May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Houston Independent School District is joining organizations across the country in raising awareness about the importance of mental health by highlighting available resources and support for students and staff.
Continue readingTag Archives: Student Support Services
HISD launches on-campus telehealth services for students
In an ongoing effort to expand non-instructional supports for students, Houston Independent School District is now offering telehealth services at no cost for students.
Through the new partnership with Hazel Health, HISD students will be able to connect with diverse, multilingual, licensed medical providers to receive mental and physical health services.
Continue readingHISD Student Support Services gets festive with holiday giving events for Houston families
HISD’s Student Support Services Department is dedicated to connecting students and their families with non-instructional community resources. Students face many obstacles during the school year, and for many families, no time of year is as challenging as the holiday season. The various departments under Student Support services have organized a series of events and worked with community partners to aid students and their families this December.
Continue readingHISD supports necessary commitment to mental and physical health for district families
HISD is working to continue its expansion of non-instructional supports for students. These efforts continue to be informed by research, including a survey that pinpoints urgent needs of families across the district.
Continue readingHISD Wraparound Services partners with community organizations to give back to Houston families
HISD’s Wraparound Services Department is gearing up to assist more than 100 Houston families for the Thanksgiving holiday.
In partnership with Houston community organizations, the department is hosting turkey giveaways, raffles, food drives, and more at several HISD campuses.
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
As part of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, HISD is partnering with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Greater Houston to get the word out on suicide prevention measures and how to talk to teens about suicide without increasing the risk of harm.
Last December, NAMI Greater Houston trained 16 new volunteers to speak at middle and high school campuses about mental health wellness, mental illness, how to be a friend of someone dealing with mental health challenges, and suicide intervention. This past summer, NAMI volunteers began working with HISD to train district administrators, social workers, special education case managers, and other employees.
HISD has its own Crisis Intervention team, which is part of the new Social and Emotional Learning department. There are nine psychologists on staff under the direction of Dr. Lauren Goonan. All are licensed as both psychologists and as specialists in school psychology in the State of Texas.
Summit connects schools with wrap-around services in Houston community
Principals network with more than 120 city, county, and nonprofit service providers to help serve their students and families
HISD principals were able to connect with more than 120 different city, county, and nonprofit service providers available to their students and families as part of the district’s first ever Wrap-Around Services Summit.
The summit, held at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center on Sept. 7, was designed as a networking opportunity for campuses to identify resources available to their school communities in the areas of behavior and medical related services, parent education, vocational/workforce training, and other social services.
“Some schools may not even know what exists out there,” said District V Trustee Mike Lunceford. “There is an assortment of organizations who have the ability to help our children, and we need to reach out and make sure that all of our schools benefit from these services.” Continue reading