FY2024: Supporting Students' Social Emotional Learning, Behavioral & Mental Health, and Wellness — Continuation (SEL & Mental Health Grant)

Fund Codes: 613/311/332

Purpose:

Research has shown that students' well-being is critically important to their academic and overall success. Schools and districts continue to navigate the complex challenges of educating students across the Commonwealth, amid workforce shortages, discourse related to our country's long history of institutional racism, and recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Schools are tasked with launching new and ever-changing opportunities for teaching and learning, while at the same time supporting the holistic needs of students and their families.

The purpose of this state and federally funded continuation grant program is to adapt, expand, or strengthen multi-tiered systems of support to respond to the social-emotional and behavioral and mental health needs of students, families and educators and to build strong partnerships with community-based mental health agencies and/or providers.

This grant aims to build capacity of school districts, charter schools, and educational collaboratives to do the following:

• develop comprehensive, integrated multi-tiered systems for student, family, and educator social-emotional and/or mental health supports; and
• build sustainable infrastructure to facilitate integrated coordination between school, students, families, school staff, and community-based services and/or providers.

Priorities:

Through this grant initiative, participating districts are asked to prioritize the following areas as they relate to social-emotional and behavioral and mental health for students, staff, and families. Applicants are expected to propose activities that align with the priorities below and build upon those described in and/or that were implemented as part of Fiscal Year FY2023 grant activities, to demonstrate sustainability and scalability efforts for building a comprehensive mental health system.

• Racial equity and cultural responsiveness: Ensure that the approach to teaching, modeling, and integrating social-emotional learning (SEL) is done from a culturally responsive lens and is building comprehensive mental health systems. This includes providing professional development and coaching to staff on culturally responsive social-emotional and/or mental health practices and strengthening systems to solicit student and family leadership, to empower voices that have been historically marginalized. This work should be approached from a community and school lens.
• Universal Mental Health and Social Emotional Screening Systems: Ensure screenings are conducted to identify tier I, II, or III needs that are matched with strategic supports and consider student needs in a racially equitable manner.
• Evidence-based interventions and supports: Ensure schools utilize evidenced-based social-emotional and behavioral health interventions and supports, and that staff receive the necessary professional development and coaching to implement them with fidelity. This could include a range of efforts that include but are not limited to tier 1(universal) supports implemented by classroom teachers and tier 2/3 (supplemental, small group, and more intensive) interventions implemented by student support staff/clinicians.
• Sustainable Systems & Partnerships: Establish and/or strengthen sustainable systems and multi-year partnerships (including students, family, community-based services and/or providers, and professional development providers, etc.).

Applicants will prioritize activities aligned, but not limited to those detailed for each of the following categories:

Coordinate Services through Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

• redesign student support staffing models to support a more proactive and deliberate multi-tiered approach to social-emotional learning and behavioral health and wellness;
• create a comprehensive approach to tier 1 social-emotional learning and behavioral health;
• provide robust, evidence-based tier 2 and tier 3 supports and interventions;
• ensure all social-emotional learning and behavioral health practices, policies, and supports across all three tiers are culturally-responsive and equitable;
• develop effective planning and feedback structures with students, families, and caregivers to ensure that social emotional learning efforts reflect the school community's values and priorities;
• ensure the necessary systems are put in place to monitor implementation and sustain/scale successful practices and policies;
• provide on-going professional development (including coaching) for staff members to enhance culturally-responsive tier 1 social-emotional learning for students, and recognize and respond to mental and behavioral health challenges that may arise;
• participate in free Department-sponsored professional development (PD) to support school staff in identifying and supporting students in need of social emotional, behavioral, and/or mental health services; and
• offer other activities aligned with the priorities of the grant.

