Counselor Connection--September 2

(If you were at the Counselor Retreat, you should have completed this). Please help us as we begin this school year by completing a survey that will help us know which services you are using, what we can do to help you, and things that you would like/do like!

FSA just announced that the 2025-26 FAFSA will be released on December 1, 2024, with full, end-to-end functionality. The outreach tools and resources that typically accompany the form will be released in advance and FAFSA processing will occur within one to three days of submission. If realized, this announcement means that the system will be fully functional for all students on December 1, 2024.
Read more here

At the end of July, the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced updates to the FSA ID process. Having not found yet a long-term solution for retrieving financial information from the IRS for those contributors without a Social Security number, FSA indicated that for the “foreseeable future,” those contributors will continue to be able to manually enter their data into the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Continuing to waive the identity verification process and allowing immediate access into the FAFSA will carry over into the 2025-26 cycle. These contributors are encouraged to submit the required form and documentation so that their identity can be verified prior to identifying a long-term solution that would require a verified FSA ID to access the FAFSA. FSA in the meantime is working on moving the attestation form online.
Read more here

The Department opened a new a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting feedback on ways to improve the “help text” of the 2025-2026 FAFSA® form as well as for the development of supporting materials. The Department also seeks feedback on ways we can provide additional support to ensure applicants and contributors complete the FAFSA and institutions of higher education and state grant agencies have support for the processing and packaging of student aid. You can read more in our Electronic Announcement (EA), or can review the RFI in the Federal Register. The Department encourages comments from:

• institutions of higher education
• schools and school districts (including school and district leaders)
• state educational agencies
• state higher education agencies
• school counselors and college advisors
• college access organizations
• student support professionals
• students and their families
• stakeholders within the education community; and
• other members of the public.

Comments are due by September 13, 2024 and we encourage all of you to submit comments.

The college planning process can seem overwhelming for parents due to the numerous choices involved. However, parents play a crucial role in their child's postsecondary success by offering insights, advice, and encouragement during challenging times. Counselors and advisors support parents by providing the necessary tools and knowledge for effective college planning. Engaging parents early on is essential for guiding them through this complex process.
Read more here

If you need the chart to update your at-risk lists, it is available online.

It's easy to forget just how much media and technology are infused into everything we do—including at school. But Common Sense's free resources can help you and your students take a healthy, balanced approach to tech and screen use, in the classroom and beyond.

Here's a collection of their best back-to-school resources!

From the brand-new AI Foundations for Educators PD course and AI Literacy lessons for grades 6–12 to advice on managing school cellphone bans and editors' picks for the best digital tools for learning, Common Sense has what you need to promote a healthy, happy start to the school year!

Texas Education Code 38.222 requires school districts serving students in grades 6 through 12 to adopt a policy regarding the maintenance, administration, and disposal of opioid antagonists. An open-enrollment charter school or private school may choose to adopt a policy. In accordance with 25 Texas Administrative Code, Section 40.87, campuses must report when a school personnel member or school volunteer administers an opioid antagonist. Use the required DSHS unassigned opioid antagonist medication reporting form to report when opioid antagonist medication is administered.

This is only open to students identified and coded in PEIMS as homeless in the 2024 or 2025 school year. Counselors need to work in conjunction with the district homeless liaison to register students for this event. Emails have already gone or are going out to the liaisons and counselors. For questions, contact anyone on the ESC 15 McKinney-Vento team.

Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) offers findings of the Parent and Child Mental Health Survey. From the survey, responses find that among parents’ top concerns for their children’s mental health, less than 20% of parents indicate awareness of all the mental health resources and services schools provide to support children’s mental health and well-being. In response, AFHK offers the Confident Connections Campaign with more than 30 free resources for parents and caregivers of children in grades K-12 to learn about and support youth mental health. Confident Connections provides guidance to parents and caregivers to engage in meaningful conversations, activities to connect in authentic ways, and information to deepen their understanding of youth mental health.

