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Abstract: The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is requesting $1.9 million annually over 5 years to implement a Now is the Time Project AWARE State Educational Agency Program cooperative agreement in the State of Illinois. Consistent with ISBE's concurrent application for a DOE School Climate Transformation grant, the proposed project, Illinois (IL) AWARE seeks to ensure that every school will offer a safe and healthy learning environment to all students. IL AWARE will accomplish this by meeting project goals related to: (1) formalizing plans that allow for systems coordination to improve the mental health needs of youth and promote their familial and communal assets; (2) implementing these plans to assure sustainability; and (3) improving mental health literacy and capacity through YMHFA/MHFA training statewide. The project, IL Aware, will serve children and adolescents who attend public school within the State of Illinois with a special focus on the three high-need LEAs named in this proposal; 1) East Aurora (a densely populated urban district in the North with a student population of 14,000 and a notable proportion of high-need children and youth; Decatur, a middle-size district in Central Illinois; and 3) and Harrisburg, a rural Southern Illinois community with a smaller population that encompasses a relatively large geographic area, which presents its own challenges in terms of ensuring access to community-based behavioral healthcare. The total student population served by ISBE was 2,066,692 in 2012, 49% of whom were low-income. Students who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Native American, or Two or More Races comprised 49 percent of student enrollment in 2012, an increase from 38 percent in 1999. Measurable project objectives include: (1) through the State Management Team (SMT) structure, developing and implementing NITT-AWARE-SEA Coordination and Integration Plan that includes components specific to collaborative funding mechanisms, coordination of ongoing systems and programs with similar goals at the State and local level, early identification, cross-system referral plan and state-wide data collection and reporting infrastructure to support the mental health of children and adolescents); (2) Providing support to School Districts (with particular focus on the high-need LEAs named in this application) to build their capacity to implement youth violence prevention strategies and promote school safety and develop sustainable linkages with community behavioral health providers and other child-serving entities in the community; and (3) Providing Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Training to school personnel and other adults at target LEAs and other school districts throughout the State. YMHFA/MHFA instructors will be trained within the first 60 days of the grant period and a minimum of 125 school personnel (plus additional child-serving adults in the community) will receive the training in Year 1 and each subsequent year of the project.

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Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Program Narrative Section A: Statement of Need…………………………………………………………………….3 Section B: Proposed Approach……………………………………………………………………9 Section C: Staff, Management, and Relevant Experience………………………………………21 Section D: Data Collection and Performance Measurement…………………………………….24 Supporting Documentation Section E: Literature Citations ………………………………………………………………….31 Section F: Biographical Sketches and Job Descriptions………………………………………...32 Section G: Confidentiality AND SAMHSA Participant Protection/Human Subjects…………..47 Attachments Attachment 1: Letters of Commitment Attachment 2: Data Collection Instruments/Interview Protocols Attachment 3: Sample Consent Forms

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Illinois State Board of Education/NITT-SEA AWARE Section A: Statement of Need (15 points)

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is requesting $1.9 million annually over the course of 5 years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to implement a Now is the Time Project AWARE State Educational Agency Program (NITT-AWARE-SEA, RFA # SM-14-018) cooperative agreement as part of a coordinated strategy that includes an application for a Department of Education SAE School Climate Transformation Grant. The proposed project, Illinois (IL)-AWARE, is directly responsive to the needs assessment and environmental scan conducted as part of this application, both at the state-level and within the three high-need LEA target communities. The project will leverage and expand upon ISBE’s long history of: 1) effectively building and sustaining cross-disciplinary systems, policies, and partnerships that support a decrease in youth violence and promote the healthy development of children and youth throughout the State; and 2) providing training, monetary and other resources to local education agencies (LEAs) to further expand and enhance their ability to respond quickly to the behavioral health needs of their student body and connect students and their families with community behavioral health providers (BHPs).

ISBE and many of the public agency partners named in this proposal (Letters of Commitment included as Attachment 1) have worked steadfastly for over a decade to realize the education-specific mandate set forth in the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Act of 2003: The coalition was a key champion in helping to establish Illinois as a national leader in recognizing the importance of mental health for children’s overall health, well-being, and academic success, This groundwork resulted, in part, in a SAMHSA Statewide System of Care (SOC) Expansion Planning Grant in 2011 (Illinois United for Youth [IUY]), which supported the formation of a collaborative partnership of public and private stakeholders invested in serving youth with serious emotional disturbance (SED). In fact, the diverse IUY membership was used as the basis for the formation of the IL-AWARE State Management Team (SMT), a key component of the proposed project. Description of service gaps/problems and the need for infrastructure development/capacity building:

1) While there are numerous planning efforts (e.g., the Governor-appointed Mental Health Task Force; the Human Services Commission’s Children’s Behavioral Health Work Group, the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership) to address the mental health needs of children and youth, both specifically and within the broader context of mental health and human service planning efforts, strategic initiatives and funding streams are not aligned to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the work that is being done. In addition, although all previous and current statewide work has had ISBE at the table, it has not been viewed as an equal partner so that more culturally and developmentally appropriate practices with children and youth were often left unaddressed in a larger system primarily focused on adult-focused, institutional care. IL-AWARE will help remedy this as the educational system guaranteed access point for all children will act as lead partner in planning and implementation.

2) Policies, protocols, and mechanisms for data and information sharing across child-serving systems are not yet in place, limiting our ability to understand the full scope of the communities' needs and hindering the systematic identification of multi-system youth needing coordinated and often intensive intervention. This is a critical challenge as the data collection efforts that were initiated as part of Illinois United for Youth remain in limbo given system-wide health care changes in response to the Affordable Care Act (PPACA), healthcare reform, and the

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State's introduction of private managed care organizations, each of which has its own requirements.

3) The Great Recession combined with healthcare reform has meant sweeping changes in access to and the stability of service delivery, in particular to low-income populations and individuals need behavioral health, as the transition to Medicaid managed care has created a temporary environment with a significant number of unknowns in financing, oversight and care coordination across the state. These challenges and uncertainty are exacerbated by the larger budgetary landscape in Illinois: Since 2009, approximately $1 billion in cuts to public services for children, families, and communities has slowed recovery and growth remains sluggish.

4) At the same time, healthcare reform and pending Medicaid redesign efforts in Illinois present a critical opportunity and leverage-point for IL-AWARE as the State looks for ways to ensure community-based, coordinated care for children and explores strategies to keep those youth with SED in their communities and out of residential care. These efforts are in alignment with mandates set forth by the Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant and the Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) component of Medicaid both of which recognize mental health as an integral aspect of children’s well-being; federal law requires comprehensive well-child examinations with screening services through EPSDT, including screening for potential developmental, mental, behavioral, and/or substance use disorders.

5) The incidence of suicide, bullying, eating disorders, experimentation with high risk behaviors, dysfunctional families, violence in our families and communities increasingly place children at risk across the country as well as in Illinois. Our schools and communities have an urgent need for qualified evidence-based crisis response and interventions for young people who experience distress and are at risk of developing conduct, alcohol/substance use, or other mental health disorders. A needs assessment performed by IUY SOC found that the Illinois Division of Mental Health ([DMH], within the State Department of Human Services [DHS] is serving less than 6% of the youth estimated to have SED in the State. ISBE and our partners are keenly aware of this gap between need and resources and planning is already underway to expand the avail-ability of YMHFA/MHFA training and the number of adults in all regions of the State who can respond and intervene with youth who may be experiencing a crisis, through IL-AWARE as well as other mechanisms. Demographic and other relevant factors in the target LEAs to receive services:

The three LEAs selected for IL-AWARE are highly diverse in terms of size, population and community characteristics and the existing infrastructure supporting the mental health needs of children and youth. East Aurora is a densely populated urban district in the North with a notable proportion of high-need children and youth. Decatur is a middle-size district in Central Illinois with an existing strong connection with a community behavioral health provider, and Harrisburg (in Southern Illinois) is a rural community with a smaller population that encompasses a relatively large geographic area, which presents its own challenges in terms of ensuring access to community-based behavioral healthcare. Each LEA selected for the project is high-need: East Aurora will serve no fewer than 14,000 children, whereas the suburban and rural cities of Decatur and Harrisburg, respectively, have city poverty rates above 20% and Title I rates above 55%. Each of the LEAs encompasses communities that have been designated by HRSA as Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and/or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). The LEAs have demonstrated readiness, investment, and willingness to collaborate to address the safety and well-being needs of youth as demonstrated by their Letters of Commitment (see Attachment 1).

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East Aurora, located in the north, is the second most populous city in IL with an estimated 2012 population of 199,765. It is located within a number of “collar counties,” which surround Chicago, separating this metropolitan city from neighboring suburban/rural counties. Race/ethnicity: 39.9% White alone/ non-Hispanic, 10.7% Black/African American, 0.5% Native American, 6.7% Asian, 3.3% other/multi-racial, and 41.3% Hispanic of any race with 25.4% foreign-born. Age: Youth are 40.5% of the population (9.1% under 5; 31.6% between 5 and under 18) with 6.5% of adults aged 65+. SES: 13.6% of residents live below the poverty level. Literacy & Language: In Kane County 30.1 of person 5+ years of age speak a language other than English at home with more than a 1/3 of East Aurora students identified as English language learners (ELLs) (37%).

Decatur, in central IL, had an estimated 2012 population of 75,407. It is a suburban town in Macon County. Race/ethnicity:1 70.6% White alone/non-Hispanic, 23.3% Black/African American, 0.2% Native American, 6.7% Asian, 3.1% other/multi-racial, and 2.2% Hispanic of any race with 25.4% foreign-born. Age: Youth are 29.6% of the population (5.7% under 5; 23.9% between 5 and under 18) with 18.3% of adults aged 65+. SES: 21.4% live below the FPIL as (vs. 13.7% state wide). Literacy & Language: In Macon County 3.0% of those 5 or over speak a language other than English at home.

