Casey Ehde, BA

This project will use machine learning algorithms to evaluate the extent to which high school students' social media posts provide the information needed to accurately predict and manage suicide risk in real time.

The Brief Intervention Strategy for School Clinicians (BRISC) is a 4-session, evidence-based, and flexible “Tier 2” intervention tailored to high school students and designed to fit the school context. This cluster randomized efficacy trial (52 public high schools in three states) will use longitudinal data collection with students and parents; analyses of school records; implementation measures; and clinician and administrator surveys and interviews to evaluate outcomes of BRISC compared to services as usual, as well as moderators and mediators of outcomes and feasibility, acceptability, and costs of BRISC. For more information, click here.

(Training & Technical Assistance) In addition to regular training activities and special areas of focus, the Northwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (Northwest) has received funding to support increased training and technical assistance for school mental health in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. To operationalize this support Northwest has partnered with the University of Washington School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center, a national leader in developing and supporting implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in schools, including prevention, early intervention, and intensive supports. The Northwest School Mental Health (SMH) and Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Training and Technical Assistance (TA) Center, within the UW SMART Center, supports school mental health efforts with the goal to support states, districts, schools and community partners to build an equitable single system of delivery in which education and mental health systems are integrated across the tiers.

(Training & Technical Assistance) As a key component of this mission, UW SMART has developed strategies and related infrastructure for providing training and technical assistance to state and local education agencies as well as individual school districts. The SMART Center’s “TACore” provides: 1) Training and consultation/coaching focused on developing workforce capacity (among school staff and community partners) to deliver research-based strategies, policies, and practice models relevant to the education context, 2) Technical assistance focused on building evidence-based, multi-tiered systems of school-based behavioral health, using collaborative decision-making processes guided by local data as well as research evidence, and 3) Program evaluation focused on collecting and analyzing existing (e.g., administrative datasets) and novel (e.g., surveys, focus groups) quantitative and qualitative data to determine the impact of new or existing programs, practices, and policies.

The Washington State Behavioral Health Student Assistance Program (BH-SAP) is a research-based, statewide model that places trained Student Assistance Professionals (SAPs) in schools to deliver prevention, early intervention, and referral support within Washington’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework. Funded through a strategic legislative investment, WA BH-SAP increases early identification of behavioral health needs, expands the workforce pipeline, and strengthens school–community partnerships, providing support to thousands of students each year. Backed by strong statewide coordination and rigorous evaluation, BH-SAP reduces barriers to care and aligns with state priorities for youth mental health. Moreover, multiple years of data collection show the program measurably improves schools’ capacity to respond to student needs, reaches far more students than traditional school behavioral health models, and demonstrably improves student well-being. 2024-25 report and executive summary 2025 Publication Behavioral Health Student Assistance Programs: Leveraging Non-Traditional Mental Health Providers to Address Workforce Shortages and Mitigate the Youth Mental Health Crisis

In response, Washington state was recently awarded $6 million from the U.S. Department of Education to create a pipeline from Washington state’s five accredited Masters in Social Work training programs to Washington state’s K-12 schools. Called the Workforce for Student Well-being Initiative or WSW, 100 aspiring school social workers will receive conditional scholarships based on their financial need so the cost of getting an education is not a barrier to their getting an advanced degree and then committing to working in a high-need public or tribal school. [maxbutton id="1" url="https://smartcenter.uw.edu/workforce-for-student-well-being-initiative-wsw/" text="Learn More Here!" window="new" ]