VCU School of Education receives $7.2 million grant for student mental health support

By Sian Wilkerson

Virginia Commonwealth University's Partnership for People with Disabilities, part of the School of Education, has received federal funding to strengthen mental health support systems in three Virginia school divisions.

Supported by a five-year, $7.2 million Project AWARE grant - Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education - from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Project AWARE Virginia is partnering with Amelia, New Kent and Pulaski counties to help each school division build and sustain a comprehensive system that promotes mental health, improves access to behavioral health services and improves outcomes for students.

"One of the things that makes this project exciting is that we aren't entering these communities with a predetermined solution," said Kim Dupre, Ed.D., Project AWARE Virginia's director and principal investigator. "We will begin by listening, understanding what is already working, identifying needs alongside each division and then building systems that make sense for their students, families, schools and communities."

Dupre will lead the project alongside Partnership for People with Disabilities colleague Kris Herakovich-Curtis, Ed.D., who will serve as project manager.

At Project AWARE Virginia's outset, Dupre and Herakovich-Curtis will work with colleagues in the partnering school divisions and community services boards to: 1) identify what is already working, as well as what needs and gaps exist; 2) map existing school and community resources; and 3) develop individualized plans based on the strengths and priorities of each division.

Following this initial work, the project will then provide coaching and professional learning for educators and administrators, strengthen mental health promotion and prevention efforts, improve screening and referral pathways, and give schools, families, students and community behavioral health providers the tools to work together more effectively.

The long-term goal is sustainability, Dupre said: "The intent is not to create services that disappear when federal funding ends, but to help divisions develop the people, partnerships, practices and systems needed to continue the work."

Throughout the Project AWARE Virginia timeline, the team will use what they learn to develop, test and refine a comprehensive school mental health implementation framework and toolkit, which will then be shared to help other Virginia school divisions strengthen their own systems.