• 2024-2025 AskTED update with new district/campus personnel for district programs, such as Business Manager, Counselor, Homeless Liaison, etc.

Check out a copy of the book Uprooted: Voices of Student Homelessness by Alexandra E. Pavlakis, Meredith P. Richards, J. Kessa Roberts, and Kacy McKinney and download for yourself and your students!

As summer comes to a close and kids and teens are going back to school, Mental Health America is excited to announce the launch of their 2024 Supporting Young Minds guides!

The focus of this year’s materials is youth empowerment – how adults can support young people to help them feel empowered, and how youth can feel empowered to address their mental health and support each other.

Because there is SO MUCH information and SO MANY practical tools, they've created multiple guides, designed to be used year-round.

• Communications/messaging guide (including key messages, sample email/newsletter content, and social media assets)
• Resource guide (including crisis/MHA/partner resources, e-learning, and youth book list)
• For youth: Guide for supporting friends
• For educators: Guide for building classroom relationships and culture
• For educators: Guide for creating safe spaces

They've also got fact sheets, a worksheet, and a poster!

MHA believes these materials will be instrumental in supporting the mental health and well-being of young minds across the country. Visit mhanational.org/young-minds to download your free guides and other resources.

From Counselor Chelsey: Free list of 120 SEL picture books! The list covers 15 different topics and is great to keep on hand for your last-minute lessons. She also has a printable version of questions you can ask to get students thinking and talking.

The next Building Bridges session will be September 17th-October 22nd. This program is designed to support children and families who are navigating grief and loss due to death, and could be a valuable resource for children/adolescents and their families. If you have clients who are grieving and could use additional support, please feel free to share information about the Building Bridges Program with them.

If you have any questions or need further information, reach out to Kat Turpen, available at the office phone (325) 658-6524, or via email at kturpen@wtrc.com.

Back Pocket for Parents - Tools to Help Parents Nurture Their Teens' Mental Health by Shaney Andler, who shares the challenge as a parent of someone who struggles and shares some of the wisdom learned along the way as an educator both in schools and clinical settings. Download the book to share with parents.

Please contact Traci Terrill for questions regarding CTE: traci.terrill@esc15.net or 325-481-4074

With the addition of Entrepreneurship I in many statewide CTE programs of study, University Startups would like to share information with our educators on resources and other best practices for this course and others found within the Entrepreneurship program of study.

Please join us on Sept. 17, for an informative Zoom at 4 pm. Please share this email with your educators who are assigned Entrepreneurship I and related courses.

Please contact Traci if you have a question. You are also welcome to contact Marc Steren at University Startups, msteren@university-startups.com

Did, you know that implementing the PAX Good Behavior Game can lead to remarkable improvements in your school?

Here are some studied impacts to consider:

• More Teaching Time: Gain an HOUR MORE each day for meaningful teaching and learning.
• Improved Test Scores: See significantly improved standardized MATH and READING scores without changing your curriculum.
• Reduction in Disruptions: Experience an 80% to 90% reduction in student disruptions and interruptions. These proven outcomes have already benefited thousands of educators and students. Don't miss out on the opportunity to enhance your classroom environment and student success with PAX!

Find out more: www.paxis.org/evidence-base or email alex.nieto@esc15.net

The Texas OnCourse Team is excited to talk about the SAT, ACT, and TSIA2 in this highly requested webinar. We want to ensure that you are equipped with the tools and tips necessary to help your students succeed when they take and prepare for these essential assessments.

During this session we will focus on:

• SAT/ACT score guidelines and how they relate to direct admissions
• Updates made to the TSIA2 and testing strategies
• The Texas OnCourse Academy SAT and ACT professional learning modules

Our team will be joined by Keylan Morgan, Assistant Director of Student Success at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Melany Franklin, Program Director of State Partnerships at ACT, and Lana Sveda, Senior Director of State and District Partnerships at College Board. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in our Q & A session and will receive all materials, links and guides we share.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024, at 10 a.m. (CDT)

Register

September 10, 2024, 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm CT | For more information and to register

This year’s workshops will provide timely updates on College Board programs and services so you’re ready to support students for the 2024-25 school year.