Harrisburg, a rural town in the south in Saline County, had an estimated 2012 population of 9,034. Race/ethnicity:2 89.2% White alone/non-Hispanic, 6.8% Black/African American, 1.9% other/multi-racial, and 2.5% Hispanic of any race with 1.5% foreign-born. Age: Youth are 28.8% of the population (6.5% under 5; 22.1% between 5 and under 18) with 16.9% of adults aged 65+. SES: 22.3% live below the FPIL (vs. 13.7% state wide). Literacy & Language: In Saline County 2.4% of those 5 or over speak a language other than English at home although Harrisburg has only one or two ELLs. Description of LEA stakeholders and resources that can help implement the needed infrastructure development:

There is already a significant amount of groundwork laid in each of the LEAs related to children’s mental health; outreach/education for parents, youth and community members; and training for school staff and other child-serving entities in the communities. The purpose of IL-AWARE is to ensure that every school will offer a safe and health learning environment to all students by building out the educational system's Multi-tiered System of Support Model (MTSS), which focuses on creating a school climate conducive to youth development, safety, and well-being, using YMHFA/MHFA as a the central, coordinating language through which stakeholders can understand, identify, communicate, and respond to students' behaviors, needs and concerns. Highlights of available, existing resources and relationships within the LEAs that will be leveraged for IL-AWARE include:

East Aurora LEA: Although the LEA in East Aurora has existing linkage relationships with two community behavioral healthcare providers, Linden Oaks Medical Group (the largest behavioral healthcare provider in the community) and Aunt Martha’s Youth Service and Family Center, there is a high degree of need for infrastructure and partnership-building in the context of community-based behavioral healthcare for adolescents and children in this LEA. The East Aurora LEA leadership has already entered into discussions with the Association for Individual Development (AID), a BHP with an adult mental health focus and has expressed their willingness to expand services. AID agrees there are too few youth serving programs and, with the technical assistance and support of IL-AWARE can fill this gap. Moreover, the high numbers of undocumented and Spanish-speaking families in this community means stigma reduction and

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multiple points of access will be critical to engagement. Hence, a strategy being discussed is to co-locate providers at one or more of the school-based health centers (SBHCs) in the LEA as this will further integrate mental health into a health and wellness framework.

Decatur LEA: The LEA is a recipient of a State Juvenile Re-entry Initiative award from the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission (IJJC) as well as an Illinois Balanced and Restorative Justice (IBARG) grant from the MacArthur Foundation, which supports innovative and effective youth diversion and re-entry strategies, identification of the policy implications of the projects, development of insight and data supporting these policy implications, and communication of policy implications to state and local partners, leading to long-term systemic changes. Macon County (where the Decatur LEA is located) also has a Redeploy Illinois initiative that serves youth who are at high risk of adjudication through development of a continuum of care linking them to needed services and supports within the community, as determined by an individualized needs assessment. Unfortunately, a critical gap that has been identified in the LEA is that, despite all of the groundbreaking juvenile justice diversion work being accomplished, the community-based MH infrastructure for children and adolescents is lacking. Hence, even when high-risk youth are diverted through these efforts and allowed to remain in the community their needs remain unmet increasing the likelihood of unlawful behavior and recidivism. Although there is not a great deal of mental health infrastructure, Heritage Behavioral Health Center, a recipient of a SAMHSA Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) program (which seeks to coordinate and integrate primary care services into publicly funded, community-based behavioral health settings) with a few providers trained in YMHFA/MHFA, is willing and ready to serve as the LEA’s primary BHP provider partner. IL-AWARE will be a central venue for these stakeholders to collaborate, problem solve, and coordinate while strengthening the community's mental health capacity.

Harrisburg LEA: This LEA currently partners with Egyptian Public and Mental Health Department in Eldorado, IL which is the recipient of a local SAMHA SOC grant; Project CONNECT. IL-AWARE will replicate and extend Project CONNECT’s ongoing and highly successful SOC-related work by further expanding, enhancing, and replicating it in Harrisburg through the proposed project, particularly their work around connecting engagement strategies with youth and families: They have developed a number of peer mentorship initiatives in that community and integrated strategies into ongoing community and school and youth programming including close collaboration with YouthMove which gives high-risk young people and their families a platform to share their perspectives on mental health and the services they receive, the additional services they feel are needed, and their school, community and home life. Also, the local SOC in Champaign, in Eastern Illinois (ACCESS Initiative), has been focusing much of its efforts on cultural competency and diversity work. The team there developed a training curriculum that IUY and Project CONNECT have both utilized. Beyond building mental health capacity, this LEA offers IL-AWARE an opportunity to leverage and integrate SAMHSA funded efforts, assuring adoption of culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) strategies to not only Harrisburg, but also to East Aurora and Decatur where sizeable populations of blacks and Latinos make engagement and use of cultural preferences key concerns. Needs/gaps identified in the needs assessment process and their relations to project goals/objectives: The needs assessment conducted utilized ISBE internal data (notably the IL scorecard was recently identified by the Education Commission of the States as the best report card out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia), key informant interviews with ISBE's partners and future

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collaborators in IL AWARE, and publicly available datasets, as well as a content analysis of hearings, reports, and strategic plans addressing child and adolescents and child-serving systems.

In 2013, the Illinois Governor’s Human Services Commission released its Recommendations on Budgeting for Results, Rationalizing Service Delivery, and Rebalancing Long-term Care, which contained a key set of recommendations which dovetail with the identified children’s behavioral health infrastructure needs addressed throughout this proposal and IL-AWARE's goals and objectives, as follows:

Goals 1 & 2-Systems Integration/coordination to advance wellness and resiliency in school settings: There are insufficient mechanisms for effective coordination of care between levels of intensity and across service systems; insufficient coordination within the current treatment continuum that prevents many children and youth from accessing, and providers from being able to deliver the appropriate level of treatment in a timely way; insufficient supports for families and a lack of family involvement; and a lack of a mechanism for information sharing between multiple systems involved with children and youth and their families.

Goal 3-Increased mental health literacy and community based capacity: There is insufficient community-based (school, home and community) services and culturally competent care planning and service delivery for children and youth with severe behavioral problems and too few mental health providers available to treat children and youth with SED resulting in Overuse of and reliance upon expensive institutional settings.

A report issued by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago in 2010, entitled Illinois Families and Their Use of Multiple Service Systems, examined the usage patterns and characteristics of families in Illinois that have multiple interactions with public human services agencies (e.g. DMH, the Department of Children and Family Services, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice). Researchers found that these agencies tend to treat all of the people they serve with their own services and programs, not with coordinated approaches across agencies and systems.

Agencies have great difficulty tracking how services needs and costs change over time; and that State and local agencies primarily respond to crises defined by single problems happening at a point in time and thus expend comparatively little focus on prevention and early intervention around future problems incurred by the people of Illinois. State findings from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System (BRFSS) indicate 55% of IL adults (25-64) who are the parents of school-aged children have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder, most of whom are women (66.8%).3 Scan identified resources, systems, and programs within the state and three LEAS and their relation to goals/objectives:

In addition to the LEA-specific and cross-district collaborative resources and programs described that will be leveraged and expanded under IL-AWARE, ISBE’s Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Collaborative [IS-TAC], which has been funded by ISBE using federal IDEA Part B discretionary grant dollars and providing training and TA to Districts state-wide in the areas of educational environment (Project CHOICEs), school climate and culture/student behavior (PBIS), stakeholder engagement, special education mandates, and best practices) since 1998, will function as the main coordinating body for the IL-AWARE, utilizing a coaching and support network model that builds sustainable capacity in the districts by scaling up evidence-based practices and employing data collection and analysis in support of data-based decision making.

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Since 2003, ISBE has used a district capacity-building model wherein at least one liaison is identified and appointed at the District-level to receive training and TA from IS-TAC staff on various components of the Multi-tiered System of Support Model (MTSS). MTSS encompasses prevention and wellness promotion; universal screening for academic, behavioral, and emotional barriers to learning; scaling up of a suite of evidence-based practices (including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports [PBIS] and Response to Intervention [RTI]) that increase in intensity as needed; monitoring of ongoing student progress in response to implemented interventions; and engagement in systematic data-based decision making about services needed for students based on specific outcomes). The liaison is then responsible for taking the knowledge, skills, and tools they have gained and determining the best strategies and mechanisms for ensuring that their District develops its capacity to implement the interventions and continuously improve.

This summer, ISTAC is launching a multi-tiered pilot to build local capacity to train in trauma-informed practices, in collaboration with the Child Trauma Academy, a Community of Practice (CoP) in Houston, TX. By the end of FY2015, Illinois will have a Statewide training cadre of 30 individuals (3 in each of the ten IS-TAC regions of the State) who will be qualified to begin training school personnel and other child-serving community members in the trauma-informed practices of the Neurosequential Model for Education (NME), and the Neurosequential Model for Treatment of Therapeutics (NMT), as appropriate. ISBE will use this approach to maximize achievement of Goal 3 and develop target LEA teams (which consists of a District Special Education Cooperative staff, an IS-TAC regionally-based staff person, and a provider from one of the BHPs) to pilot the IL-AWARE YMHFA/MHFA training component and, during subsequent years extend and replicate efforts statewide. Description of service gaps/problems related to the need for infrastructure development with data source:

The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Community Health and Prevention Division in partnership with the Mental Health Division and the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership began the implementation of a SAMHSA-funded Illinois Project LAUNCH (IPL) in 2009. Its 2012 report, Early Findings from the Illinois Project LAUNCH Evaluation: Year 2 Report, summarizes well the needs and gaps at both the state and local levels, which are as follows:

