Project ACTIVATE
North Carolina
CCS's Project ACTIVATE grant ended at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. We are so thankful for the work that we completed, the local and state policies that we advanced, and how our culture has been transformed to better support students and families with their mental health.
Find out more about the work and read our annual reports here: https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/academic-standards/programs-and-initiatives/nc-healthy-schools/nc-project-awareactivate.
Project ACTIVATE is North Carolina's implementation of the Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) State Education Agency Grants issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Find out more information about this grant at the SAMHSA website!
Check out Project ACTIVATE on the NCDPI Website
North Carolina’s Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) also locally known as NC Project ACTIVATE (Advancing Coordinated and Timely InterVentions, Awareness, Training, and Education) addresses the three tiers of mental health (promotion, prevention, and intervention) through a continuum of education, universal screening, and appropriate services and supports for all students in response to varying levels of need.
The North Carolina Statewide Plan
Project ACTIVATE (Advancing Coordinated and Timely InterVentions, Awareness, Training, and Education)
Summary
Need
To improve students' access to behavioral health services in rural North Carolina.Intervention
North Carolina Project ACTIVATE provides three tiers of behavioral health supports in the school setting.Results
The three pilot sites have created or revised 10 mental health policies, and 1,083 school-based and related workforce have received training in different topics and protocols.
What is Project ACTIVATE?
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services created Project ACTIVATE (Advancing Coordinated and Timely InterVentions, Awareness, Training, and Education) to reduce disciplinary events, dropout rates, suicide rates, and substance use.
Project ACTIVATE promotes innovative service delivery based on the recommendations of the NC School Mental Health Initiative for behavioral health services, including continuum of services/supports (as opposed to only offering support after a crisis), strategies to foster sustainability, and engagement of all stakeholders.
Project ACTIVATE works to provide mental health services and improve existing services in the school setting. The three pilot sites are the following rural school districts:
This project is funded by a SAMHSA Project AWARE State Education Agency Grant. North Carolina was one of 24 states/territories selected for this 2018-2023 grant. This funding allows each district to hire one full-time Project ACTIVATE Director and one full-time Professional Learning Coordinator/ Evaluation and Data Manager.
The NC School Mental Health Initiative (NC SMHI) is a multi-disciplinary partnership of stakeholders related to the provision of mental health services to children and youth. NC SMHI reflects partnerships across disciplines, including community mental health providers, educators, advocates, lawyers, university officials, and parents, with the goal to provide policy/legislative support and recommendations for accessible, high-quality, and coordinated mental health services.
Learn more about the NC School Mental Health Initiative here!
Services offered
Project ACTIVATE focuses on promotion of mental wellness, prevention of mental health problems, and interventions to reduce the effects of a mental illness and restore mental health through:
Early identification and referral systems
Prevention and early intervention programs
Arrangements with local mental health agencies to provide school-based services
New policies and improved infrastructure to sustain the program after the grant period
Connections with existing state and local programs
Outreach and awareness campaigns to educate students and their families about mental health issues
Results
Project ACTIVATE sites have revised and/or created more than 15 school mental health policies in the areas of crisis protocol, local suicide ideation response and assessment protocol, and therapeutic support and intervention classroom policies.
In addition, over 1000 school-based and related workforce have been trained in topics including a resilience workshop, Youth Mental Health First Aid, Question. Persuade. Refer., a suicide risk protocol, Say Something Anonymous Reporting, and crisis intervention.
More than 15 MOAs have been entered to provide on-campus/outpatient therapy to students referred by school counselors and behavioral liaisons and to provide day treatment programming.
In addition, over 100 individuals have received training in prevention or mental health promotion related to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), system of care principles, Resiliency Room protocol, Calming Corner protocol, and trauma-informed care.
For students, Project ACTIVATE includes the following tiers of services:
Tier 1
Tier 1, for all students:
Social-emotional learning curricula
Bullying prevention programs
Schoolwide mindfulness education
Screening
Prevention and wellness promotion
Tier 2
Tier 2, for students needing additional support:
Targeted social skill instruction
Small group and classroom counseling and support groups
Coordinated referral process and progress monitoring
Tier 3
Tier 3, for students needing intensive mental health supports:
Individual social skill instruction
Crisis counseling
Wraparound services
Individual support teams and plans