Topics include:

• Updates and information about the Digital SAT Suite of Assessments, including Big Future and Connections

• AP Program Updates

• Big Future College Planning Resources

Counselor Workshops (For returning counselors and General Updates)

• Tuesday, Aug 27, 2024, 12 pm CST

• Thursday, Sep 5, 2024, 9 am CST

• Wednesday, Sep 11, 2024, 11 pm CST

• Thursday, Sep 12, 2024, 9 am CST

Counselor Workshops (New Counselors)

• Thursday, Aug 29, 2024, 1 pm CST

• Tuesday, Sep 10, 2024, 9 am CST

Register Here

We're gearing up for Fall 2024 and spring 2025 to support you this school year. You can simply click on any of the session links to register.

Brian Van Brunt, EdD, is the Director of Behavior and Threat Management for D-Prep Safety. Author of over a dozen books, Brian has spent time as a child and family therapist, university professor, assistant deputy director of training at Secure Community Network, partner at TNG, and president of the National Association for Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NABITA). He is an internationally recognized expert in behavioral intervention, threat assessment, mental illness, crisis preparedness and response, and instructional design. Brian has provided consulting services to schools, colleges, and universities across the country and abroad on a wide variety of topics related to student mental health, counseling, campus violence, and behavioral intervention. Learning to complete a threat and violence risk assessment is like learning to play chess. The foundational concepts are fairly easy to teach and understand, but obtaining mastery comes with on-going study, guidance, and experience. This course is designed to provide team members working in a K-12 schools, college/university or workplace setting the skills they need to understand the terminology and process of violence risk and threat assessment, practical guidance regarding interviewing skills to obtain information from the person being assessed and direction on how to write a report in a way that provides useful and accessible guidance to the referral source.

Register Online

General School Mental Health Resources: https://schoolmentalhealthtx.org/

Mental Health Resources Database: https://schoolmentalhealthtxdatabase.org/

Mental Health Best Practice Repository: https://schoolmentalhealthtx.org/best-practices/

This list is of known providers of particular services. The providers on the list are from a variety of sources. The list is being provided as a courtesy, for information only, and the user should understand that no assurances or guarantees regarding the providers on the list are being made by providing this list. We do not endorse, approve, or recommend any specific provider listed below. This list is not inclusive of all community agencies, services, or organizations that provide the particular service, and the omission of an agency, service, or organization from this list does not imply disapproval. It is the responsibility of the user of this list to determine whether any of the content is of value to them and whether or not the agency, service, or organization meets their specific needs.

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National

• Emergency: (24/7): 911
• Nationwide Crisis Text Line - Text "Home" to 741741; text "HOLA to 741741 for crisis assistance in Español
  
• Click Here for a map of hotlines that serve all Texas counties
• Referral Services: (crisis counseling, housing, food, health care, family services): 211 | https://www.211texas.org/
• Suicide Prevention: 988 | 988lifeline.org
• Self-Injury/Cutting: 1-800-366-8288 | selfinjury.com
• Eating Disorders: 1-800-931-2237 | nationaleatingdisorders.org
• Runaway Hotline: 1-800-231-6946 | 1800runaway.org
• Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453 | childhelp.org/hotline/
• Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 | rainn.org
• Domestic/Relationship Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 | thehotline.org
• Trevor Hotline for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386 | thetrevorproject.org
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) | samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
• Other resources for developing healthy lifestyles, including mental and emotional help: helpguide.org
• National Disaster Distress Helpline - Text "TalkWithUs" to 66746; call 1-800-985-5990 and press "2" | En Español - envía "Hablanos" al 66746; llame al 1-800-985-5990 y presione "2"
  

Email: mentalhealth@esc15.net
Website: https://www.esc15.net/
Phone: (325)658-6571
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Region15ESC/
Twitter: @Region15ESC