Contra Costa County Office of Education

The vision of the Contra Costa County Wellness in Schools Program (WISP) is for all students in the County to access
needed behavioral health services and supports in a timely manner. This grant program was established to strengthen
mental health partnerships between county mental health or behavioral health departments, community based
organizations, and local educational entities in order to increase access to mental health services and remove barriers
to better serve our students and families in their mental health needs.

It is anticipated that Wellness in Schools Liaisons will:

• Establish new partnerships with mental health service providers
• Improve or develop systems to create sustainable best practices and protocols
• Share best practices for school-based mental health, through a "Community of Practice"
• Improve timely access to, and reduce barriers to accessing needed services
• Increase linkages to mental health services for school districts
• Increase training on mental health topics to educators, administrators, parents/families, and students, to improve awareness and understanding of mental health topics, and knowledge of how to navigate mental health services
• Reduction in negative student outcomes (e.g. chronic sadness, thoughts of suicide, chronic absenteeism, school failure, etc.)

• Build capacity of the County's school to identify and address student behavioral health.

• Establish a more uniform awareness of the range of existing behavioral health services and supports available to students and their families/caregivers in the County
• Create increased understanding of how to access those services and supports
• Foster an appreciation for the importance of mental health wellness and a community that welcomes seeking mental health help
• Increase communication and collaboration between BHS, the COE, and school districts.