FAQ

What is SSYSS?

SSYSS is system designed to help school districts plan for, implement and assess student social-emotional and mental health supports. By using a tiered approach to services, SSYSS can be integrated into the MTSS work already in place in your school district.

What services are provided through SSYSS?

  • Mental Health First Aid for Youth: Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to 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. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.

https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/population- focused-modules/youth/


  • Michigan Model for Health SEL Curriculum: The Michigan Model for Health, designed for use in kindergarten through twelfth grade, is the state health curriculum for michigan. The program provides separate sets of lessons each year from kindergarten through sixth grade, with separate units to support health education topics including nutrition and physical activity; safety; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; personal health and wellness; and social and emotional health. The unit on social and emotional health includes 8-14 structured lessons each year that focus on making friends, identifying and understanding feelings, making decisions and solving problems, developing respect, and setting goals. Each consists of three parts: instruction, practice, and closure. Continued practice is encouraged, and most lessons provide strategies for infusing learned skills beyond the lesson. There are occasional take-home sheets and student assessments. Initial training for the Michigan Model for Health typically lasts one to two days. Training is offered and required in the state of Michigan.

https://casel.org/guideprogramsmichigan-model- for-health/


  • Social Emotional Skills-Based Screening Tool, SELweb: SELweb is a web-based system designed to assess key social-emotional skills that are associated with success in school and life and that are the targets of evidence-based social-emotional learning programs. SELweb directly assesses children’s understanding of others’ emotions and perspectives, their social problem-solving skills, and their self-control. Assessment modules are engaging, brief, narrated, and illustrated. SELweb modules assess skills directly—children demonstrate their social-emotional skills by solving challenging problems.

https://xsel-labs.com/assessments/selweb/


  • Support for Behavioral Health Team creation/implementation

How can we use SSYSS in our district?

SSYSS is designed to be integrated into existing supports already in place in your district. As educators, we understand that adding another new “fad” or adding more onto the already overwhelming workload of school staff doesn’t work. We will work with each district to implement SSYSS into the system they have in place, using input from teachers, administrators and support staff.

How can I sign my school or district up to participate in SSYSS?

If you are interested in seeing how SSYSS can work in your district, call or email SSYSS project coordinator Holly Bodjanac at (906) 275-2525 or hbodjanac@maresa.org to schedule a meeting.