Create and sustain partnerships with Community-Based agencies to increase Access to Services

• work with community-based providers to identify options for increased collaboration, provision of mental health/behavioral health services on site (at school) and/or in the community;
• build infrastructure for cross-system coordination to improve integration of behavioral and mental health supports for continuity of care for children, youth and families to ensure seamless transitions between schools and communities;
• design or implement improvements to data systems and software applications to facilitate mapping of school and community-based resources, making referrals, tracking students' use of services, monitoring the impact of services, and identify implications for future services (subject to compliance with all applicable state and federal laws regarding data security and privacy);
• implement strategies and partnerships to foster sustained behavioral and mental health supports for students and families; these strategies should be aligned with locally-created action plans that extend beyond the grant period (e.g., funding startup costs for the initial offering of services on-site to students eligible for the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative or MassHealth, commercial insurance providers, or other sources that extend beyond the grant period);
• develop comprehensive systems of care through written policies and practices that are sustainable and scalable; and create multi-year partnership agreements with community-based and other partner organizations to support systemic approaches to address social-emotional and behavioral health needs for staff, students, and families.

Eligibility:

Recipients of the FY2022 Fund Codes 613/311/332 and FY2023 Fund Code 311 are eligible to apply.

• Eligibility Amounts and Fund Code: Applicants should reference this file for the amount for which they are eligible and the fund code to use for the application. Amounts were determined based on FY2023 grant awards and were adjusted to reflect anticipated available funding and FY2024 grant priorities.

Funding Source:

Fund Code 613: State Line Item 7061-9650
Fund Code 311: State Line Item 7061-0028
Fund Code 332: Federal CFDA 84.425 ESSER — Federal Coronavirus Relief Programs — Federal Grant Programs
Federal grant funds must adhere to:

• UGG (2 CFR 200)
• EDGAR As Applicable
• EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

Approximately $7,500,000 is available.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Applicants' requests for funding should be commensurate with the scope of activities proposed.

All grant participants will be expected to participate in two networking meetings and one end of year celebration that will be facilitated by the Department (DESE) during the course of the grant.

Fund Use:

These funds must be used in ways that are aligned to the grant purpose and priorities described above and that have reasonable likelihood of being sustained (and/or having impact) beyond the grant period.

Fund use may include, but is not limited to:

• Contracting with partners who provide one or more of the following services:
  • evidence-based universal mental health screening tools, data analysis, and support;
  • the design and implementation of integrated student support systems to assess the strengths and needs of all students and develop academic and social-emotional plans for students;
  • develop and support bridge programs for school re-entry after prolonged absences to promote healing, wellness, and academic success;
  • other services aligned with the priorities of this grant.
• Professional development and coaching for staff (educators, student support staff, administrators, etc.);
• Salaries for employees or contracted staff who will be directly supporting strategies outlined in the plan;
• Stipends to support planning, meetings, travel, or local professional development (including DESE-sponsored opportunities); Note: out of state travel is not allowable for this grant. Travel for professional development should be directly related to grant requirements and priorities.
• Relevant resources and/or materials;
• Contracted services with community-based partners; and
• Partnership coordination activities.

Applicants funded through FC 613 & 311 (State): MTRS is not an allowable expense.

Applicants funded through FC 332 (Federal): MTRS must be budgeted for all active staff who are part of the state retirement system whose salaries are paid from this grant.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval* (no earlier than September 8, 2023) – 6/30/2024

*Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Student and Family Support

Contact:

Chris Pond

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3611

Date Due:

Monday, September 18, 2023 5 p.m. Eastern

Proposals must be received at the Department by 5 p.m. Eastern on the date due.

Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis and may be submitted prior to the due date. Extensions if needed, may also be requested by the due date. Note: The start date will be based on when an approvable grant is entered in EdGrants

Required Forms:

• Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

• Part II — Budget Details (submit directly into the EdGrants formlet)
  Template for Budget drafting

• Part III — Required Program Information

• Part IV — Assurances

Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants.

In EdGrants, districts are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants:

FY24 (FUND CODE NUMBER*) SEL & MH Grant (Applicant Name)
*See Eligibility Amounts and Fund Code file above for fund code number.

All items listed under the required forms section of this RFP should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List formlet of the Application Submission in EdGrants. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's signature as well as Schedule A form, if applicable to your district. The final budget the applicant is requesting will be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process.

For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides, Information and Trainings.

Please note: It is up to the district to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users.

Last Updated: September 11, 2023