6th Annual RC SELPA Mental Health Symposium: Mental Health Matters

In a world that constantly pulls leaders toward urgency and performance, Meet the Moment offers participants an opportunity to lean into a more human-centered approach. In this keynote, Molly Grisham guides the audience through a powerful reflection on how they are showing up — for themselves, for their teams, and for the moment in front of them. Through story, insight, and practical application, participants will leave with greater clarity, deeper connection, and renewed courage to lead in a way that feels both grounded and human.

Dr. David Diehl is the Child Welfare and Attendance Program Administrator for the Sanger Unified School District. While a Director of Community Services in a small rural district facing significant challenges, the Selma Unified School District took bold steps to address one of education’s most pressing issues—chronic absenteeism. His district launched a district-wide, data-driven initiative that resulted in a remarkable 31% drop in chronic absenteeism across its elementary schools in just 1.5 years. This powerful session will explore the district’s tiered framework, developed under the leadership of Dr. David Diehl, that uses predictive data, early warning signs, and wraparound support to transform student attendance and lives. Learn how attendance teams, comprised of social workers and newly hired Community Liaisons, analyzed data to identify attendance barriers and engage families early in the school year. Discover how this model goes beyond the numbers, integrating behavioral data, literacy indicators, and school-avoidance patterns to support the whole child. Dr. Diehl will also share the research and lived experiences that shaped this approach, including insights from five major longitudinal studies and his own work with justice-involved youth. With deep personal investment stemming from his time teaching in a court school, where he tragically lost 21 students to gang violence. Dr. Diehl offers not just a framework, but a call to action. Join this session to gain a replicable blueprint for reducing absenteeism, increasing student connectedness, and preventing future dropout and delinquency—starting before 6th grade. Whether you're an administrator, counselor, or community partner, you’ll leave inspired and equipped to lead meaningful change in your own district.

In this session, you will learn some of the Best Practices in Team Building. This session will clarify the differences between Team Bonding, Team Building, and Team Development, teach the value of using Experiential Check-ins, establish the role leaders should play in Team Building, provide guidance and team-building resources, and set a standard for how groups can debrief a session. This session is ideal for leaders who want to get people talking and connecting more deeply. Our time will be interactive, and participants will walk away with clear action items that they can implement with their groups.

This workshop introduces a developmentally responsive, trauma-informed grief intervention designed to help students navigate loss through the healing power of art therapy. Participants will explore how grief affects emotional regulation, peer relationships, and academic engagement—and why timely, school-based support is essential.Grounded in the restorative role of rituals, the session features the creation of a portable memorial altar as a meaningful tool for remembrance, continuing bonds, and resilience-building. Through a guided, hands-on art experience, attendees will leave with practical strategies to implement creative, school-based interventions that strengthen coping skills, social connection, and sustained student engagement.

Providing Mental health support to students with intellectual disabilities comes with a lot of stigma and misconceptions. Providing the audience with a brief overview of ID and co-occurring disorders, address communication and accessibility, while preserving the rights and dignity of the students, and discuss what mental health support can look like at a school setting. Explore out of the box interventions to support individuals with ID.

Outcome is for the audience to recognize their own potential biases and learn practical ways to support those students who are often forgotten or get less than. That they will feel inspired and confident to work with individuals with ID.

Last summer 10 SBMH therapists from DSUSD were offered an opportunity to become Yoga instructors and incorporate in daily practices across all school aged children. We will share how this looks like in group and individual sessions. The different positive impact of building a supportive culture around Yoga practices and guiding principles of focus, discipline, respect, mindfulness, and how it assists with negative behaviors. We will address what it looks like in elementary and secondary grades. We can also incorporate movement opportunities to have audience engagement. 

School employees—including teachers, administrators, and support staff—are experiencing sustained levels of stress, burnout, and absenteeism that directly impact retention, morale, and student outcomes. Research from the RAND Corporation and the American Psychological Association underscores the urgency of addressing workplace stress in education through systemic, rather than episodic, responses.

This presentation highlights the development and implementation of a comprehensive Workplace Wellness Program designed specifically for school system employees. Grounded in the philosophy, “Put on your own mask first before assisting others,” the initiative reframes staff wellness as a leadership responsibility and organizational priority—not an optional add-on.

The session will outline how the Desert Sands Unified School District Staff Wellness Committee built a structured action plan that integrates physical, mental, and preventive health supports directly into the work environment. Using staff survey data and participation trends, the program established a yearlong calendar of accessible, interest-driven wellness opportunities designed to reduce barriers to engagement—particularly the common perception of having “no time” during the workday.

This session is highly interactive and models the same self-regulation strategies participants can use with students and clients. Attendees will engage with short video clips and familiar media examples embedded throughout the presentation to prompt discussion, reflection, and real-time skill practice and will allow participants to experience regulation strategies firsthand. Hands-on activities, storytelling and case examples are woven throughout to connect concepts to real classroom and clinical scenarios. Participants will leave having practiced multiple techniques they can immediately implement in educational, therapeutic, and family-based settings.

This presentation examines how LEUSD ERMHS and mental health teams collaborate to provide early, inclusive supports that build resilience before challenges escalate to formal assessment. Designed for classroom and systems leaders, this session shares lessons learned, challenges encountered, and adjustments made to strengthen intervention, bridge gaps, and reduce behavior-driven IEP identification while maintaining access, regulation, and learning for all students.

Participants will leave with a shared understanding of how integrated mental health systems can support students in general education settings, regardless of designation. Attendees will gain practical insight into early, resilience-focused interventions, cross-department collaboration, and systems-level decision-making that strengthen access, reduce behavior-driven special education identification, and promote sustainable supports for all students.

See how Banning USD used SETH, a district-specific AI support system, to empower leaders, strengthen staff wellness, and build inclusive, resilient school communities. Explore strategies for fostering belonging, reducing administrative burden, and ensuring consistent, equitable support for students with disabilities, ultimately helping leaders create confident teams, sustainable systems, and a culture where every staff member and student thrives.

Participants will leave with actionable ideas to implement systems that support staff wellness, enhance belonging, and improve equity in student services. Leaders will learn how real-time, district-aligned guidance and intentional stakeholder engagement can strengthen team confidence, streamline procedures, and foster inclusive, resilient school cultures ready to sustain high-quality practices long-term.

Exploring the mission and vision of the TVUSD SEAL program. Telling the story of our strength, longevity and good work. Focusing on the systemic identify of the Program while spotlighting how therapist are a part of the environment.

Sharing with others how our unique approach has created a therapeutic environment within our "ED" classrooms. Taking them from classrooms to programs. Creating a team and a relational environment in order to best serve the mental health needs of our students.

This session will focus on providing data driven and legally compliant decisions when working with students with mental health issues in schools.  We will focus on connecting the dots between the student's functioning levels and needs, to develop appropriate goals, that will then drive the supplementary aids, supports and services.

Participants will have a better understanding of the law as it pertains to address mental health needs in school, and better outcomes for students.

This interactive session moves beyond understanding trauma to focus on how educators can respond in real time. Participants will engage in simulations, real-world scenarios, and guided practice to explore how trauma impacts student behavior, learning, and emotional regulation. Emphasis is placed on creating safe, predictable environments, building strong relationships, and supporting regulation for both students and staff. Attendees will leave with practical strategies and language they can implement immediately in their school settings.