• Stigma, engagement and access: Key informants at the local level cited challenges with engaging families in available services especially around issues related to engaging different ethnic groups, community distrust of healthcare and social service providers, miscommunication between professionals and families, and limited funding for programs amid recent cutbacks by the state, lack of particular kinds of services that families need, and lack of accurate and non-stigmatizing information about services; • Unmet need and lack of person-centered CLAS: In terms of perspectives on available services, respondents focused on the deficits in services available to meet family needs, and the need for better coordination of services and referrals across community providers as well as a gap in the local system’s ability to engage “hard-to-reach” families in the communities by providing culturally appropriate services that engage the diverse racial/ethnic groups that make up the IPL; and • Need for an assets based, recovery approach: Local key informants identified training as a key need; specifically increasing the capacity of the target community to support itself by educating parents and community organizers and training them as

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leaders, providing low-cost/no-cost training to local providers, and the need for training and TA in trauma-informed practice. The needs assessment reinforced the need for infrastructure development that builds

knowledge and skills for standardized and universal responses that are within and responsive to the local context. School personnel and community members must begin to see student and community problems as risks that influence each other and view resilience as mobilization of existing assets and protective factors. Section B: Proposed Approach (40 points) Project purpose, including a clear statement of the goals/objectives and relating to performance measures and how achievement will increase system capacity:

The purpose of IL-AWARE is to ensure that every school will offer a safe and health learning environment to all students. Consistent with this overarching purpose and in clear alignment with those of the NITT-AWARE-SEA and our application for a DOE School Climate Transformation grant, the project's goals focus on formalizing planning for systems coordination to improve the mental health needs of youth and their familial and communal assets (Goal 1/Component 1), implement these plans to assure sustainability (Goal 2/Component 1); and improve mental health literacy and capacity through YMHFA/MHFA training statewide (Goal 3/Component 2). The detailed objectives and performances measures to be used to evaluate progress in achieving these goals are as follows: Goal 1 (Years 2-5): Cooperatively plan and formalize to assure sustainability of the cross-disciplinary systems that ISBE and our partners have continued to develop and advocate for over a decade to ensure that young people and their families throughout the State are able to receive school-based mental health supports and resources and access to culturally and linguistically appropriate behavioral healthcare in their community through: Objective 1A: Through the State Management Team (SMT) structure, develop and implement NITT-AWARE-SEA Coordination and Integration Plan (C-I Plan)

To ensure ongoing, strategic, and highly collaborative review, development, and implementation of state-wide systems, policies, and protocols that support mental health and wellness for school children (especially those vulnerable subgroups, as described in Section A, that currently experience the greatest disparities and barriers to accessing care) and promote coordination of care across multiple child-serving systems at the State level and in partnership with the LEAs.

The plan will include, but not be limited to, activities, milestones, responsible parties, and time-bound deliverables associated with: Early Identification and cross-system connection with services; State-wide referral plan and related mechanisms and shared protocols; and a Data-collection system to collect aggregate state-wide data and LEA level disaggregated data on school climate, school discipline, and mental health services. This last component of Objective 1A will leverage the ongoing work of the IL- 5Essentials Survey, an evidence-based system that measures changes in a school’s organization through its survey and predicts school success through scoring. Objective 1B: Identification and implementation of strategies to access existing funding mechanisms to further support the provision of mental health services for school-aged youth throughout the State. IL-AWARE will seek, primarily through the SMT structure, and the C-I Plan to develop and implement effective, streamlined strategies to access funding streams for children’s mental

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health that are connected to key, emerging legislation in the State (which many of our partners were strong, vocal advocates for) linked with healthcare reform efforts Objective 1C: Link planning and implementation of IL-AWARE with ongoing efforts to coordinate planning across state and local education systems, mental health, juvenile justice, and other child serving systems to enhance state prevention infrastructure and avoid duplication of efforts. As with Objective 1B above, many of these strategies will be linked to pertinent legislation at the State level. Goal 2 (Years 2-5): Implement and integrate the comprehensive and coordinated Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) model for advancing wellness and resilience in educational settings and in the community to assure their long-term sustainability Objective 2A: Provide support and guidance to LEAs, through the MTSS model (which targets improvement of school Climate and Culture inclusive of safety practices) to implement youth violence prevention strategies including conducting workshops on school safety issues for school staff and parents, instituting a district-wide, research-based violence prevention curriculum, and promoting good citizenship and character as part of a plan to improve overall school climate. IL-AWARE activities that address this objective will build upon the significant accomplishments that IS-TAC has already made and systems that have been developed over more than a decade to provide districts with the necessary internal capacity to develop and sustain these interventions over time. The Plan will further leverage ISBE’s School Safety and Emergency Response division; The Director of ISBE’s School Safety and Emergency Response Division will be a member of the SMT. A significant number of the activities linked to Objective 2A will involve coordination and collaboration with the DOE School Climate Transformation Grant which ISBE is concurrently applying for. If awarded the DOE grant, ISBE will have the opportunity to integrate additional strategies that focus on providing follow-up coaching and support to LEAs that the IS-TAC team has provided training to in a range of EBPs related to child mental health through the MTSS model and also provide enhanced and expanded training and TA to Districts that have not necessarily been identified as in need of “priority” services through the statewide assessment process. Much of this work, through DOE Transformation Grant funding, will be accomplished in close collaboration with the Illinois Center for School Improvement (IL-CSI) based at the American Institute for Research. ISBE established Illinois-CSI to provide high-quality, coordinated, and consistent support to the Illinois statewide system of support (SSoS) through the provision of resources and services that ensure that districts and schools receive expert, timely, and relevant assistance to increase district capacity, improve student performance, and close achievement gaps. Objective 2B: Provide support, guidance, and training to LEAs to enable them to provide culturally and linguistically competent outreach and education and implement strategies to actively involve members of the target community in planning and implementation activities. IS-TAC staff will build upon the menu of trainings in various EBPs, ensuring that trainings and resources offered include those developed by Project CONNECT around family and youth involvement as well as those developed by the ACCESS Initiative (the local SOC in Champaign) around cultural competency and CLAS. Objective 2C: Provide intensive support and TA to LEAs to address the limited presence of BHPs that offer accessible community-based services for children and adolescents (by facilitating school-provider linkages like those already being developed in East Aurora, Decatur and Harrisburg and providing support and guidance and generating discussion regarding innovative reimbursement models for providers that incentivize their participation at the local

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level) and collaborate with local Juvenile Justice/Law Enforcement authorities (leveraging and replicating the groundbreaking work that is being accomplished in the Decatur LEA) to improve and streamline local communication channels so that school-aged children and their families can benefit from increased access to school-based universal prevention and early intervention services as well as the delivery of more intensive community-based mental health services. Objective 2D: Provide training and to increase the capacity of LEAs to leverage state and local funding. As active members of the SMT, Program Managers from each of the target LEAs will have ample opportunities to receive support, assistance, and guidance and to share knowledge and resources with their colleagues, other members of the SMT, and external trainers and consultants such as, Sheila Pires who worked closely with ISBE and our partners as part of the SOC planning grant to begin to develop collaborative funding strategies. Goal 3 (Component 2): Increase mental health literacy of school personnel and other adults at target LEAs and throughout the rest of the State: Objective 3A: Provide Youth and Adult Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA/MHFA) Training to school personnel and other youth-serving adults in each community (first at target LEAs, then expanding rapidly to the other school districts throughout the State) via an established model whereby a team of trainers in each LEA (the same three individuals who will comprise the team for ISBE’s Trauma Pilot described on page 8) will receive YMHFA/MHFA instructor training from the National Council on Behavioral Health. Each team of regionally-based YMHFA/MHFA instructors (trained within the first 3 months of the AWARE grant period) will then be responsible for training a minimum of 125 school-based “first aiders” as well as a sufficient number of additional youth-serving adults (e.g. health and human service workers and first responders) necessary to saturate the community. This number will be specific to each community and be determined by population size. Describe the proposed project activities, how they meet your infrastructure needs, and how they relate to your goals and objectives:

IL AWARE Objective 1A: Through the State Management Team (SMT) structure, develop and implement NITT-AWARE-SEA Coordination and Integration Plan to ensure ongoing, strategic, and highly collaborative review, development, and implementation of state-wide systems, policies, and protocols that support mental health and wellness for school children across the State Activity/Action Steps Convene State Management Team ([SMT] led by ISBE and coordinated/supported by Project Coordinator Develop and implement C-I Plan including objectives and activities related to: Early Identification; State-wide referral plan; and Data-collection System

Convene SMT workgroups Objective 1B: Identification and implementation of strategies to access existing funding mechanisms to further support the provision of mental health services for school-aged youth throughout the State.

Convene SMT workgroup, that includes CBHP representative(s) charged with targeting key existing funding mechanisms and developing detailed strategies, deliverables and time frames related to accessing these (including addressing regulatory and administrative barriers) for inclusion in the Plan Identify and secure training and technical assistance resources needed to ensure that the Project AWARE plan integrates strategies that access existing and emerging funding mechanisms (e.g. the legislation described in Section A) at the State level to support the provision of services and sustain programming over time Objective 1C: Link planning and implementation of IL-AWARE with efforts to coordinate planning across state and local education systems, mental health, juvenile justice, and other child serving systems to enhance state prevention

