School Mental Health
Student mental health and well-being are foundational to learning and preparing students for success beyond the classroom. Through safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments students build the social, emotional, and behavioral skills needed to develop healthy relationships, understand their emotions, resolve conflict, and advocate for their needs. In collaboration with families, community organizations, and providers, schools can help ensure that students receive the right level of support at the right time to thrive in school, at home, and in the community.
Crisis Supports
If you have urgent concerns about a student's mental or behavioral health, Connecticut's continuum of youth crisis services provides immediate assessment, intervention, and connections to care.
Ongoing Care
Explore resources to help connect students and families with ongoing mental and behavioral health services and community supports.
- CT Connecting to Care — Find information to understand, navigate, and access children's behavioral health services near you.
- Assisted Intervention Match (AIM) Tool — Answer guided questions to find services matched to a child's behavioral health needs or parent-focused supports.
- Community Pathways — A warm line for families with children up to age 18 seeking in-home mental health, substance use, or parenting services. Non-emergency, available to all families regardless of insurance.
Student Support Series: Professional Learning for Youth Mental and Behavioral Health
The Student Support Series offers webinar-based learning opportunities that provide practical strategies, evidence-informed practices, and connections to resources that help schools support student well-being and foster safe, inclusive, and connected learning environments.
Pending approval, each 90-minute live webinar will provide 1.5 Continuing Education Credits by the National Association of Social Workers, CT and will meet the CEC criteria for Connecticut LCSW, LMSW, LMFT, LPC and licensed psychologists. Live attendance is required for CECs.
| Registration Link | Recordings |
|---|---|
| Registration link coming soon | Recordings of previous webinars |
Mental Health Resource Kits
Access all the materials shared in the fall 2026 Mental Health Resources for Schools bags. (PDF coming soon)
Resources for Schools
Mental Health Promotion
- The Connecticut Clearinghouse
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Kids, Teens, and Young Adults
- National Institute of Mental Health: Resources for Students and Educators
- Mindscape: Helping Young Minds Thrive
School Culture and Climate
- School Climate Guidance (PDF)
- Bullying and Harassment
- Positive School Climate
- Understanding School Climate: An Overview of School Climate Domains (PDF)
- Connecticut Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Partnership
Attendance
- School is Better with You
- Learner Engagement and Attendance Program (LEAP)
- Attendance Works
- Talk Tuesdays
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
- Social-Emotional Learning
- Components of Social, Emotional, and Intellectual Habits: Kindergarten through Grade 12 (PDF)
- Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) Program Guide and Reviews
Family Engagement
- Family Engagement
- Connecticut Family School Partnerships — Statewide Family Engagement Center
- Ohio's Statewide Family Engagement Center
- Family Engagement Toolkit (CHDI)
Suicide Prevention
Grief and Loss
- The Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families
- The Cove Center For Grieving Children
- Mary's Place
Trauma
- The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
- Strategies and Resources to Support Trauma-Informed Schools (SchoolSafety.gov) (PDF)
Social Media and Digital Spaces
- CSDE K-12 Model Digital Literacy & Well-Being Collection Resources
- AAP Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health
- UNICEF Adolescent Mental Health Hub
- Take It Down
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - NetSmartz
Sign up for the School Mental Health List Serv
SDE_SCHOOL_MENTAL_HEALTH@LIST.CT.GOV
- Send an email to listserv@list.ct.gov.
- Remove all text from the body of your email, including your contact information.
- In the body of your email please type: "Subscribe SDE_SCHOOL_MENTAL_HEALTH (subscriber name)" and then send.
Interested in becoming a school mental health professional? Visit the Connecticut State Department of Education Bureau of Certification to learn more!