Mental Health Information - Support
Free Bullying Prevention resources for Educators and School Counselors. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, a time that is dedicated to raising awareness about the harmful impacts of bullying and cyberbullying while promoting kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
Fightchildabuse.org is a free abuse prevention initiative that provides animated educational resources for grades K-3, grades 4-6 and teens.
They have developed 3 animated lessons to specifically address bullying.
For grades 4-6 we have two lessons: Protect Yourself Rules - Bullying and Protect Yourself Rules - Cyberbullying.
For teens we offer the award winning short titled “Are You Okay?” that was featured in our September mental health flyer.
The three animations encourage students to understand if someone is teasing you, hurting you, spreading rumors, or even talking about hurting you that is bullying. Remember, a bully can be anyone. You can be bullied in person or online. When being bullied, walk away and tell an adult. If you see someone being bullied, stand up for them, be kind, and tell an adult. If someone does this, no matter who it is, you must tell. Our lessons encourage students to talk to teachers or counselors.
WiRSA is pleased to announce that we have secured grant funding to increase mental health support for rural districts in Wisconsin through a partnership with Cartwheel.
Cartwheel is a telehealth school-based mental health provider that partners directly with school districts to offer therapy and psychiatry services for PreK-12 students. Cartwheel accepts all insurance including Medicaid, serves students with no waitlist, and assigns a dedicated Program Manager to every district they work with. They currently partner with over 350 districts across 15 states, including 12 right here in Wisconsin
As a WiRSA member district, you have a unique opportunity to learn more about how Cartwheel's model could support your students' mental health needs and how the funding works. To schedule time to learn more, reach out to Polly Thomas at Cartwheel via email at polly.thomas@cartwheelcare.org or schedule time on her calendar HERE.
WISCONSIN TODAY - A new grant will help the Portage Community School District create an in-house clinic offering mental health support to students at school.
The WEA Foundation awarded Portage $41,000 to help organize the clinic, train teachers and offer counseling sessions on campus.
“Mental health is a top priority for us,” said Theresa Stolpa, the head of the Portage school district’s mental health efforts. The Columbia County district serves about 2,100 students from kindergarten through 12th grade.
Mental Health Information / Resources
The Children’s Mental Health Network holds four learning meetings each year on important children’s mental health topics. The distribution list is a large and broad group of children’s mental health advocates and professionals from across the state. Meetings are virtual and the first Friday of the following months: February, May, August, and November from 10 am-12 pm. People can sign up to receive notice of these meetings here.
Coalition for Expanding School Mental Health in Wisconsin.
In addition to their home page, check out the Who We Are page and their Advocacy page.
Rural Health Transformation Program in Wisconsin. This is the Department of Health Services site on the whole program.