok era. There will be a discussion on the nuances of social media and mental health, self-diagnosis as a potential form of identity formation, and how clinicians can best support their clients along their diagnostic journey.

For informational flyer, click here

Register here

February

20

Contra Costa Crisis Center

Suicide Prevention Training



A brief overview on suicide prevention in which participants will learn how to compassionately discuss and how to help someone who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts. This is an online event.

Target Audience: students, parents and community members.

Register here

February

27

Student Safety and Well-Being

Youth Mental Health First Aid Training

Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) teaches adults how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health challenges in youth. This training gives adults the skills they need to reach out and provide initial support to youth, and connect them to the appropriate care. This is an in-person training offered at the Contra Costa Office of Education in Pleasant Hill.

For informational flyer and link to register, please click here.