THE PROGRAM​​

The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) Student Advocates for Mental Health (SAMH) program engages, trains, and supports students and adult advisors in their efforts to increase mental health awareness, promote suicide prevention, reduce stigma related to mental illness, and increase access to support services on school campuses and in the community. The program utilizes best practices in positive youth development by forming partnerships between students, teachers, school counseling staff, and districts. OCDE provides training, guidance, materials, and resources to support schools and a designated student group to implement activities and events for their school communities. 

OCDE intentionally avoids a “one size fits all” approach for schools to implement youth-based mental health projects, recognizing that all schools are different and the best people to choose the strategies that will be successful to reach the target population are the stakeholders from that school, including students, staff, and parents. Guided by OCDE, each school explores current student attitudes and behaviors regarding mental health, knowledge of school resources, and barriers to seeking services. Student groups (e.g. leadership classes, PAL Peer Assistance Leadership, film classes,  and various service-based clubs) use a project-based learning model to implement mental health promotion projects targeting students, parents/caregivers, and school staff. 

PROGRAM GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The program aims to equip student leaders with knowledge of youth mental health and stigma reduction, strategies for seeking help and supporting their peers to seek help, and awareness of available mental health resources for youth at school and in the community. The goal is to support youth in developing the leadership skills, knowledge base and confidence needed for them to become mental health advocates for themselves and their peers.

THE REACH

Since 2020, OCDE has partnered with 22 school districts and 79 schools, including public, private, and charter schools, to implement a variety of mental health promotion projects with far reaching effects. More than six out of ten schools have participated for multiple years.

In total, 4,622 student advocates were trained in understanding youth mental health, recognizing signs of suicide, self-care strategies, how and where to seek help, and how to support others who may be facing mental health challenges. These youth developed and conducted mental health events that reached an estimated 124,000 students and 16,500 parents over the four years, as well as approximately 1,250 school staff annually.

PROJECT EXAMPLES​​​​​

Los Alamitos High School in the Los Alamitos Unified School District. Students in a video projection class developed films for the statewide Directing Change Film Contest. Two of their films won first place at the statewide contest. “Beyond the Surface” won for the Mental Health Category and “Hot​ Pot” won for the Through the Lens of Culture category. In addition to participating in the contest, the class of filmmakers hosted a showcase event for students, parents/caregivers, and school staff, where they led an open discussion and dialogue about mental health issues affecting teens.​

​Students at Sierra Vista Elementary School in the La Habra City School District planned and implemented various activities for Mental Health Awareness Month. The​activities included a gratitude graffiti wall to demonstrate the impact of gratefulness on mental health, a scavenger hunt to highlight the importance of going outdoors as a self-care strategy, games and interactive activities to promote the message of joining​ enjoyable activities when having a bad day, and a chalk walk that included drawing pictures of things that made students happy. In addition, the school organized a Lunch with Loved Ones eve​nt. Families were invited to have lunch and spend quality time with their students on campus. During this event, the student advocates led activities that emphasized the importance of social support for mental health.​​

Students in the PALⓇ Peer Assistance Leadership class at Pioneer Middle School in the Tustin Unified School District worked with their school counseling team to develop an information presentation for parents, which focused oneducating parents about youth mental health, how parents can best support their students’ mental health/ emotional wellbeing, and how they can take care of their own mental health. The presentation included a youth panel where the PAL students shared their insights and perspective on the topic. The PAL advisor shared that the parents were very appreciative of the presentation and expressed how valuable it was to hear directly from the students about this important topic. 

The Club Live students at McGarvin Intermediate School in the Garden Grove Unified School District organized a health fair to share mental health resources. The health fair incorporated various wellness activities, including a c​oloring ​station, painting, and bracelet making. Garden Grove’s therapy dogs visited the students during the health fair. Additionally, Club Live planned spirit day themes to provide an opportunity to promote mental health messaging and engage the school community in different events. Spirit Days themes consisted of “Mindfulness Mondays” and “Thoughtful Thursdays,” which encouraged students to think about things they are grateful for. Throughout the events, mental health themed give-a-ways were utilized to increase​ student participation.​

Care Club students at Nicolas Junior High School in the Fullerton School District were invited to participate in the opening of new community center. Approximately 350 people from the community; were in attendance for this grand opening. Student advocates hosted a booth where they shared about their mission for mental health awareness at Nicolas Junior High School, provided school and community resources for parents, and promoted a parent outreach activity where they presented on mental health at “Coffee with the Principal.” The Care Club Student Advocates at Nicolas Junior High School had the opportunity to not only present to, but meet Tony Thurmound, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This event and the Care Club Student Advocates were highlighted in the OCDE Newsroom.