Biden-Harris Administration Announces Two New Actions to Address Youth Mental Health Crisis

Rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among youth were on the rise even before the pandemic, and now our nation’s youth face an unprecedented mental health crisis. In July the Biden-Harris Administration announced two new actions to strengthen school-based mental health services and address the youth mental health crisis: 1) The U.S. Department of Education is disbursing the first of nearly $300 million the President secured through the FY2022 bipartisan omnibus agreement to expand access to mental health services in schools; and 2) In a letter sent to governors across the country, the Departments of Education and of Health and Human Services highlighted federal resources available to states and schools to invest in mental health services for students.

An additional $1.7 billion for mental health is headed to our schools and communities thanks to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA) signed by President Biden last month.

Read more about the Department’s plans to address the youth mental health crisis here.

Engage Every Student Initiative

To support President Biden’s call for schools to use American Rescue Plan funds to support summer learning and afterschool programs, the Department announced the Engage Every Student Initiative, a public-private partnership to build on investments made by the American Rescue Plan and dramatically expand access to after-school and summer learning programs. National partners are supporting program providers by organizing available technical assistance offerings in one centralized, readily available location. If you have an out-of-school-time program, or are thinking of starting one, there are resources to help! Funding opportunities, training, and other technical assistance may be found at EngageEveryStudent.org.

National Partnership for Student Success Launched

To help ensure that all our nation’s students thrive now and in the future, on July 5 President Biden launched the National Partnership for Student Success (NPSS), a nationwide three-year effort bringing together committed, high-quality education and service organizations. These organizations will recruit, train, support, and engage an additional 250,000 Americans to serve as academic tutors, mentors, and student success coaches for children and youth in preK through high school. The effort is led by the Department, along with AmeriCorps, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, and a diverse coalition of state, local, and national organizations, all committed to seeing our students succeed and grow.

Resources for Communities and Educators following the Shooting in Uvalde, TX

We know that in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy like this, the impacted community will receive an outpouring of support and offers of assistance. The Department stands with the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and will work through a focused response team to ensure that supports are delivered efficiently, coherently, and in a way that honors the community’s needs and wishes. We are equipped to support for the long-term as the needs will persist for years to come.

The Department’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools funds technical assistance centers (Readiness and Emergency Management for School (REMS) Center, Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety (SEL), National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE), and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS Center). Each of these centers is staffed with nationally renowned experts in responding to traumatic incidents, including violence in schools. These centers will be at the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District’s disposal, including any on-site needs.

Under the Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) program, the Department can direct grant support to local educational agencies after a traumatic event. Funds can be used to provide mental health support to students and school staff to restore the learning environment. The Department will support the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in seeking these funds.

We recognize that a tragedy of this scale will require a long-term partnership over several years. Whether it is technical assistance provided by program staff or technical assistance center staff who have supported other school communities ravaged by gun violence, targeted grant funding, or programmatic and other flexibilities, the Department is here for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and its students, staff, and families.

Resources from across the Biden-Harris administration:

This tragedy comes on the heels of another mass shooting in Buffalo, NY. A compilation of resources from across the Biden-Harris administration can be found here:

Below you can find additional resources for educators and families, including resources in English and Spanish to provide trauma-informed care to affected adults and children.

U.S. Department of Education resources:

Organization-based resources for trauma-informed care:

Resources in English:
Recursos en español:

NOTE: This list will be updated periodically with additional resources. These links represent just a few examples of the numerous reference materials currently available to the public. The inclusion of resources should not be construed or interpreted as an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any private organization or business listed herein. To recommend additional resources, email edpartners@ed.gov.

Additional Assistance for Students and Institutions Through Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Grant Program and Expanded SNAP Benefits

To provide ongoing relief from the COVID-19 emergency and implement provisions in the American Rescue Plan recently signed by President Biden, the U.S. Department of Education is announcing additional benefits, outreach, flexibilities, and guidance to assist students, federal student aid applicants, and institutions of higher educations.

American Rescue Plan Funds for All 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to Help Schools Reopen

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced the amount of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding that each State, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia will receive to support their efforts to reopen K-12 schools safely this month and equitably expand opportunity for students who need it most.

Department of Education to Host National Safe School Reopening Summit on Wednesday, March 24

In March 2021, following the passage of the American Rescue Plan recently signed by President Biden, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced more details today regarding the virtual National Safe School Reopening Summit, which will take place on Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 12pm EDT. The summit program will include welcoming remarks from First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as well as remarks from Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel A. Cardona, and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Rochelle Walensky. It will also consist of three panels that will include health experts, educators and education leaders, and students.

Multiple Pathways to Success: Supporting Foster and Homeless Students

On Thursday, June 28th, the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives (CFOI) and Federal Student Aid (FSA) co-hosted a webinar for faith and community leaders, as well as other caring adults, to provide information on assisting foster and homeless students with filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Faith and community leaders are in direct contact with many foster and homeless students, and this webinar was the first in a series to provide them with resources to help their communities. Fred Stennis, the Outreach Team Coordinator at FSA, and Dr. Andrea Ramirez, the Acting Director of CFOI, discussed the process for students applying for federal student aid, how faith and community leaders can help guide students through this process and dispelled some of the myths about the FAFSA and FSA.