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infrastructure and avoid duplication of efforts Develop strategies as part of the Plan that address coordination of Project with existing efforts (e.g., the Governor-appointed Mental Health Task Force; the Human Services Commission’s Children’s Behavioral Health Work Group, the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership) throughout the State Objective 2A: Provide support, guidance, staffing, and other resources to School Districts (with particular focus on the high-need LEAs named in this application) to implement youth violence prevention strategies including conducting workshops on school safety issues for school staff and parents, instituting a district-wide, research-based violence prevention curriculum, and promoting good citizenship and character as part of a plan to improve overall school climate Identify an LEA Manager for each of the target LEAs to lead the project and be the liaison with the NITT-AWARE-SEA Project Coordinator and State Management Team. Leverage and expand upon school safety and violence prevention training and TA already being provided state-wide through ISBE’s School Safety and Emergency Response Division Coordinate these and other relevant activities closely with the work of the DOE School Climate Transformation Grant Expand upon ISBE’s Integrating Schools and Mental Health Systems federal and state-funded work and use as model for SEA/LE A collaboration, using ISTAC as vehicle for coordinating and overseeing training and TA for LEAs t Build out ISBE’s newly developed District Building Capacity Model (currently being piloted with a focus on trauma-informed practices) to provide training, TA, and follow-up supports to LEAs on child and adolescent mental health, school safety and youth violence prevention topics and evidence-based practices Objective 2B: Provide support, guidance, and training to LEAs to enable them to provide culturally and linguistically competent outreach and education to young people, families, and other community members; increase awareness of mental health issues among school-aged youth; and implement strategies to actively involve members of the target community (children, parents, and other stakeholders) in planning and implementation activities Providing training to LEAs through ISBE’s newly developed District Building Capacity Model that is informed by National CLAS standards and modeled after the cultural competency curriculum ISBE developed and provided to LEAs in conjunction with Project CONNECT (the Southern IL local SOC) Objective 2C: Provide intensive support and TA to LEAs and Illinois Division of Mental Health Services (DMH) and local Juvenile Justice/Law Enforcement authorities, and Redeploy Illinois to improve and streamline local communication channels so that school-aged children and their families can benefit from increased access to school-based universal prevention and early intervention services as well as the delivery of more intensive community-based mental health services, especially for criminal justice-involved and adjudicated youth. These activities will build upon the ongoing work of Redeploy Illinois in each of the LEAs Program Coordinators in each LEA work closely with Program Coordinator and SMT to develop and implement sustainable strategies and shared protocols with DMH, local juvenile justice authorities and Redeploy Illinois to improve coordination of care for high-risk children to ensure timely intervention and reduce risk of residential, out-of-community placement Objective 2D: Provide training, highly individualized TA, and guidance to increase the capacity of LEAs to leverage state and local funding to support school-based mental health services and to effectively sustain programming including mental health promotion, illness prevention, and treatment services after the federal funding period ends LEA Managers, as part of the SMT, and with support from the state-level Program Coordinator, receive knowledge, TA, training, and resources to develop and implement innovative funding strategies (in partnership with local child-serving agencies, healthcare, Medicaid Authority, and behavioral healthcare providers) that promote collaboration and long-term sustainability of programming Objective 3A: Provide Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Training to school personnel and other adults at target LEAs and other school districts throughout the State Program Manager, with support from SMT and in close partnership with CBHA develops YMHFA/MHFA training plan that is responsive to RFA Component 2 goals and objectives Under supervision of Program Manager and in close collaboration with LEA Managers (who will all also receive training), ISBE will ensure, through the District Capacity Building Team model in each of the ten regions of the State (beginning with the target LEAs) receive YMHFA/MHFA training from CBHAs National Council-trained instructors and are qualified to provide this training within their respective communities within first 3 months of grant In each of the LEAs, beginning in the target LEAs, a minimum of 125 ‘first aiders’ working in the school setting are trained as well as a sufficient number of other adults (e.g. health and human service workers, first responders, etc.) to saturate each community

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A chart depicting a realistic time line for the entire project period, showing key activities, milestones, and responsible staff:

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Activity/Person Responsible Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Objective 1A: Through the State Management Team (SMT) structure, develop and implement NITT-AWARE-SEA Coordination and Integration Plan Transition Program Coordinator ! Formally convene SMT and appoint Workgroups (Program Coordinator)

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Develop/Formalize C-I Plan (SMT, Workgroups) ! Regular SMT Meetings (Monthly during Year 1; Quarterly during Years 2-5) (SMT, Program Coordinator)

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Ongoing implementation/Evaluation of C-I Plan (SMT, Program Coordinator

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Objective 1B: Identification and implementation of strategies to access existing funding mechanisms at the local and State level to enhance and sustain IL-AWARE activities Formally convene SMT Workgroup focused on innovative, collaborative funding mechanisms (Program Coordinator)

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Strategy sessions with BHP partners for planning, progress reporting on this component of C-I Plan (Workgroup, BHP partners, Program Coordinator)

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Training/TA (External consultants; Workgroup, Program Coordinator)

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Objective 1C: Link planning and implementation of IL-AWARE with efforts to coordinate planning across state and local education systems, mental health, juvenile justice, and other child serving systems Participate in other workgroups/ committees engaged in planning around children’s MH and report activities to SMT members at quarterly meetings (Program Coordinator)

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Objective 2A: Provide support, guidance, staffing, and other resources to School Districts (with particular focus on the high-need LEAs named in this application) to implement youth violence prevention strategies (e.g. school safety workshops for school personnel, other community members who serve children in the LEA, district-wide evidence-based violence prevention curriculum) Violence prevention/school safety component of CI-Plan formalized (SMT, ISBE, Program Coordinator)

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Training to LEAs to scale up EBPs at District Level through MTSS Framework with focus on violence prevention/school safety (IS-TAC regional staff; 3-member training teams; Program Coordinator)

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Objective 2B: Provide support, guidance, and training to LEAs to enable them to provide culturally and linguistically competent outreach and education to young people, families, and other community members; develop, implement and support strategies to actively involve youth, families and community members in planning and implementation activities CLAS integrated as key overarching component of C-I plan (Program Coordinator, SMT)

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CLAS training provided to LEAs (Program Coordinator, LEA managers, Regional Teams)

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Formalize/Implement a plan for family/youth ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

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engagement leveraging currently available state resources (Program Coordinator) Objective 2C: Provide intensive support and TA to LEAs and Illinois DMH, and local Juvenile Justice/Law Enforcement authorities and Redeploy IL to improve and streamline local communication channels to increase access to universal prevention, early intervention and more intensive community-based services (especially for high-risk criminal justice-involved and adjudicated youth) Formalize linkage agreements between LEAs, DMH, JJ authorities (Program Coordinator)

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Develop/Implement a communication plan for IL-AWARE, including quarterly stakeholder updates on project planning/implementation processes (Program Coordinator)

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Objective 2D: Provide training, highly individualized TA, and guidance to increase the capacity of LEAs to leverage state and local funding to support school-based mental health services and to effectively sustain programming including mental health promotion, illness prevention, and treatment services after the federal funding period ends LEA Managers receive training, TA, guidance (SMT, External Consultants)

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Implementation of local strategies re: collaborative funding mechanisms (LEA Managers)

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Objective 3A: Provide Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) Training to school personnel and other adults at target LEAs and other school districts throughout the State YMHFA/MHFA Training Plan Developed/Formalized (Project Director, Program Coordinator)

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Program Coordinator/LEA Managers trained in YMHFA/MHFA (CBHA)

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Child serving adults and other community members trained in each LEA (125 per area) (CBHA)

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Data Collection and Performance Measurement, Reporting, and Grants Management Activities Train Project Staff in GPRA administration and evaluation protocols (Evaluator)

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Implementation of Data Collection and Input process (Program Coordinator, LEA Managers, Evaluator)

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Requisite Reports to SAMHSA and other relevant stakeholders of process and outcome measures—quarterly fiscal reports; annual reports (Program Coordinator, Evaluator)

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Attend SAMHSA Grantee Meetings in Years 1, 3, and 5 (Project Director, Program Coordinator, Evaluator)

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Identification of all other organization(s) that will participate in the proposed project, their roles and responsibilities and demonstration of their commitment to the project:

Established by ISBE in 1998, IS-TAC is a state sponsored and federally funded entity whose purpose is to coordinate a regionalized system of technical assistance and training to build the capacity of schools to promote social and academic success of all students, including those with significant challenges and disabilities. IS-TAC promotes a prevention-based systems’-change approach, which includes data-based decision-making and research-based instructional practices. IS-TAC supports LEAs in implementing school-wide reform efforts that effectuate improved teaching and learning outcomes for all Illinois students and educators; promoting

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consistent and sustainable use of effective practices for students with special needs, including emotional and/or behavioral disabilities, autism, and other significant disabilities.

ISBE, an eligible State Education Agency (SEA), is an ideal and strategic home for the proposed project and has the capacity, given its long history of collaboration with LEAs throughout the State and the other partners named in this proposal, to effectively convene key stakeholders, influence policy at the State level, and successfully lead the IL-AWARE. ISBE will convene and lead the following key partners (Letters of Commitment from IDHS/DMH, IDJJ, LEAs and other partners can be found in Attachment 1), using the SMT structure as its primary vehicle: Illinois Department of Human Services/Division of Mental Health (IDHS/DMH) DMH’s mission is to help maximize community supports and develop skills for persons with serious mental illnesses and children with serious emotional disturbances. DMH will involve its five Regional Family Consumer Specialists, who have been active members of the Stakeholders Groups and Facilitation Teams. Additional DMH staff including the Screening, Assessment and Support Services (SASS) Coordinator, Mental Health and Schools Coordinator, Social Worker, and others will assist in implementation grant activities, in-kind, as appropriate. Illinois Dept. of Children and Family Services (IDCFS). DCFS is charged with protecting the children of Illinois. The DCFS mission is to protect children who are reported to be abused or neglected and to increase their families' capacity to safely care for them, to provide for the well-being of children in their care, to provide appropriate, permanent families as quickly as possible for those children who cannot safely return home, to support early intervention and child abuse prevention activities, and to work in partnership with communities to fulfill this mission. Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH). IDPH assists in assessment of the health needs of underserved communities, recommends services relevant to the unique linguistic, cultural, and ethnic characteristics of communities, and promotes and funds CLC services. IDPH has made a strong commitment to eliminate disparities in health, including mental health, through provision of culturally-appropriate services for diverse populations throughout the state. Illinois Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS). DHFS (the Illinois State Medicaid Authority) is responsible for providing healthcare coverage for adults and children who qualify for Medicaid or other subsidized health insurance programs, and for providing Child Support Services. Illinois Dept. of Juvenile Justice (IDJJ). The mission of DJJ is to preserve public safety by reducing recidivism. Youth committed to the DJJ's care receive individualized services to assist them in developing the skills necessary to become productive citizens. East Aurora, Decatur, and Harrisburg LEAs: Letters of Commitment from all three LEAs are included in this application in which they affirm their commitment to the proposed project and demonstrate their readiness, investment, and willingness to collaborate to address the safety and well-being needs of youth. Community Behavioral Healthcare Association (CBHA): A professional trade association representing community behavioral healthcare agencies in the State of Illinois. CBHA advocates on behalf of the community behavioral healthcare industry and provides information to members, legislators, consumers, family members, and other stakeholders and has member organizations with providers who are trained in YMHFA/MHFA; CBHA will have provider members who sit on the SMT. Association for Individual Development (AID): A BHP that provides services in Kane and Kendal Counties (East Aurora LEA) which has traditionally had an adult mental health focus but

