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DC School Behavioral Health Community of Practice

 

DC CoP Activities

We convene regular meetings to build knowledge, support implementation of best practices in school behavioral health, and solve problems of practice. All meetings are recorded and archived so members can watch at any time. To attend an activity, please visit our upcoming events page to register. For resources and recordings from previous meetings, please take a look at our meeting archives page.

Monthly Meetings

Every month, the DC CoP hosts a meeting where a new skill or new knowledge desired by the community members is shared. During these meetings, there is also time for problem-solving with peers, trying out new skills, and sharing of resources and ideas that have worked in our local schools. They cover different topics selected by the community and have free social work, psychology, and LPC CEUs available. Each meeting also has a Padlet, which is a virtual message board with a wealth of information and resources shared by and with the community. 

Topics from last school year (2022-2023) include:

Understanding Non-suicidal Self Injury (NSSI) in Schools

We met on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 from 9:00 to 11:00 am explore the non-suicidal self-injury behaviors in the school context.

Objectives:

  1. Define and examine the various forms of non-suicidal self-injurious behavior.
  2. Discuss risk factors and misconceptions about the non-suicidal self-injurious behavior.
  3. Share best practice strategies to work with students engaging in self-injurious behavior in school settings.
  4. Adapt best practices for non-suicidal self-injurious behavior in the school context.

Resources and Recording

Substance Use Prevention and Intervention in Schools

We met on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm to explore the best practices in substance use prevention and intervention. Our partners from DBH, OSSE and Children’s National Hospital will join us to talk about the school-based substance use programs, trainings and resources available in DC.

Objectives

  1. Learn about substance use among youth in DC.
  2. Explore the misconceptions about drug use and addiction.
  3. Share best practices in substance use prevention and intervention.
  4. Explore the role of schools in preventing and intervening student substance use.
  5. Learn about school-based substance use programs, trainings and resources (e.g., Too Good for Drugs and Violence).

Resources and Recording

Promoting Grief Informed Schools: Applying an MTSS Framework

We met on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 9:00 - 11:00 am to explore the grief-informed schools and classroom strategies that support students and school staff experiencing grief and loss.

Objectives:

  1. Introduce grief-informed schools and classrooms strategies.
  2. List grief and loss interventions by MTSS tiers.
  3. Describe ways to advocate for grief-informed strategies with school leaders.
  4. Identify appropriate grief and loss interventions by age group.

Resources and Recording

Practice and Work Groups

A Practice Group (PG) is a smaller unit within the DC CoP. A Work Group (WG) is a time limited learning space that is created in response to emerging issues. The PG/WG members describe the elements of a safe and supportive school environment, and promote implementation of specific interdisciplinary practices that improve mental health and wellbeing in several key areas. 

Each group meets at least once a month to dive deeper into specific areas of interest that help make up a comprehensive school behavioral health system. 

Trainings and Webinars

The DC CoP has additional learning activities (e.g., webinars, trainings) around topics selected by the community members. For a list of upcoming trainings and webinars, look at our calendar of events. For questions, email [email protected]