Education

Mental Health Strategy

Mental Health Strategy for 2024-2027

Superior-Greenstone District School Board has developed a Mental Health Strategic Plan.  The plan was carefully developed reflecting the requirements of PPM 169, with consultation from stakeholders which included North of Superior Counselling Programs, Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, IEAC, Mental Health and Addictions Nurses, System Principals and Managers, school based staff, and School Mental Health Ontario coaches.  The Mental Heath Strategy was also guided by intentional data collection.  The Mental Health Strategic Plan has been vetted through various review processes and we have adjusted priorities from feedback we have received.   

The plan is centered around the utilization of data, student voice and measurement tools to guide service development, assess needs and determine impact.

 

Mental Health Strategy (.PDF)

Mental Health Action Plan Goals for 2025-2026

SGDSB Mental Health Action Plan 2025-2026

High Quality, Culturally Relevant Evidence Based Service Provision

Goal 1:  Engagement and Integration of Indigenous Knowledge

To establish sustained, respectful engagement with Indigenous communities and Knowledge Keepers, with the aim of embedding Indigenous ways of knowing, healing, and relationship-building into all aspects of mental health support services.  This includes co-developing culturally grounded approaches, offering ongoing staff education, and ensuring that programs reflect the values, traditions, and lived experiences of local Indigenous peoples.  

Goal 2:  Targeted Program Implementation for Holistic Well-being

To design, implement, and evaluate targeted mental health programs that address harm reduction, substance use, positive identity development, self-esteem, and conflict resolution among youth and families.  These programs will be trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and community-driven, aiming to reduce stigma, build resilience, and empower individuals through accessible, inclusive, and evidence-informed supports.  

Enhanced Mental Health Literacy for Staff, Students and Families

Goal 3:  Strengthen Support for Parents and Caregivers

To enhance engagement with parents and caregivers by expanding access to culturally relevant programming, clear communication channels, and practical mental health resources that empower families to support the well-being of children and youth.  This includes creating opportunities for learning, peer connection, and dialogue that foster stronger home-school-community relationships and shared strategies for navigating mental health and behavioral challenges.  

Goal 4: Deepen Collaboration with School-Based Staff

To build meaningful, ongoing partnerships with school staff-including educators, administrators, and support personnel - through joint professional learning focused on mentally healthy classrooms, trauma-informed practice, and inclusive behavior support.  This collaborative approach aims to create shared understanding, reduce stigma, and equip schools to be safe, responsive environments that promote the emotional and social development of all students. 

 

Safe and Inclusive School Culture and Supportive Social Environments

Goal 5:  Safety Through Psycoeducation and Health Promotion

Be relentless in our approach to service provision is driven by data, and is evidence-informed to ensure students are learning in identity-affirming school environments.  Though Health Promotion we will ensure that students see themselves in their learning and are free to express their identity and culture in school environments without risk.  

 

Joint Planning, Community Engagement and Clear Pathways of Care

Goal 6:  Enhance Collaboration for Coordinated and Culturally Safe Care

To strengthen collaboration with community partners - including local mental health service providers, First Nation community workers, and other relevant organizations - to improve care coordination, streamline referrals, and increase equitable access to timely, culturally safe mental health supports.  This goal emphasizes building shared pathways, reducing service fragmentation, and ensuring that individuals and families receive wraparound support that reflects both clinical best practices and community-driven approaches.  

 

Attendance

Goal 7:  Improve Attendance Through Community-Engaged, Ecosystem-Based Approaches

To increase student attendance by partnering with target First Nation communities to deliver services in accessible, community-based settings, engaging directly with families, and using collaborative problem-solving to identify and address barriers.  Guided by an ecosystems model, this goal recognizes the interconnected influence of home, school, culture, and community, and seeks to create coordinated, strength-based solutions that reflect the lived realities and priorities of each community.  

 

Mental Health Action Plan Goals for 2024-2025

 

High Quality, Culturally Relevant Evidence Based Service Provision

  1. Increase staff capacity to integrate Indigenous culture and student identity into clinical practice. 
  2. Prioritize early education programs focused on substance use prevention and harm reduction. 
  3. Increased student engagement in Tier One Mental Health and Health Promotion. 

Enhanced Mental Health Literacy for Staff, Students, and Families

  1. Increase parent and caregiver resources and increase communication in order to support mental health literacy with families and students. 
  2. Continued implementation of Grade 7/8 Mental Health Literacy Modules. 
  3. Implementation of Grade 10 GLC, 20 Mental Health Literacy Modules. 
  4. Building capacity with all staff prioritizing trauma informed practice. 

Safe and Inclusive School Culture and Supportive Social Environments

  1. Support students' preparedness for future success. 
  2. Ensure consistent development and communication of Bully Prevention Plans. 
  3. Promote evidence-informed, identity-affirming school environments, ensuring that students see themselves in their learning and are free to express their identity and culture in school environments without risk. 

Joint Planning, Community Engagement and Clear Pathways of Care

  1. Improve student well-being through increasing access to services, and awareness of how to attain mental health support. 
  2. Engagement in joint planning communities to ensure coordination of care between education and community mental health services to increase community engagement and collaboration. 

Attendance

  1. Establish efficiencies with attendance procedures in schools and build understanding around positive approaches to attendance with students, staff, and families.  
  2. Improve transitions and school experiences for Indigenous students and build a strategy based upon community collaboration and student voice.  
  3. Improve relationships and engagement with First Nations communities, including those with Education Service Agreements in connection to improving attendance for Indigenous Students.  
  4. Enhance family engagement initiatives to strengthen support and connection between families and school community, ultimately improving student attendance rates.