Increasing Student Access to
Behavioral and Mental Health Services
This report describes anticipated awarding of grants and contracts related to funds
allocated from Chapter 142 of the Acts of 2019, line item 7061-0100, to assist public
school districts in connecting students with community-based services to maximize
coordination with service providers and establish more comprehensive continuums of
care, and to support increased professional development opportunities for public
school employees to identify students in need of mental and behavioral health
support.
March 2020
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 This document was prepared by the
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Members
Ms. Katherine Craven, Chair, Brookline
Mr. James Morton, Vice Chair, Springfield
Ms. Amanda Fernández, Belmont
Mr. Matthew Hills, Newton
Mr. Michael Moriarty, Holyoke
Mr. James Peyser, Secretary of Education, Milton
Mr. Paymon Rouhanifard, Brookline
Ms. Mary Ann Stewart, Lexington
Mr. Mathew Tibbitts, Student Advisory Council, Ludlow
Dr. Martin West, Newton
Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner
Secretary to the Board
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orientation.
Inquiries regarding the Department’s compliance with Title IX and other civil rights laws may be directed to the
Human Resources Director, 75 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148-4906. Phone: 781-338-6105.
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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148-4906
Phone 781-338-3000 TTY: N.E.T. Relay 800-439-2370
www.doe.mass.edu
 Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-4906 Telephone: (781) 338-3000
TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner
April 23, 2020
Dear Members of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, and the Executive
Office for Administration and Finance:
I am pleased to submit this report to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance and
to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means, Increasing Student Access to
Behavioral and Mental Health Services, pursuant to Chapter 142 of the Acts of 2019, line
item 7061-0010 that reads in part:
“…provided further, that, not later than March 5, 2020, the department shall submit a
report to the executive office for administration and finance and the house and senate
committees on ways and means on the awarding of grants and details of anticipated
contracts, by school district.”
This report supplements the information provided in the January 2020 Supporting Healthy
Alliances Reinforcing Education (SHARE) report (pursuant to Chapter 42 of the Acts of 2019,
line item 7061-9650), and further highlights the coordinated efforts supported through both line
items. As noted in the January report, these two line items (7061-0010 and 7061-9650) have
allowed the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to better align
and coordinate resources for districts and communities to establish and improve systems of
student support, and to increase access to the continuum of services needed. For example, both
line items are making possible the competitive Fund Codes (FC) 336-613 Supporting Students’
Behavioral and Mental Health and Wellness grants, to be awarded this spring. In addition, the
Department will continue to offer professional development (PD) supported by these line items,
including PD to help school staff to identify students in need of services and connect those
students to services. This report reflects an updated timeline and process resulting from the
school closures related to COVID-19.
These line items help advance the Department’s strategic priority to support social-emotional
learning, health, and safety, which aims to promote systems and strategies that foster safe,
positive, healthy, culturally-responsive, and inclusive learning environments that address
students’ varied needs and improve educational outcomes for all. Furthermore, as noted in my
Our Way Forward report, we need “systems of integrated student supports” to “free children up
to engage in the type of critical thinking and deeper learning to which our schools and education
systems aspire.”1 The work of this line-item and associated efforts include the state working in
partnership with districts, professional development providers, and others, to help further
innovation and evidence-based practices related to integrated student supports. Moreover, these
efforts supplement and reinforce the recently passed Student Opportunity Act which encourages
local districts to invest in “social services to support students’ social-emotional and physical
health” as a strategy to “address persistent disparities in achievement among student subgroups.”
The efforts funded through this and the SHARE line-item will help further the ability of
communities across the commonwealth to maximize coordination with service providers and
establish more comprehensive continuums of care. These funds will help to increase student
access to behavioral and mental health services, delivered in partnership with community-based
providers. In addition, the professional development coordinated by the Department will be
offered to school staff to improve their ability to identify students’ behavioral and mental health
needs as part of comprehensive, integrated, tiered approaches to promoting wellness for all
students, and to addressing the needs of students requiring additional supports.
We look forward to continuing to facilitate and coordinate this work, and thank the Governor and
Legislature for your commitment to the students of the Commonwealth.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey C. Riley
Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education
1
Weiss, Elaine and Reville, Paul (2019). Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students
Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 4-5.