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is very receptive to further expanding and enhancing its youth-focused services) through the proposed project. This partnership could involve co-location of providers at one or more of the school-based health centers (SBHCs) in the LEA. Some providers are trained in YMHFA/MHFA. A provider from AID will sit on the SMT. Egyptian Health Department: Oversees the local SOC based in Eldorado, IL (Project CONNECT) which serves children and families from rural White, Gallatin, and Saline (Harrisburg LEA) counties. A management-level staff person will sit on the SMT and Egyptian will work with Program Coordinator and SMT to replicate and scale up TA, training, and infrastructure development around connecting youth and families to project planning and implementation; leveraging the successes they’ve had as part of their local SOC. Heritage Behavioral Health Center: A BHP that provides mental health and substance abuse services to youth and their families who live in Macon County (Decatur LEA), providing services to 1040 children and adolescents in FY 2013. Heritage provides prevention, early intervention, and mental health treatment through a mental health school collaboration at South Shores Elementary School that could be leveraged and replicated for Project AWARE, participates actively in the Statewide SOC (providing counseling to DCFS-involved youth to maintain them in the community whenever possible; Heritage will be represented on the SMT and will work closely with other partners to develop and implement strategies for creating innovative and sustainable linkages between BHPs, schools, and other child-serving partners. Heritage also has providers who have been trained in YMHFA/MHFA. Christina Hendrix, Parent Representative: Ms. Hendrix is a parent as well as a representative and advocate for other parents and caregivers of children with mental health conditions. In her capacity as a statewide Family and Community Engagement Coordinator with the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership, she collaborates with parents, caregivers, first responders, mental health providers and state systems. Ms. Hendrix has partnered previously with ISBE as a parent representative on the statewide local area network committee, SOC planning grant collaborative, PBIS and various state initiatives. She will serve as a parent representative on the Statewide Management Team (SMT). The process and criteria you used to select MHFA/YMHFA to train school personnel and other adults serving school-aged youth:

Illinois was the first State to pass legislation regarding MHFA (the Mental Health First Aid Training Act) in advance of the President’s Now is the Time (NITT) Plan which was unveiled in January 2013. In preparation for NITT, and with the goal of beginning to build MHFA capacity within the State, several of our BHP partners (Community Counseling Centers of Chicago [C4] and North Central Behavioral Health (both CBHA members), Linden Oaks Medical Group, Aunt Martha’s, and AID) all had providers who received YMHFA and/or MHFA training; an asset that IL AWARE will leverage as we implement our MHFA training plan and make decisions about how many new individuals need to be trained as instructors throughout the State in the first 60 days of the funding period in order to ensure that a minimum of 125 school-based “first aiders” are trained in each LEA in Year 1 and each of the subsequent remaining four years of the grant period. The main infrastructure component through which ISBE will ensure that the Project meets its YMHFA/MHFA training and community saturation goals are the regional district capacity building teams (3 team members per team (1 IS-TAC regionally-based staff; 1 local Special Education Cooperative staff; and one BHP); with one team in each of the ten designated areas of the State:). Project AWARE will identify and engage those providers throughout the State who have already received YMHFA/MHFA training from the

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National Council on Behavioral Health and will supplement their capacity with additional training for the Program Coordinator, the MHFA Coordinator, and the remaining regionally-based team members to ensure that at least 32 individuals are trained as instructors, certified, and prepared to begin training school personnel and other child-serving adults in each community as soon as possible. There will be at least one individual on each regionally-based team that has training in both YMHFA and MHFA in order to ensure that the project can meet potential demand from communities that have a high number of students over the age of 18. The National Council training was chosen by IL AWARE because the group is familiar to our team and to the BHP partners we work with; those who have already gone through the training received their certification from the National Council and we are interested in maintaining consistency in training methods, materials, etc. as we move forward and expand. The readiness and willingness of the three LEAs to work collaboratively with the SEA and other required state partners in the development and implementation of a coordination and integration plan:

The three selected LEAs named in this proposal (Harrisburg CUSD 3, Decatur SD61, East Aurora E USD 131) are each strongly committed to working closely with ISBE to develop and implement a tailored Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) plan for their District. Each of the LEAs has affirmed that it has the necessary internal capacity, upon notification of award, to identify and appoint an LEA Manager (with substantial experience managing projects between local service systems and expertise in the field of education, mental health, substance abuse, or juvenile justice) to lead the project at the District level and be the liaison with the NITT-AWARE-SEA Project Coordinator and SMT. The LEA Manager will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination and oversight of all activities, as outlined in Section B, that take place at the local level as well as close, ongoing coordination with the Project Coordinator and MHFA Coordinator and participation in the SMT and planning and implementation of the CI-Plan Plan. In addition, each participating LEA has also affirmed commitment and operational capacity to collect and report all data required by the SEA evaluation and local data that is important for ongoing quality improvement and sustainability and to fully participate with the SEA in the national multi-site evaluation (MSE), including but not limited to: ongoing training for all relevant LEA staff on the MSE protocols, data collection, management and reporting procedures, and common data collection tools and measures; collect and report data; enter data into the MSE web based portal; and participate in periodic telephone interviews and/or site-visits by the MSE team. How you will work with the three LEAs to improve collaboration across all child, youth, and family serving organizations, improve access to school- and community-based mental, emotional, and behavioral health services: The NITT-AWARE-SEA Program Coordinator who will, under the direct co-supervision of ISBE’s Assistant Superintendent for the Center for Specialized Instruction, Nutrition and Wellness and ISBE’s Division Administrator for Special Education, lead, manage, and oversee all aspects of IL-AWARE, will be charged with coordinating closely with the appointed LEA Managers (as well as other relevant members of the school administration and community) to develop and implement a plan for improving access (across all local child, youth, and family serving organizations) to school- and community-based mental, emotional, and behavioral health services. Key activities and communication mechanisms between the SEA and the LEAs to ensure deliverables are met and progress is maintained include: • Periodic site visits, conference calls, and ‘Go-To’ meetings;

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• Development and implementation of LEA Learning Collaborative (featuring on-line or in person meetings based upon availability and local needs); • Regular training and professional development opportunities (e.g., on data collection, developing partnership agreements, MTSS, etc.); • Networking opportunities (‘Check N’ Connects’ with Program Manager and other LEA Manages to identify common issues/solutions, share knowledge and local approaches with the goal of continuously refining and articulating the C-I Plan; • Targeted technical assistance that will be tailored to meet the individual needs of participating LEAs and their local BHPs. This assistance will include staff consultation at site visits and by phone and email; linking LEA Partners with topical experts; and • A high-level Calendar of Meetings and posts on a Statewide Training Calendar. How you will ensure the involvement of school-aged youth and families in assessing, planning and implementing NITT-AWARE-SEA:

As noted in previous sections, there will be a high degree of involvement by school-aged youth and families in assessing, planning, and implementing the IL AWARE project including activities that build upon and expand the pioneering accomplishments of Project CONNECT in programming that targets involvement by peers and family members to educate about and respond to the mental health needs of children and adolescents. In addition, IL AWARE will leverage the following resources and existing systems and structures to ensure a high degree of involvement by consumers and family members: ISBE’s Family Engagement Framework Guide: A tool for ISBE, school districts, and schools to use in developing and expanding school-family partnerships to support improved student learning and healthy development outcomes; The Parent & Educator Partnership (PEP) is a focus area of IS-TAC. PEP services include: providing a Call-in Center for parents of students with disabilities to assist with understanding their role and rights described in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); web-based resources; developing and supporting Parent Leadership in collaboration with the local school district; The Family Advocacy, Communication and Education (FACE) Committee: one of the standing committees of Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership, is a multi-system collaboration of state organizations and family/parent initiatives, that come together to impact the wellbeing of families and children across all child serving systems, including early childhood, school age and the juvenile justice system; and DMH Family Consumer Specialists. The Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) locates one Family Consumer Specialist (FCS) in each of their five regions of the state. FCS staff serve as highly visible and accessible parent representatives, focused on leading collaborative efforts to change the system toward family driven care. IL AWARE will have an FCS (Christina Hendrix, Letter of Commitment included in Attachment X) as an active member of the SMT. Describe the process to be used in developing a coordination and integration plan as specified in Section 2.3.1. Describe how you will work with the three LEAs in implementing the plan:

As described throughout this section of the proposal, the primary work and function of the SMT will be to develop, formalize and implement a Coordination and Integration Plan (C-I Plan). The Plan, as described, will provide a blueprint for carrying out the objectives of IL AWARE with the overarching goal of: increasing awareness of mental health issues among school-aged youth; providing training for school personnel and other adults who interact with school-aged youth to detect and respond to mental health issues in children and young adults,

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and connecting children, youth and families who may have behavioral health issues with appropriate services. The SMT will meet monthly for the first two quarters of the grant period and quarterly thereafter and will consist of a number of different workgroups including groups focused on innovative/collaborative funding mechanisms, cross systems data collection and monitoring, and YMHFA/MHFA among others) and will be expected to have developed and formally approved the C-I Plan and be ready for implementation by the end of the second quarter. The LEA Managers will be recruited and hired by the participating LEAs as soon as possible following notification of award and will be active participants in the SMT, take part in the development of the C-I Plan and work closely with the Program Coordinator and MHFA Manager at the State level on an ongoing basis to ensure that all activities and coalition building they engage in at the local level are in clear alignment with the C-I Plan and associated deliverables. How you will collaborate and coordinate grant activities and funding with the Department of Education’s SEA School Climate Transformation Grants:

