The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced 136 grant awards totaling $86.4 million to support the mental health of students and educators. These Community Partnership Grants will support collaboration between school districts and community organizations to address the trauma students and educators have experienced during the pandemic. The partnership model promotes alignment between the services students receive in and out of school. Symptoms of anxiety and depression have doubled among young people worldwide during the pandemic, with 20 percent having anxiety symptoms and 25 percent experiencing depression symptoms, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. The Community Partnership Grant will help schools provide the mental health services and support that are essential for students to succeed academically.  Among the grantees are: 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  
The University of Illinois School of Social Work will bring together the Mahomet-Seymour School District; Mahomet Area Youth Club; and a local mental health provider, the Rock Counseling Group, to utilize the Interconnected Systems Framework to address mental health through a combination of programming and supports integrated across school and community sites.  

Northwestern University Settlement Association  
The Northwestern University Settlement Association includes three schools and a family service center that will add staff to expand therapy services, implement group counseling utilizing evidence-based interventions, integrate a social-emotional and mental health curriculum and after-school and summer programming in schools, and establish a mentoring program. 

Find more information and the full list of grantees at isbe.net/learningrenewal.