NVMI'S STOP School Violence Mental Health Program

The North Valley Military Institute (NVMI) will expand its school-based therapy intervention program to reduce the immediate and long-term harm of these experiences and weaken the link between youth trauma and criminality. Sessions will be offered to parents as well. NVMI will engage three full-time counselors who have experience in a school setting and training dealing with trauma situations. One counselor will serve as a triage therapist for students in crisis. They will evaluate and refer students in need of urgent care, including those who have expressed suicidal or homicidal ideations. NMVI has found the triage model to be the most effective method to meet the higher student demand for mental health intervention by rapidly assessing and routing students in crisis to appropriate treatment. The other two counselors will work directly in classrooms to develop behavior intervention plans and teach curriculum designed to reduce negative behaviors like bullying and to improve the overall school climate. One counselor will manage the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program, an evidence-based, intern-led, school-based therapy program that provides weekly therapy sessions to more than 50 percent of the student population, eliminating the gap between needed and provided therapy. The other counselor will manage the Positive Action program, a schoolwide, lesson-based behavioral intervention program (with parenting classes) that builds intrinsic motivation in the areas of social-emotional learning, academics and behavior, substance abuse, mental and physical health, and college and career readiness, to reduce negative behavioral incidences and foster an inclusive school culture.