Counselor Connection--June 4

Attend on the morning of July 17th for McKinney-Vento Pre-Conference and then come to the Counselor Retreat and you can get reimbursed for up to 3 nights hotel and mileage from your campus. See below for more info! AND we are going to have some FANTASTIC stuff to give you that will staff your counseling office. This is the don't miss event of the year!

Attend on Wednesday from 9-12 with the McKinney-Vento Team and your travel for up to three nights, as well as mileage from your campus will be reimbursed. See flyer above for more details. Register Online.

Low-burden, high-impact strategies to increase well-being, belonging, and engagement in all areas of campus community by introducing a consistent structure for learning that promotes powerful relationship-building while also helping students find value in their learning. Training will include staff community building, research-backed classroom engagement, usable tools and strategies, meaningful and inspirational content, and practical problem solving. Register Online (this is for both days).

School counselors must negotiate the competing interests of the overregulated school environment, student’s need for confidentiality, and the legal rights of parents to be the guiding voice in their children's lives. Updates on these competing interests will be discussed through recent court developments. Legal rulings will be highlighted in areas such as sexually active students, bullying, academic advising, child abuse, educational records, and sexual harassment, First Amendment rights, and transgender youth. The goal is to facilitate participants’ legal literacy and provide guiding principles to support best ethical practice.

Call the Fredericksburg Inn and Suites at 830-997-0202 and ask for the rate for the ESC REGION 15 COUNSELOR RETREAT. It should be for $107 per night.

The Texas A&M University Texas Youth Action Network offers a list of summer activities for youth. The resource includes at-home activities that youth can do on their own and organized activities occurring in different regions of Texas. Share this resource with parents and families to help keep kids active over the summer.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers resources for underage alcohol use. This fact sheet is intended to help parents talk to their young adults about the risks of underage drinking. This resource is also available in Spanish. View more related resources on the SAMHSA webpage.

UT Health San Antonio’s naloxone program, More Narcan Please, is now referred to as Naloxone Texas. Naloxone Texas is a statewide initiative that aims to end the state’s overdose epidemic through medication distribution, public awareness, and workforce empowerment. Free naloxone can be obtained through the naloxone request webpage. Access virtual, on-demand, training in evidenced-based strategies for overdose reversal and prevention. Share these resources with parents, teachers, and school staff.

More kids are dealing with serious mental health issues in life after the pandemic. Parents sometimes struggle to tell whether their kid is just a typical hormonal teenager grappling with becoming an adult, or if they're dealing with something more serious.

Whether you are a huge fan of fiction or are looking for books to build your counseling skills, the summer can be a great time to get some reading done that you don't have time for during the school year. This list from Counselor Chelsey has some great ideas for your summer reading.

When Hillarie Kay was in her 20s, a panic attack landed her in the hospital. She was consumed with the stresses in her life: working 50+ hours a week as the main breadwinner in her family, having an affair, and being a mom to a 2-year-old and a newborn with special needs. Read more.

TxCAN is in the process of printing flyers to promote the digital supports we’re providing this summer in partnership with uAspire. If you would like flyers, please use this link to request flyers. We will send printed materials to as many recipients as possible until our supply is exhausted.

NCAN has also launched their #DotheFAFSA Campaign. You can now access their social media toolkit that contains graphics and videos that emphasize the urgency and benefits of completing the FAFSA. Their resources come in both English and Spanish. NCAN will also leverage these social media assets to run ads that point students to the FAFSA.

If you are interested in applying for the ECMC FAFSA Support Strategy Fund, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible. In case you missed it, the U.S. Department of Education launched a multi-million-dollar program as part of the FAFSA Student Support Strategy to help school districts, state, nonprofits, and other public and private organizations with efforts to boost FAFSA completion. ECMC is managing these funds, and you can find out more here

TxCAN/uAspire Site for Students and Families

Flyer Request Form

#DotheFAFSA PressKit

ECMC FAFSA Funds Application

On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the Federal Action Plan. This is the first update to the National Strategy, originally published in 2012. The strategy incorporates advances in suicide prevention research and is designed to guide, motivate, and promote a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention. For the first time, the release of the national strategy is accompanied by a federal action plan which outlines over 200 actions to be taken by the federal government in support of the strategy. Learn more about how your agency can support the national strategy by downloading it here. 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention | HHS.gov.

The Columbia Protocol, also known as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), is an evidence-based suicide screening tool that have been implemented in emergency departments, primary care offices, health clinics, and more. The Columbia Protocol screens for suicide risk and the severity of risk through a series of simple, evidence-supported questions.

The exciting news is that the Columbia Protocol is now also available as an app on your mobile device, making it easier to provide the questionnaire to anyone, anywhere, at any time. You can download the free app to your mobile device through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

🌟 NEW IN 2024-2025:

• District Leadership Cohort - August 2024 through June 2025 *limited spots available!
• Advancing Equity Conference for School Counselors - December 11, 2024
• Closing the Gap: An Action Research Cohort - September 2024 through April 2025 (five 1-hour webinars!)

💫 BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND:

• Use of Data in School Counseling Institute: Overview & Foundations - 3 dates to choose from!
• New School Counselor Institute - October 3, 2024
• Use of Data in School Counseling 7-Part Series - September 2024 through May 2025 (register for individual workshops or the entire series!)

Check out our virtual events webpage for the full 2024-2025 calendar and event details!

Want to learn more about Hatching Results’ virtual events?

Conference Links

FACT: According to the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, employees engaged in professional development are also more likely to stay engaged in their work and to be enthusiastic about pursuing their goals.

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
• 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 | samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline
• Other resources for developing healthy lifestyles, including mental and emotional help: helpguide.org

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