The College of Education houses the Multiagency Service Network for Students with Severe Emotional Disturbance Administration Project that will help the Florida Department of Education implement a training for K-12 staff and faculty. Jonah Hinebaugh | The Crow’s Nest
By Jonah Hinebaugh
In an effort to implement proper training for faculty and staff in Florida’s K-12 schools, a $2.2 million grant has been awarded to the USF St. Petersburg College of Education by the Florida Department of Education.
According to a press release from the university, it was chosen due to “its experience with developing a network for student mental health services,” said Jordan Knab, the principal investigator for the university’s College of Education.
The Multiagency Service Network for Students with Severe Emotional Disturbance Administration Project housed on campus is another factor for the DOE’s choosing of this campus.
According to SEDNET’s website, it’s a network of 19 regional projects comprised of the major child-serving agencies, community-based service providers, students and their families.
Founded in 1984, the network’s goal is to not only to develop “interagency collaboration” among the regional projects, but to sustain partnerships among professionals and families in areas like substance abuse and child welfare.
In the release, Statewide Director of SEDNET Nickie Zenn said she hopes the program will help open up a conversation about mental health and reduce the stigma attached to it. She calls the program a “CPR course for mental health.”
The grant established the Youth Mental Health Awareness and Training, a project allowing the Florida Department of Education and the university to work in tandem to train the K-12 staff.
The YMHAT’s objective is to assist the staff in how to recognize and assist students with emotional or mental health difficulties and understand how to help students during a crisis or points of extreme difficulty. It’s set to launch this school year.
It falls under the umbrella of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act (Senate Bill 7026) that took effect March 9, less than a month after the shooting that claimed 17 lives. The bill is summed up as a “critical public safety legislation [to] establish safeguards designed to enhance safety in schools.”
In a Florida Senate press release about the safety act, the legislation approved to appropriate $400 million. Over $69 million will go to the Department of Education to fund a mental health assistance allocation.
In addition to this, the legislation also requires the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to procure a mobile app allowing students and the community to relay information anonymously concerning unsafe, dangerous threats.
Incoming Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, presented the bill, which passed 20 to 18 in the Senate and 67 to 50 in the House.
Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said in the release, “We will do everything we can to address the failure of government to effectively address the numerous warning signs that should have identified the perpetrator as a danger to others.”
