Nebraska Transforming Trauma 2023

Adults in schools shape the daily experiences of students; evidence has demonstrated that when adults report low levels of job related well-being, they leave the profession or are limited in their capacity to support students adequately. While initiatives related to supporting the mental health needs of students have increased in recent years, attention towards staff needs have been limited despite the important role of staff well-being in student outcomes. There are many factors that contribute to high rates of job-related stress and burnout among educators, such as challenging student behavior, lack of collegial support, overwhelming workloads, accountability pressure, long working hours, and compensation related concerns.

One evidence-based intervention for adults in student-serving positions that has shown promise has been Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS; Marsh & Mathur, 2020). In this session, we will describe a procedure for supporting the social and emotional needs of staff in a youth serving organization through the alignment with MTSS tenets of teaming, universal supports, intensified supports, and data-based decision making.

Attendees will engage with a case study will be presented related to initiatives in Educational Service Unit #1, screening for well-being and workplace climate, resource mapping, and plans for systematic referral and intervention. There will also be potential applications to participants’ organizations through discussion and activity prompts, and leave with multiple tools to begin planning for systematic staff mental health support in their own organizations.