Welcome to the School-Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy
The State Education Resource Center (SERC) has created a new centralized School-Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy, developed for grades K-12 funded by the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS).
The Center is designed as a single centralized source for educators, students, families, organizations, and communities to find the most current information and services related to substance use prevention in our youth. Here you will find support and programs, practices, and interventions to mitigate the impact of substance use.
Now Open: Prevention Programming in Connecticut Schools Survey!
All public school districts and non-public schools are invited to participate!
We need your help to gather and share information regarding the prevention programs that Connecticut school districts are implementing around mental health, suicide prevention, substance use prevention, and social-emotional learning. The survey covers which programs are being used, impacts of the programs, and prevention priorities for districts.
SERC is excited to offer no-cost support to districts who indicate interest in the survey.
Discover the new Prevention, Education and Advocacy Collection
News & Announcements
Come Learn with us!
Navigating Burnout: Cultivating Self-Care and Inclusive Practice
Virtual Session – Zoom FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024, 9:30 – 11AM
Audience: Birth-21: Family Engagement Staff, Mental Health Professionals, Support Staff, Educators and Staff who work with families
Presenter: Dr. Alexis Melville, SERC Consultant
Join us for a virtual workshop on burnout prevention, designed specifically for educators and support staff who engage with families. In this dynamic session, we will explore understanding and preventing burnout, embracing diversity, and cultivating effective self-care practices. We will discuss the unique challenges faced by educators and support staff, including but not limited to the pressure associated with constantly performing and the guilt associated with taking a break. We will also explore how personal, cultural, and systemic factors can influence the process of burnout. Through group activities and interactive discussions, participants will walk away with authentic means to engage in self-care, allowing for more opportunities to connect in trusting and collaborative relationships between educators and families.
School Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy – Virtual Open House
Virtual Session (Zoom) -Offered Twice: MONDAY, MAY 13, 2024, 1 – 2PM OR TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2024, 10 – 11AM
Audience: Schools, Communities and Families
Presenter: Bianca Irizarry, and Christina Simms, SERC Consultants
The State Education Resource Center (SERC) has created a new centralized School-Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy, developed for grades PreK-12. “We continue to provide programs and services to our schools and communities as we collectively create equitable and safe learning environments for our young people, and we look forward to this ongoing support in substance misuse prevention as well,” said SERC Executive Director Ingrid M. Canady. “The school-based center will help schools connect to what they need before the next crisis.”
Join us for a virtual open house and learn about the Center’s substance use and mental health support materials and resources.
Parent Village Facilitator Training
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024, 9AM – 4PM
Location: Stratford High School, 45 North Parade, Stratford CT 06615
Audience: Families, faith-Based leaders, parent leaders, family engagement staff, and educators
Presenters: Lindsay Dumas, M.Ed., Director of Training and Capacity Building, Families in Schools
Parent Village Facilitator Training: BE PART OF BUILDING AND FACILITATING PARENT VILLAGES IN YOUR COMMUNITY, providing support while building strong, healthy families and communities.
The Parent Villages curriculum and toolkit brings small groups of parents together over four sessions to activate parents as leaders and advocates. Serving as an introduction to leadership and advocacy, parents learn how to foster community, forge collective identity, find their voice, and fight for change.
Participants will take a deep dive into the Parent Village toolkit and curriculum and learn how to host a “Parent Village” in their community. The four-session curriculum, available in English and Spanish and for virtual or in-person settings, includes engaging and interactive group learning activities promoting parent leadership, parent voice, and parent agency to advocate for a society that better supports parents – a parent nation – essential for all children to thrive. This training will equip participants with leadership and facilitation skills activating parent power and advocacy.
In the News: As more teens overdose on fentanyl, schools face a drug crisis unlike any other
…Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, warns schools are just one piece of the puzzle.
“We can’t possibly do this alone. This is not a school crisis. This is a community crisis,” says the former middle school teacher.
“So it’s not just educators in schools. It’s parents and families. It’s the communities themselves. It’s every level of government. We have to come together. Too often, the ills of society find the way to our schoolhouse doors, but the resources of society don’t follow them.”
NPR.org
NPR’s All Things Considered discussed the teen fentanyl crisis on August 30, 2023.
Announcing the School-Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy
The State Education Resource Center has created a NEW centralized School Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy developed for grades k-12 and funded by Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Our culturally conscious services and resources include a NEW online substance use prevention knowledge and awareness course. Engage in learning about prevention through a self-paced course that provides an overview of the science behind prevention, the key components of building a school-based prevention team and tools to evaluate, assess readiness and select the best prevention curriculum and practices for your school or district.
You can register for this complimentary course, by using the link provided: https://serc.info/preventioncourse23.
We have also developed a NEW website! Please check out the School Based Center for Prevention, Education and Advocacy at www.ctserc.org/prevention. Here you will find information regarding our partners in this work, the Library’s Prevention Education and Advocacy Collection, an application to request support and technical assistance and much more!
For more information, please feel free to reach out to Christina Simms, Consultant at simms@ctserc.org or Bianca Irizarry, Consultant at irizarry@ctserc.org.
We look forward to supporting you in your prevention efforts.
In the News: Tackling the fentanyl crisis
Bianca Irizarry was interviewed on NPR’s Where We Live, talking about the Center and what we can all do to help prevent substance misuse.