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Selection of Participating Districts .................................................................................... 1
Coordinated Professional Development ............................................................................ 2
Introduction
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) respectfully submits this
Report to the Legislature: Increasing Student Access to Behavioral and Mental Health Services
pursuant to Chapter 142 of the Acts of 2019, line item 7061-0100:
“…For a grant program to assist public school districts in contracting with licensed
community-based mental and behavioral health service providers for services in public
schools; provided, that the program shall be administered by the department of
elementary and secondary education in coordination with the executive office of health
and human services; provided further, that the department shall make efforts to notify all
public school districts of the program; provided further, that the department shall
prioritize grant applications submitted by school districts with limited access to mental
and behavioral health services and limited existing financial resources; provided further,
that the department shall prioritize grant applications submitted by school districts that
have created action plans based on the safe and supportive school framework or whose
applications are consistent with infrastructure and coordination efforts linking schools to
community-based resources in accordance with item 7061-9612; provided further, that
grants may be expended to assist school districts in connecting students with community-
based services to maximize coordination with service providers and establish more
comprehensive continuums of care; provided further, that grants may be expended to
support increased professional development opportunities for public school employees to
identify students in need of mental and behavioral health support; and provided further,
that, not later than March 5, 2020, the department shall submit a report to the executive
office for administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and
means on the awarding of grants and details of anticipated contracts, by school
district…”
This reports outlines efforts to date to establish grants with public school districts, and contracts
to provide professional development pursuant to this line item.
Progress toward grant disbursement during school year 2019-2020 includes continued inter-
agency consultation between the Department, the Executive Office of Education (EOE), and the
Executive Office of Health and Human Services agencies (EOHHS), including the Departments
of Public Health and Mental Health (DPH and DMH), to leverage existing and planned
initiatives and to promote complementary and supplemental activities.
Selection of Participating Districts
Since the submission of the January SHARE line-item report, the Department posted the fiscal
year 2019-2020 (FY2020 and FY2021) integrated student wellness grant opportunity, through
the Fund Code (FC) 336-613 Supporting Students’ Behavioral and Mental Health and Wellness
Funding Opportunity Request for Proposals (RFP). Massachusetts public school districts and
collaboratives are eligible to apply. Applicants had the option to submit their proposal February
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25, 2020 (for activities during FY2020 and/or FY2021) or May 4, 2020 (for activities during
FY2021). The Department planned to complete the competitive review process and award grants
by early spring 2020 (for those submitted by the February due date) and by late spring (for those
submitted by the May due date),
Due to the school closures related to COVID-19, the Department has adjusted the process
and timeline for the FC 336-613 Supporting Students’ Behavioral and Mental Health and
Wellness Funding Opportunity RFP as follows:
• No awards will be made for FY20 activities and expenditures.
• Those that submitted applications for the February 25, 2020 deadline must resubmit their
applications by June 12, 2020, for FY21 activities and expenditures only, if they wish to
be considered for funding.
• The deadline for all FY21 applications has been extended to June 12, 2020. The
Department will review applications and anticipates announcing awards mid- to late-July.
Applicants must propose activities to develop comprehensive, integrated multi-tiered systems for
student support and establish infrastructure to facilitate integrated coordination of school and
community-based resources, including but not limited to, social services, mental health, and
behavioral health resources. Proposed activities could include contracting with licensed
community-based providers, creating and/or implementing school and/or district action plans
with goals related to improving student access to robust, culturally responsive multi-tiered
systems of support, including access to behavioral and mental health service, and other activities
in support of improving student access to services.
The Department anticipates making awards for FY21 from the SHARE line item (7061-9650),
which currently has authorizing language to extend through August 31, 2021. The Department is
exploring ways to make funding from 7061-0010 available for FY21.
Coordinated Professional Development
Pursuant to this line item (7061-0010), the Department is coordinating and supporting
professional development related to identifying students in need of mental and behavioral health
support, as well as building capacity of school districts and community to develop integrated
systems of support. Supported with line item 7061-0010 of Chapter 273 of the Acts of 2018, the
Department and its contractor, Walker, an organization that collaborates with organizations to
develop high-quality educational services and settings to support students’ social, emotional and
behavioral health needs, is offering a series of professional development offerings, Sustainable
Solutions: Applying a Systems Approach to Social Emotional Learning and Mental Health
Supports and Services in Schools. This series includes statewide and regional sessions, and is
designed to promote social emotional learning and increase awareness of and access to mental
health supports and services in schools. Associated with this series, the Department is also
sponsoring trainings (January and May 2020) for up to 32 individuals to become certified Youth
Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) instructors. As an extension of this, throughout the spring
2020, the Department plans to coordinate up to five regional YMHFA trainings for school staff
and other community partners who work with students. The YMHFA trainings are “designed to
2
teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and
human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age
12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis.” The FC 336-
613 grantees and others will be alerted to these opportunities as they are confirmed. Please note
that the majority of the above described opportunities have been converted or adapted to be
offered remotely during the school closures related to COVID-19, and additional opportunities
have been developed to respond to the emerging needs of schools and districts during this time.
As noted in the January report, the Department will continue to identify additional professional
development opportunities tailored to the identified needs of the selected FY2020/FY2021 FC
336-613 grantees. These will include opportunities for district and school teams to come together
and learn from each other, and to self-assess and develop action plans to build comprehensive
and integrated systems for student support. These opportunities will help address student barriers
to success and assist with efforts to further engage students in deeper learning and efforts that
promote health, wellness, and safety.
3