Annual Conference

The Request for Proposals planning template and online portal are expected to be released in late April, 2024. In the meantime, the following proposal information is available.

Presentation Categories

• Conference Session (60 minutes). A session that allows individuals to gain new knowledge, skills, and enhanced understanding of a topic related to research, training, policy, and/or practice in school mental health. Conference session presenters must allow 5-10 minutes for audience Q&A and discussion.
• Intensive Training Session (180 minutes): An extended session that offers intensive, hands-on, interactive training for individuals interested in gaining advanced knowledge and/or skills on a specific topic or practice.
• Poster (90 minutes). A session that offers an opportunity to visually share and discuss innovative research, training, policy, or practice in school mental health with attendees. Format content typically includes title, authors’ names, introduction and abstract, methods, results, conclusions, tables and figures, and references. We encourage using the newer poster format.
• Symposium (90 minutes). Each symposium consists of 2-3 related presentations that address a topic from different perspectives or discuss several components of a research project. The symposium chair introduces a symposium and its presenters, and the symposium discussant closes the session by integrating the contributions of the presenters. The chair and discussant can be the same or different individuals. Presentations should include time for summaries and discussion. There is a maximum of two speakers per sub-presentation in a symposium, for a total of 3-8 speakers (1-2 chair/discussant, 2-6 presenters).

Presentation Tracks

• School Climate, Social Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Promotion (Tier 1). This track focuses on mental health promotion services and supports (Tier 1), social emotional learning, and school climate to meet the needs of all students, regardless of risk for mental health problems. These activities can be implemented school-wide, at the grade level, and/or at the classroom level. This track incorporates policies and practices to promote positive school climate by fostering safety; promoting a supportive academic, disciplinary, and physical environment; and encouraging and maintaining respectful, trusting, and caring relationships throughout the school community.
• Prevention and Early Intervention (Tier 2). This track focuses on selective services and supports (Tier 2) to prevent mental health and substance use concerns for groups of students who have been systematically identified through referral, needs assessments and/or school teaming processes as being at risk for a given concern or problem. When student needs are identified and supported early on, problems can be eliminated or reduced, and student success is promoted. Sometimes these are referred to as mental health prevention or secondary prevention services.
• Mental Health Intervention and Treatment (Tier 3). This track focuses on indicated and individualized services and supports (Tier 3) to address mental health and substance use concerns to meet the unique needs of each student who displays a particular concern and significant functional impairment. Sometimes these supports are referred to as mental health intervention, treatment, tertiary services, or intensive services.
• Implementation Science and Practice. This track focuses on frameworks, strategies, and methods that support successful implementation of evidence-based services and supports in schools, especially as they relate to a multi-tiered system of student mental health supports and services (MTSS). Implementation frameworks, strategies, and methods can be applied to support the adoption, installation, ongoing implementation, and sustainability of practices in the “real world.” This includes the internal and external factors that influence the implementation of evidence-based school mental health services and supports.
• Education-Mental Health Integration and Collaboration. This track focuses on the active exchange of ideas and collaborative engagement between school- employed and community-employed mental health providers, educators, and families. This track addresses how to develop and implement a culture of collaboration between mental health providers and educators to achieve shared outcomes for students and schools through research, policy, and practice. It includes content that equips and empowers educators in their roles as promoters of student mental health (e.g., educator training in mental health) and mental health staff to work effectively in schools.
• Youth and Family Partnerships in Mental Health. This track focuses on youth- and family-centered principles with leadership from students and their family members. This track emphasizes a connection to meaningful youth and family partnership in all aspects (e.g., planning, development, implementation, evaluation, training) of comprehensive school mental health services and supports.
• Cultural Responsiveness and Equity. This track emphasizes promoting school mental health by identifying and promoting policies and prevention and intervention programs that are antiracist, culturally responsive, and equitable for all students. Issues of race, ethnicity, culture, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and more are explored in this track.
• Advocacy and Policy. This track focuses on the development and advancement of school mental health legislation and policy at the school, district, state, and federal levels, including practical strategies and examples of success.
• Financing and Sustainability. This track focuses on the financial and non-financial dimensions of maintaining or supporting school mental health services and supports over time, in which operational structures and capacity are sound and can evolve and adapt to match the changing needs of students, families, schools, communities, and other systems in their context. This track considers funding, resources, and policies that promote sustainable school mental health.