The purpose of this webinar was to help foster and homeless students who wish to pursue higher education. Dr. Ramirez introduced the topic with information regarding the nation’s foster and homeless student population. She then shared the U.S. Department of Education’s goal of providing students with multiple pathways to success; higher education is one such pathway. Fred Stennis then gave attendees information on resources that FSA provides to students, including directions for filling out FAFSA.

FSA gives out $120 billion to more than 13 million students every year, through grants, loans, and work-study programs. Foster and homeless youth face unique challenges when pursuing higher education, but this webinar explained how they are treated equally when filling out the FAFSA. Caring adults who wish to help foster and homeless students should encourage them to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Some key takeaways from this webinar were:

  • All U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for Federal Student Aid, including foster and homeless students.
  • FAFSA opens on October 1st.Check for deadlines from FSA, state agencies, colleges, and other financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
  • Complete the FAFSA with information as of the date of submission. (Applicants do not need to update the application after submission, but can re-submit the form if necessary.)
  • Applicants do not need to provide a home address to fill out the FAFSA. Applicants will be required to provide an address where they can reliably receive mail. This can be the address of any caring adult in their life.
  • Applicants should include up to 10 schools on the FAFSA to compare their aid options from schools they’re considering.

For more information on this webinar, emailEdPartners@ed.gov for a copy of the presentation.

For more information on FAFSA and other FSA resources, FSA holds monthly webinars, has tutorial videos on their YouTube channel and will answer questions via email or web chat on their website, studentaid.gov, or by phone at 1-800-4FED-AID.

CFOI will be hosting another webinar on August 23rd, 2018, from 1-2:00pm (ET), with guest speakers from FSA and the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), to provide faith and community leaders with resources to aid citizens returning from the prison system as they navigate FAFSA and career, technical and apprenticeship opportunities. Registration will be available soon. To be notified when registration is available, and to learn more about our work at the Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, email EdPartners@ed.gov and request to receive our center’s highlights.

 

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The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Reflection

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The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge

Part of a reflection series presented by the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

 

The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge is an initiative of the White House with support from the Department of Education, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

 

For many, college years include experiences that challenge long held assumptions about the world and our place in it. Part of that challenge can include building bridges of understanding alongside rising leaders from different religious and non-religious traditions through service. Based on the recommendation of the inaugural President’s Advisory Council on Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships, President Obama established the Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge, which brings together students and educators, colleges and universities, faith and community organizations, and others to strengthen campuses and communities through the power of faith and service.

 

Now in its sixth year, more than 500 schools have been or are currently involved in the challenge. Currently 12 percent of American college students who attend schools with more than 1,000 students are attending a participating school. This includes schools in 43 states, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia.

 

The challenge has not been restricted to one model of higher education. Instead it has flourished in a variety of settings including large research universities, four-year colleges, tribal colleges, career colleges, and historically black colleges and universities. Each institution provides a unique perspective on what it means to have an interfaith engagement component to community service. The make-up of the student body, the resources of the institution and faculty, the nature of the community, and the traditions of the school have resulted in unique programs at each school.pic1

 

In 2015, educators and students from around the world were invited to join the conversation about interfaith service. As a result, more than 70 people from 24 countries participated in the Fifth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge gathering. This tradition continued into the Sixth Annual President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge where we had 60 international guests representing 31 countries joining the nearly 600 faculty, staff, students, and college presidents at Gallaudet University.

 

The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge provides a platform though which service connects people from different religious and non-religious back-grounds to tackle community challenges together. American colleges, community colleges, and universities have often been at the forefront of solving our nation’s greatest challenges. The White House is calling on higher education to make the vision for interfaith cooperation a reality on campuses across the country.

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Belief, Behavior and Belonging

oct-19On Wednesday, Ocotober 20th, The Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP) participated in the State Department’s (STATE) Office of Religion and Global Affairs Religious Literacy, Public Policy and American Schools brown bag event in The Ralph Bunche Library. The event included a panel moderated by Mariam Kaldas (STATE) with panelists Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell (CFBNP) and Benjamin Marcus (Newseum Fellow). Brenda gave remarks on the work of the Department of Education Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Ben presented his research from his chapter in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook on Religion and America Education. Some of the topics discussed were practicing religious literacy, religious identity formation and how to work with religious communities in conflict settings.

In Ben’s research he highlighted how we all have different understandings of faith and religion. For instance, if a group of people are asked the definition of religion, there would be a myriad of different definitions and one may even say it is undefinable. Religious literacy does not mean you can define every religion, but rather “understand and use the religious terms, symbols, images, beliefs, practices, scriptures, heroes, themes, and stories that are employed in American public life.”

Ben’s research delves further into religious identity and formation and perception of religion. He uses a framework called the “Three B’s”: Belief, Behavior and Belonging to explain how one develops his or her religious identity.

When engaging conflict communities, there are a few steps to address religious identity:

  1. Listen and ask “What does your religion mean to you?”
  2. Determine what aspect of religious identity (Belief, Behavior, Belonging), if any, fuels the tension.
  3. Look for common ground, not necessarily talking about scripture, but what they care about.

Through Brenda’s remarks and Ben’s research, the audience was able to engage in an introspective conversation on religious literacy. Brenda reinforced the value of convening and bringing people together. Ben was able to build upon that foundation by discussing practices to humbly address differences and understand the history behind various religious identities. Finally, questions on topics such as separation of church and state, populism and religion, and secularism were discussed.

It was an informative and reflective event that helped the participants gain a further understanding and direction on discussing religious literacy!

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