Supporting Student and Educator Mental Health
We know that the pandemic had negative impacts on the mental health of our students and educators, and in 2022, OSSE utilized federal stimulus funding to deepen investments in trauma-informed approaches to care, suicide prevention education and educator wellness.

Staff training and student curriculum at the elementary, middle and high school level and supported schools and helped build positive school cultures that allowed every member of the school community to thrive. OSSE and the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) expanded technical assistance opportunities for schools to strengthen crisis prevention and intervention and schools’ ability to address and respond to root causes of educator stress.

These timely and targeted investments helped schools meet acute student mental health needs exacerbated during the pandemic, as well as support school communities as they move from recovery to restoration.

Promoting Positive School Communities
OSSE has provided multiple trainings to support the school provider workforce in meeting the unique needs of their students and school community. OSSE also updated our School Mental Health Guidelines to support schools in evaluating and understanding their own school climate and build policies, procedures, practices and structures that promote positive social and emotional wellbeing among the school community.

Expanding Suicide Prevention and Intervention Training
OSSE made evidence-based suicide prevention and intervention curriculum and training available for all DC public and public charter schools and their behavioral health providers, both school-hired and community partners.

Trainings and curriculum support elementary, middle and high school students, families and staff in recognizing signs and symptoms related to depression and suicidal ideation, and seeking help in the face of depression and suicide.

School behavioral health providers also have access to technical assistance sessions in coordination with trainings to support and assist providers in overcoming any barriers to implementing programming at their school or campus.

Championing Educator Wellness
In supporting our students, OSSE has made key investments in the wellness of our educators and mental health providers including the Educator Wellness Institute – which teaches participants how to be educator wellness champions in their schools through research-based learning modules, and the Educator Wellness Technical Assistance Grant – which provided direct assistance to 25 schools in partnership with five community-based organizations (CBOs) to use a whole school approach to address root causes of educator stress.

Close collaboration and partnerships with DBH, DCPS, the DC Charter School Board, and other key stakeholders has been integral in OSSEs ability to support students, school
communities, and families.

Serving School Breakfast to More Students
Because students who eat a healthy breakfast are better prepared to engage and learn in school, OSSE invested $2 million in 2022 to improve the quality of school breakfast and increase participation in the School Breakfast Program. The School Breakfast Expansion Grant supports 104 public and public charter schools at 18 LEAs across the District, where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a national indicator of poverty. With this investment, we were able to build healthier classrooms and communities by ensure every child has direct access to a nutritious breakfast to start the school day and live an active, healthy life.

Committing to Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth
LGBTQ+ students were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, and to address these impacts OSSE committed to investing $750,000 in new resources and trainings over the next 2.5 years using a portion of our federal stimulus funds. In addition to our existing trainings and resources to help LEAs create inclusive environments, OSSE’s new LGBTQ+ investments will drive future development of resources, professional development and technical assistance focusing on the health, mental health and social emotional needs of LGBTQ+ students, who make up roughly 20 percent of DC’s student population, according to the 2021 District of Columbia Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). In addition to our existing trainings and resources to help LEAs create inclusive environments, OSSE’s new LGBTQ+ investments will provide resources, professional development and technical assistance focusing on the health, mental health and social emotional needs of LGBTQ+ students, who make up roughly 20 percent of DC’s student population, according to the 2021 District of Columbia Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).

Ensuring Healthy School Environments
One of the most important ways we can keep students safe and healthy in school is through immunizations. The District has worked across government, our schools, and our community to ensure families have access to vaccinations and know about our the immunization enforcement policy, as required by District law, for all students in DC schools. Before the start of the 2022-23 school year, OSSE staff worked in tandem with DC Health to ensure District families had access to the care and information they needed to get their children the immunizations required by District law.

When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized COVID vaccinations for children ages 6 months through age 4 under an Emergency Use Authorization in
June, OSSE helped to direct DC families to the District’s COVID Centers. President Biden paid a visit to one of those COVID Centers on the first day the vaccine became available, and
several OSSE staffers, including Ben and Sarah Peisch, had the opportunity to attend with their children.