District outlines mental health supports and new SSIS roles; board asks for staffing details and metrics

Broward County Public Schools staff on Monday gave a multi-department presentation on mental health and wellness resources, describing prevention and intervention work across school counselors, family therapists, social workers, psychologists and a new class of Student Support Instructional Specialists (SSIS).

Verneka Winter, director of mental health services, and district colleagues described a fourfold approach: prevention (whole-school resilience programs, Mindfulness/Inner Explorer, youth mental health first aid), personnel (counselors, social workers, family therapists, psychologists, SSIS), intervention (site-level counseling, referrals to community partners) and community partnerships (Broward Behavioral Health Coalition, Children's Services Council and others). Speakers stressed schools' layered/tiered model that ranges from schoolwide resiliency lessons to a mobile crisis and MHART (Mental Health Assistance Allocation Resource Team) responses.

The presentation included first-person student examples of programs such as Inner Explorer, resiliency lessons, 5,000 Role Models, Mentoring Tomorrow's Leaders and school-based wellness centers. Staff said Terrace Metrics behavioral-health screening has expanded from a four-school pilot to 36 schools and that SSIS positions (40 SSIS covering 56 schools this year) have already generated more than 2,000 referrals to mental-health professionals.

Board members praised the prevention work and the number of programs in place but pressed for operational clarity: several asked for a breakdown by school and position of how many family therapists, social workers, psychologists and school counselors are on campus and how many schools each professional serves. Staff replied that school psychologists typically cover up to two schools depending on caseload; social workers vary by full- or part-time assignments; school counselors are typically one per elementary school with different ratios at middle and high school levels. Board members requested a districtwide staffing table with caseloads, a clearer point-person for students returning after involuntary hospitalization or Baker Act exams, and outcome metrics to evaluate program impact.

Staff described emerging reforms: a Baker Act transport pilot with community partners to reduce trauma associated with police transport, and plans to expand awareness of supports via outreach and Canvas messages and to produce more student-facing materials. No policy vote occurred; staff committed to returning with staffing breakdowns, program capacity and outcome measures and details on Terrace Metrics rollout and MHART activity.