ISBE, in conjunction with this application, and as required by the NIT-AWARE-SEA RFA, is also submitting a proposal to the DOE’s School Climate Transformation Grant program; competitive grants that will be awarded to SEAs to develop, enhance, or expand statewide systems of support for, and technical assistance to, local educational agencies and schools implementing an evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral framework for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for all students. Both funded projects will be housed within IS-TAC at ISBE and project staff who is responsible for coordinating activities at the State level for both projects will report to Michele Carmichael, Project Director for IL AWARE. If awarded the DOE grant, ISBE will have the opportunity to integrate additional strategies (using ongoing IS-TAC MTSS training and TA work as the jumping off point) that focus on providing follow-up coaching and support to LEAs that the IS-TAC team has provided training to in a range of EBPs related to child mental health through the MTSS model and also provide enhanced and expanded training and TA to Districts that have not necessarily been identified as in need of “priority services” through the statewide school performance assessment process. How you will ensure youth violence prevention strategies are included in implementing the NITT-AWARE-SEA:

IL AWARE will provide support and guidance to LEAs, by leveraging the ongoing work of IS-TAC, using the core MTSS framework (which targets improvement of school Climate and Culture inclusive of safety practices) to implement youth violence prevention strategies including training and TA for LEA Managers and other school personnel to conduct workshops on school safety issues for school staff and parents, and institute a district-wide, research-based violence prevention curriculum which promotes good citizenship and character as part of a plan to improve overall school climate. How your proposed project will build on, enhance, and not duplicate, current and/or planned activities under similar programs, such as existing or past funding to improve or coordinate the infrastructure of child and youth serving systems, the behavioral health system or increase collaboration between mental health, education and juvenile justice:

The ISBE IL AWARE Program Coordinator and ISBE MHFA/YMHFA Training Coordinator will attend all state level inter-Agency meetings currently scheduled and will work together to ensure that updates on the work and accomplishments of IL AWARE are included in these meeting agendas. In addition, the Program Coordinator will work closely with the Government Relations Division to monitor and identify all legislative activities throughout the

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State (in-process and new emerging legislation) that is relevant to child and adolescent mental health and related issues and topic areas. The MHFA/YMHFA training plan and how it will increase the mental health literacy of school personnel and other adults who come into contact with school-aged youth; and, how it will ensure that the minimum number of Instructors and “First Aiders” are trained: The selection of MHFA/YMHFA, depending on the developmental appropriateness of the target population: As described on page 16, there will be at least one individual on each regionally-based 3 member IS-TAC district capacity building team that has training in both YMHFA and MHFA in order to ensure that the project can meet potential demand from communities and venues that have a high number of students over the age of 18. 1.0 FTE Program Coordinator to lead, manage, and oversee all aspects of NITT-AWARE-SEA: As noted throughout this proposal the 1.0 FTE Program Coordinator will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of Project AWARE. The Coordinator will also supervise a .50FTE MHFA Manager who will provide administrative and coordination support for all activities related to Component 2 of the project. Both the Program Coordinator and the MHFA Manager will be trained as certified as an MHFA Instructors by the National Council for Behavioral Health within 60 days of award notice. Total number of individuals to be trained as MHFA/YMHFA instructors: There are currently no individuals at ISBE who are trained as MHFA/YMHFA Instructors. During the first 60 days of the grant period, 6 ISBE/ISTAC staff will receive training. In addition, 3 Staff members from each of the 3 LEAs identified in this proposal will also receive training. In the event of staff turnover during the course of the grant period, the Program Coordinator and MHFA Manager will ensure that additional instructors receive training and are certified in order to maintain the required number of State-level MHFA/YMHFA Instructors throughout the project period. Total number of people to be trained by the MHFA/YMHFA instructors: A minimum of 125 school-based “First Aiders” within each LEA and respective community will receive training in MHFA/YMHFA each year of the project period as well as a sufficient number of other child-serving adults in each community (e.g., police, firefighters, emergency services staff, parents, caregivers, and other youth-serving adults) to ensure that the population is saturated; this exact number will be determined at the outset of the project for each LEA. Any current implementation of MHFA/ YMHFA training in the three communities, clearly identifying how AWARE-LEA will enhance or support any existing training activities: As noted previously, there is already significant MHFA training capacity throughout the state as a number of BHPs (including many of our partners) have been trained in as MHFA Instructors (162 currently identified by the National Council) and are beginning to develop collaboration agreements with one another to develop and expand a consortium of MHFA trainers in the past three years. As of October 2013, the consortium boasts 49 members from 33 different organizations with a single goal of reducing stigma for mental illness while providing awareness. Obtaining the necessary materials for the trainers and trainees. This includes manuals, referral guides, reference resources, and other materials that may be necessary to successfully conduct trainings:

The budget for IL AWARE will include allocations for materials associated with meeting YMHFA/MHFA training goals in each of the LEAs Providing funding for any necessary supports (e.g., substitute teachers for LEA, school personnel, training facilities) as needed:

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IL AWARE plans to leverage designated Children Mental Health Monies from the IL State line Budget to support all LEA activities not covered under this award including other necessary supports to ensure that YMHFA/MHFA goals are met in each of the LEAs and that the training is available and accessible to all school personnel and community members who are interested Section C: Staff, Management, and Relevant Experience (25 points) Discuss the capability and experience of the applicant organization and other participating organizations with similar projects and populations, including experience in providing culturally appropriate/competent services. Describe the applicant organization’s experience engaging LEAs and community organizations in work related to NITT-AWARE-SEA:

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the applicant organization, provides leadership, assistance, resources and advocacy so that every student is prepared to succeed in careers and postsecondary education, and share accountability for doing so with districts and schools. IL AWARE will be housed within ISBE’s Special Education Services Division which partners with school districts to provide programs and services for students with specialized educational needs which involves both compliance and technical assistance functions. Compliance functions include monitoring least restrictive environment compliance, administering due process system, providing mediation services, conducting compliant investigations, approving policies and procedures, conducting focused and comprehensive reviews and approving nonpublic special education facilities. Technical assistance functions involve providing information and guidance on promising practices in educating students with disabilities, including the operation of numerous statewide training and technical assistance initiatives, administering the comprehensive system of personnel development for special education and management of grant programs to schools for special education service delivery.

As noted previously in this application, ISBE and the partners named in this proposal share a long history of 1) effectively building and sustaining culturally competent and appropriate cross-disciplinary systems, policies, and partnerships that support a decrease in youth violence and promote the healthy development of children and youth throughout the State; and 2) providing training, monetary and other resources to local education agencies (LEAs) to further expand and enhance their ability to respond quickly to the behavioral health needs of their student body and connect students and their families with community behavioral health providers. Highlights of our most recent work in this context include: US DOE Grant to Integrate Schools and Mental Health Systems (2006-2008) This program provided funding to ISBE to support planning related to grants that ISBE would award to LEAs throughout the State (under the School Mental Health Supports described immediately below) to increase student access to high-quality mental health care by developing innovative approaches that would link the school system with the local mental health system School Mental Health Support Grants 2007-2012 ISBE was able to operationalize the planning process described above when it received assistance from the State in 2007 to creating a comprehensive system of support to provide opportunities through School Mental Health Support Grants for schools to: • Enhance their capacity to identify and meet the early intervention mental health needs of students in natural settings and in coordination with existing mental health support programs and structures; • Develop a coordinated, collaborative student mental health support system in coordination with community mental health and other child-serving agencies and systems; and

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• Reduce the stigma associated with mental health and mental illness within the school community.

The15 school districts selected for funding provided prevention and early intervention mental health services to approximately 85 schools and 48,630 students. The grantees were required to develop local interagency linkage agreements with mental health organizations and other child-serving agencies, as appropriate, in their communities–a federal and state grant performance measure. In 2012, however, ISBE made the strategic decision to end the District-specific MH grants (data indicated that, although short-term improvements were accomplished as a result of funding that these improvements were not sustainable over time. Instead, the State budget line resources were allocated to fund ‘integration of social, emotional, behavioral health programming through the Statewide System of Support (SSOC) through the Comprehensive System of Learning Supports Initiative SAMHSA System of Care (SOC) Expansion Planning Grant 2011-2013 In 2011, the Illinois Department of Human Services - Division of Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Unit (DHS-DMH,C&A) utilized an opportunity set forth by SAMHSA to bring together the leadership, administrators, stakeholders, and families invested in improving the mental health system for children in the State. DHS-DMH led the coalition (in which ISBE played on active, primary role) through an assessment and application process, successfully bidding on a SAMHSA System of Care (SOC) Expansion Planning Grant that was awarded in September 2011. The project, entitled Illinois United for Youth (IUY) provided the resources needed to allow the stakeholder group to participate in numerous trainings and meetings to facilitate the final stages of a strategic plan, form consensus around a unity of purpose, and to plan and strategize the implementation of Systems of Care in Illinois which included: 1) the establishment of an SOC expansion planning team; 2) a self-assessment of readiness to implement SOC; 3) a blueprint/logic model for transformation; and 4) a core set of SOC expansion approaches. In addition, IUY sought to identify strategies to better invest public sector resources to improve behavioral health outcomes and to implement parity legislation and across other child serving system such as child welfare, education, juvenile justice, substance abuse and primary care. The SOC Expansion Planning Team has continued to meet regularly on a range of critical issues related to children’s behavioral health and the group applied for an SOC Implementation Grant from SAMHSA this year for which we are awaiting notification. Provide a complete list of all staff positions for the project including the SEA Project Coordinator and the LEA Project Managers. Describe the roles and responsibility of each, their level of effort, and qualifications: Title % FTE Organization Credentials and Responsibilities Supervisor

IL-AWARE Administrator, Elizabeth Hanselman,

5% in kind ISBE

Elizabeth Hanselman, ISBE Assistant Superintendent for the Center for Specialized Instruction, Nutrition and Wellness, will provide general oversight for the IL-AWARE award. Ms. Hanselman directs the ISBE Springfield and Chicago offices of the Special Education Services Division and the Springfield offices of the Nutrition and Wellness Division. She is responsible for the coordination of policies and procedures pertaining to special education, nutrition and wellness issues and services.

