Building Bridges for Student Mental Health

Building Bridges for Student Mental Health is a joint initiative of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) with the goal of establishing and enhancing productive, collaborative, and trustworthy relationships between state education leaders, medical experts, and families to improve student mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for student mental health, and policymakers, families, educators, and medical professionals alike recognize this is an issue we must address. However, the pandemic also created opportunities for state education leaders to build stronger partnerships with state health leaders and deepen relationships with parents and families. To build upon and contribute to the sustainability of these efforts, NASBE is partnering with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in facilitating a state network that will focus on relationship building, professional development, and increased attention to improving student mental health through parent and family engagement efforts.

The goals of the Building Bridges Initiative include:

• Establishing a multi-state network of teams representing at a minimum state boards of education, state education agencies, and pediatricians who are committed to empowering families with information to support student mental health in and out of school;
• Building the capacity of these leaders to collaborate and develop shared goals for engaging families around student mental health; and
• Improving family engagement practices and policies or programs that address student mental health.

Through through fall 2023, states engaged in this work, including Illinois, Maryland, Texas, and Utah, will participate in convenings and professional development and receive ongoing technical assistance, and connection to subject matter experts on effective parent and family engagement strategies to help formulate an action plan in their state.

This initiative is made possible through the financial support of Kaiser Permanente. Read our fact sheet to learn more about the Building Bridges for Student Mental Health Initiative. Please contact  Celina Pierrottet to learn more about this project