Deputy Superintendent/Chief Education Officer

IL- AWARE Director, David Andel

5% in kind ISBE

Mr. David Andel, ISBE Division Administrator, Special Education Division overseeing offices in Springfield and Chicago, will provide Director-

Project Administrator, Ms.

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level leadership to the award management. Mr. Andel will be responsible for operations oversight of IL-AWARE including maintaining administrative direction and control over grant funds.

Hanselman

IL-AWARE Program Coordinator: Michele Carmichael

100% in kind ISBE

Ms. Michele Carmichael, ISBE Principal Consultant for Behavioral Health Supports in Schools, will transition into the role of IL-AWARE Program Coordinator under the close supervision and guidance of the Project Director. Ms. Carmichael will be responsible for the day-to-day coordination and management of IL AWARE including grants management, ensuring that project activities are conducted in accordance with the budget, timelines and federal grant requirements and maintaining records on project operation and the extent to which the goals and objectives are being met; overseeing policy and procedures related to YMHFA/MHFA Training; monitoring progress using identified performance measures included in the evaluation plan; and making ongoing project information findings and products available to ensure the dissemination of knowledge gained.

Project Director: Mr. Andel

MHFA Training Coordinator 50% ISBE

The State level MHFA Training Coordinator will be responsible for helping to coordinate various aspects of Component 2 including the training calendar, reserving training locations, checking on availability of instructors and scheduling them for sessions and other related duties as assigned

Program Coordinator

Administrative support/data collection staff

25% ISBE

This person will have a high-school diploma (associate’s or bachelor’s preferred) and 1-2 years of performing similar administrative support functions (data collection/entry experience preferred

Program Coordinator

Discuss how key staff have demonstrated experience and are qualified to develop the infrastructure for the population(s) to receive services, are familiar with their culture(s) and language(s), and can effectively lead and manage the project:

Ms. Hanselman, ISBE Assistant Superintendent for the Center for Specialized Instruction, Nutrition and Wellness holds a Bachelor of Science in Special Education; certification as a special education teacher; and a Master of Arts degree in Legal Studies , with an emphasis in Administrative Law. She has 24 years of experience in the education field, including local and state experience and education in policy and administration. In addition to her oversight roles, she is a valuable resource as a liaison to local, regional and national special education associations and agencies. Ms. Hanselman is a strong supporter of developing systems designed to sustain behavioral health programming through collaborative partnerships between schools and community providers. This is evidenced through her committed participation on multiple statewide Inter-Agency meetings related to developing a System of Care for children and adolescents in Illinois.

Mr Andel, ISBE Division Administrator, Special Education, holds an Educational Specialist degree in Education Administration, a Master of Science degree in Educational Administration, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education. He has 32 years of educational experience

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including local experience as Principal and Assistant Superintendent. In addition to his oversight roles, Mr. Andel is a valuable resource for supporting the administration of grant funding and as a communication liaison to multiple Illinois stakeholder advisory committees. Mr. Andel, also, is a strong supporter of developing systems designed to sustain behavioral health programming and identifying the paths across and between various initiatives to support interconnectedness.

Ms. Michele Carmichael, ISBE Principal Consultant for Behavioral Health Supports in Schools, will transition into the role of IL-AWARE Director, devoting 100% of her time to the award management. As with Ms. Hanselman, Ms. Carmichael’s efforts will be provided as in-kind support. Ms. Carmichael will be responsible for day-to-day operation of IL-AWARE and ensuring that project activities are conducted in accordance with the budget, timelines and federal grant requirements, including maintaining administrative direction and control over grant funds and maintaining records on project operation and the extent to which the goals and objectives are being met; overseeing policy and procedures related to YMHFA/MHFA Training; monitoring progress using identified performance measures included in the evaluation plan; and making ongoing project information findings and products available to ensure the dissemination of knowledge gained. The IL-AWARE Director will serve as liaison to the LEAs and other IL-AWARE partners and will work closely with the evaluator(s) to ensure that data are collected in accordance with the evaluation plan. Currently, Ms. Carmichael coordinates the Illinois Statewide Technical Assistance Collaborative (ISTAC) which is the conduit service entity providing the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) training and technical assistance to Illinois LEAs. She has 25 years of educational experience, with the last 16 years focused on adult professional development around social, emotional, and behavioral system development. She has management and staff experience in preparation and administration of Federal grants, program development and technical assistance, multi-system collaborations, along with development and implementation of professional development curriculum. She holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Elementary Education, with an Area of Concentration in Specialized Instruction and a Masters of Arts degree in teaching and leadership. Describe the State Management Team and its ability to coordinate and support Components 1 and 2:

The State Management Team (SMT) for IL AWARE, as described, is a diverse group of representatives from all of the key child-serving public agencies in the State of Illinois as well as significant representation from other child-serving organizations and advocacy groups, the three LEAs who are named in this proposal, and a number of community based behavioral healthcare providers as well. The representatives from the public agencies are high-level administrators and are either vested themselves with the power to make decisions on behalf of their agency or have strong relationships with those individuals who do. In addition, the enthusiastic participation by community behavioral healthcare providers is a major asset as this will lead to genuinely collaborative strategizing that will, in turn, be integrated into the C-I Plan. These are all organizations and individuals who have all been at the same table together for years and have shared many successes; the challenges that come with emerging and new initiatives around the climate of the collaborative setting (e.g., shared power in decision-making, effective conflict resolution, quality leadership are not significant issues with the proposed SMT. In fact, this is an opportunity for re: collective impact to occur, building off of a centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, and a structured process that leads to a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing activities among all participants. Section D: Data Collection and Performance Measurement (20 points)

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Document your ability to collect and report on the required performance measures as specified in Section I-2.4.1 and 2.4.2. of this RFA:

ISBE will contract with two behavioral health evaluation firms for the purposes of the proposed project: SAE Behavioral Health Evaluation Services (SAE-BHES), an independent evaluation entity, will oversee all data collection and reporting activities associated with the key performance data that enables SAMHSA to report on National Outcome Measures (NOMS) through the Transformation Accountability System (TRAC). AS,LLC, a firm that has been providing high-quality evaluation services for ISBE’s ISTAC Initiative for 17 years, will oversee evaluation activities, data collection, and reporting associated with process-level assessment of IL-AWARE. The faculty of SAE-BHES has significant experience in the planning, development, and implementation of previous SAMHSA grants. Dr. Frank Guida, SAE-BHES’s senior independent consultant, has over 30 years of experience as an evaluator of federal programs, including grants funded by SAMHSA, DOJ-BJA, Department of Education, Department of Labor, National Science Foundation and NIDA. SAE BHES and Dr. Guida have extensive experience in assisting grantees to meet project -specific evaluation outcomes. SAE BHES brings to the project extensive knowledge about the process and activities necessary to achieve federal evaluation requirements, resulting in 100% of its federal grantee clients achieving their targeted numbers, reporting accurately and on time, and responding to any evaluation issues that arise during the grant period. Under Dr. Guida’s guidance, SAE BHES will provide a state-of-the-art outcome evaluation design that utilizes statistical analyses and multiple outcome reports throughout the life of the project.

SAE-BHES uses a systematic process for ensuring accurate collection, recording, and reporting of program data.

• Staff Training. At the project initiation, SAE-BHES will train State-level IL-AWARE program staff in the evaluation and quality improvement process, data entry, and reporting obligations under this grant and, for the target LEA staff, GPRA requirements and protocols. Staff will also be trained in the maintenance of contact databases for all attendees at meetings, conference presentations, and training/technical assistance events. • Data Collection & Transmission to Evaluator. IL-AWARE program staff at both the State and local levels will be responsible for collecting data at all project meetings, events, and trainings as well as aggregate information about young people referred for mental health services in each LEA in order to inform the project evaluation and report on the three SEA Performance Measures and three LEA Performance Measures as outlined in Section 2.5.1 of this proposal. Project staff will be responsible for scanning all data gathering forms and submitting them to SAE-BHES within one week of the conclusion of each meeting, training, etc. SAE-BHS will ensure a high degree of quality control by communicating regularly with interviewers in order to reconcile any potentially incorrect data prior to input in TRAC. In addition, the Team will maintain a running record of all relevant student statistics and provide a real-time statistical analysis on scheduled monthly calls with ISBE. • Data Entry. SAE-BHES will be responsible for data entry, and as specified in section 2.5.1, will collect and report quarterly (for SEA Performance Measures) and annually (for LEA Performance Measures via the TRAC system (which will migrate to the Common Data Platform (CDP) during the life of the grant) the six required

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performance measures using the multiple data sources paired with the measures as detailed in Figure X below • Reporting. SAE-BHES in collaboration with AS, LLC will develop and provide quarterly and annual reports analyzing both outcomes and process findings. These reports will be shared with SAMHSA, as well as with program staff, members of the SMT, and LEA communities in order to review progress toward program targets and develop early insight into patterns in under- or over-achievement of program goals, as well as real-time means for addressing them. The faculty and staff of AS, LLC are well poised to assist ISBE and Project AWARE

with program evaluation methodology with 28 years of evaluation methodology design, implementation and analysis to include evaluation of federal level grants with OSPE, DOE, HHS and SAMSHA and more with 17 years of evaluation and technology implementation experience with ISBE discretionary grant funded initiatives such as IL-PBIS and ISTAC. Evaluation efforts have included using a results-based accountability methodology to assist ISBE and select LEAs in using State Performance Plan level and performance indicator level data to drive school improvement, academic, behavioral and school climate outcomes change.

AS, LLC also has over 15 years of experience in the development and implementation of state of the art information technology systems targeting the advancement of behavioral and educational outcomes. This grant will feature the use of four such technological advancements to include TA Provider effort and outcomes tracking technology, LEA scorecard tracking technology, and NIH STTR funded Behavioral HIT technology and mobile application LEA based decision making technology.

These technology mechanisms will allow for timely collection of proximal and distal grant data as outlined in Figure 1 for use by LEAs via dashboard and mobile application technology to drive clinical, programmatic and administrative change. Data collection schedules will be defined in conjunction with grant stakeholders at the onset of the grant. Data large scale educational indicator data will be generated annually, with performance measurement data being collection at a minimum of three times per school calendar year, with student level data collected at a minimum every 90 days.

AS, LLC in conjunction with ISTAC will create data collection applications for release to the relevant TA providers, LEAs and behavioral health service providers at the start of the grant period. Grant data measurement schedules will also be linked to embedded reminders within a grant designated stakeholder calendar that will automatically send reminders to relevant grant stakeholders via email on a periodic schedule until the requisite data have been entered. AS, LLC will complete data harvesting, cleaning and analysis using AS, LLC qualified staff, all of whom have a combined LEA-specific applied data analysis and user presentation experience of 40 years. No less frequently than every 90 days, AS, LLC will publish de-identified grant data analysis using report and query building business objects functionality within online technology application for immediate use by ISBE, ISTAC TA providers, targeted LEAs and associated behavioral health partners. Describe the plan for evaluating the coordination and integration plan; ensuring fidelity in the implementation of evidence-based programs: SMT and C-I Plan Evaluation:

To assess the process that is used to develop the C-I Plan as well as its effectiveness in guiding, informing, and achieving the goals and objectives set forth in Section B of this proposal, SMT participants (including public agency representatives, LEA Managers, community

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behavioral healthcare providers, and other identified stakeholders) will be asked to self-assess, every 90-120 days (although, LEA-specific scorecard technology allows LEAs to self-assess more frequently should the need arise and/or as time permits) on a variety of dimensions that are consistently related to the ability of the SMT structure and the C-I Plan (as it is developed and after it is finalized and enters the implementation phase) to facilitate sustainable change processes. Such dimensions will include, the climate of the collaborative setting (e.g., shared power in decision-making, effective conflict resolution, quality leadership), the breadth of setting membership (i.e., the degree to which a rank of key stakeholders is represented), and broader community support for the change effort, and the degree to which active participants believe the CI-PLAN is reflective of the project goals and objectives as well as their perception of the degree to which key strategies included in the plan: 1) truly address the system needs and gaps that have been identified and 2) their capacity (which will be further informed by other pieces of data) to affect sustainable positive change in key dimensions related to child mental health, access to services, and coordination of care. The assessment will also gauge the extent to which key intermediate changes are being achieved in each region with attention to changes in relationships among key stakeholders, critical knowledge among key stakeholders and the extent to which desired changes in policy and practice are being achieved in the LEA and at the State level as specified in the main goals and objectives of the project. This assessment will be administered at the beginning of the effort in each region and periodically in approximately six-month intervals. Importantly, a variety of key stakeholders will be engaged in the self-assessment to offer a wide range of perspectives on the effort. Feedback will be provided following each data collection using graphical representations of collaborative capacity so that each collaborative setting can reflect on relative strengths and challenges in their work and how such efforts can be shaped to maximize desired outcomes. Ensuring fidelity in the implementation of evidence-based programs:

The evaluators will work closely with ISBE and the LEAs to develop and implement a Fidelity Monitoring Plan that ensures that: 1) the core elements of the evidence-based programs (YMHFA/MHFA and other EBPs that the regional-based district capacity-building teams providing training for) are maintained throughout the program; 2) the needs of participants and facilitator(s) are identified as well as areas of improvement; and 3) a tool is developed and integrated that compares evaluation outcomes with the execution of the intervention. How data will be used to manage the project and assure that the goals and objectives at a systems level will be tracked and achieved:

Figure 1 provides an overview of how key data will be used to manage IL-AWARE effectively and to ensure that the goals and objectives will be achieved.

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Figure 1: IL-AWARE Evaluation ISBE/IS-TAC Goal: Every school will offer a safe and healthy learning environment for all students. SAMSHA Grant Objective

Objective 1 Sustainability of mental health resources and access to CLAS behavioral healthcare in their community

Objective 2:Advancing wellness and resilience in education and mental health settings Proposed Intervention and Level of ISTAC Support Level 1: ISTAC MTSS Universal Curriculum delivered to target LEAs with emphasis on mental health and school integration Level 2: MTSS Universal curriculum, Plus additional TA and strategies for LEA school based and community mental health supports (group resources) for 25% of school population Level 3: Level I and II TA supports and services plus TA related to individualized mental health needs of 1-3% of LEA student population Population Indicators

Measure LEA Data System Used to Progress Monitor

Potential Process/ Fidelity Measures

Potential Performance Indicators

Measure LEA Data System Used to Progress Monitor

A. Increase LEA/School/Student HS Graduation Rates (distal/annual data point)

# students graduating out of universe pop; Number of students graduating in four years out of universe pop; Same measures for students with IEPs

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

a. Increase in student grade matriculation

Student grade matricula-tion rate data

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

B. Increase LEA/School/student assessment scores-reading and math

-Student math assessment scores; Student Reading assessment scores; Same measures for students with IEPs

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

b. Increase in student attendance

School attendance rate data

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

C. Decrease LEA/School/student suspension and expulsion

-Student suspension rates. Student expulsion rates, Same for students with IEPS; Ethnic suspension disparity rates

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

a. Mental Health Environmental Scan b. School-wide Behavioral Health Readiness Needs Assessment c. ISTAC Stages of Implementation d. LEA Multiple Measures Needs Assessment e. Universal Mental Health Screening f. McKnight Community Resource Needs Assessment g. Care Coordination Fidelity Assessment of top 1-3% of LEA population with greatest mental health need

c. Decrease in office discipline referrals

Office Discipline referral rate data

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated

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This model and all evaluation activities related to the project will be closely linked with Continuous Quality Improvement strategies; project staff and evaluators will employ multiple levels of

C. Decrease LEA/School/student suspension and expulsion

-Student suspension rates. Student expulsion rates, Same for students with IEPS; Ethnic suspension disparity rates

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

c. Decrease in office discipline referrals

Office Discipline referral rate data

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

D. Increase students educated in regular education 80% or more of day

Percent of students educated 80% or more of day in general education, SPP 5 for students with IEPs

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

c. Increase in school based mental health resources available in school and nearby community

Resource mapping baseline

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

d. Increase in number of students universally screened for mental health services

Universal Mental Health Screener given in grades 3, 7, 9

Level I-ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring; Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

E. Increase social emotional standard acquisition of students

Percent of general student pop meeting social emotional standards; Same measure for students with IEPs

ISTAC Scorecard for LEA Progress Monitoring

e. Increase in mental health functioning of 1-3% as assessed by CAFAS

CAFAS Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

f. Student mental health goal and service attainment of 1-3% of student’s with greatest mental health needs

GAS-Goal Attainment Scale

Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

g. Increase in student and family connections (social and resource

Family and Student Connections Assessment

Level 2 and 3-TMS Behavioral and Integrated HIT

h. Frequency and duration and type of ISTAC TA units provided

TA Tracker ISTAC TEO (Time Effort and Outcome Tracker

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review to ensure on-going oversight and continuous quality improvement across the duration of the project. Quarterly reports will be used by project staff, with monthly consultation from the Evaluator to review how the project is meeting specific targets for all meetings, presentations, and training/technical assistance events held. Monthly consultations between project staff and the evaluators will analyze gaps in outcomes achievement to identify challenges to reaching the goals. Staff meetings and consultation with the Evaluator will identify solutions to these kinds of issues and others that occur. Because this is a statewide program with multiple events occurring throughout the state, and because Illinois (and the IL-AWARE project specifically) features a diversity of rural/urban/suburban locales with distinct demographic profiles, SAE-BHES will utilize comparison data across the state to identify successful program features that may be transferred from one LEA to others experiencing difficulty with project goals. Where corrective actions are implemented, the Evaluator will present pre- and post-correction data in subsequent quality improvement meetings in order to assess the effectiveness of solutions and adjust them when necessary. Describe the plan for collecting and reporting GPRA data from the three LEAs on the performance measures specified in Section I.2.4.2 of this RFA:

The evaluators and state-level project staff will work closely with the three LEAs (communicating regularly with the designated LEA Manager and other relevant staff at the local level who oversee data collection, monitoring, and reporting) to collect and report on GRPA data annually throughout the project period related to:

• The total number of school-aged youth served as a result of implementing strategies identified in the SEA comprehensive plan;

• The total number of school-aged youth who received school-based mental health services; and

• The percentage of mental health service referrals for school-aged youth which resulted in mental health services being provided in the community.

Describe your plan for conducting the project evaluation as specified in Section I-2.4.3 of this RFA and document your ability to conduct the evaluation:

In addition to the performance measures and evaluation activities listed above, IL-AWARE, will report regularly on progress achieved, barriers encountered, and efforts to overcome these barriers in a performance assessment report to be submitted at least semi-annually. The Program Coordinator, under the supervision of the Project Director, and in close collaboration with other team members, including the LEA Managers, will regularly monitor, collect, and distill data associated with the following key questions. These activities will involve collection of sign-in sheets from YMHFA/MHFA trainings that include targeted information about participants as well as key informant interviews at regular intervals, not only for the purposes of reporting to SAMHSA but for quality improvement purposes and to make mid-term adjustments when appropriate and necessary.