The  mission of this division of the Student Services Department is to support the mental, behavioral, and social emotional health and well-being of all students in the Springfield City School District through the delivery of evidenced-based, equitable mental health and behavioral services.  SCSD mental health therapists and behavior coaches strive to create a safe and inclusive environment to help meet the needs of students  to promote positive outcomes and academic achievement.

• Crisis Lifeline -- Dial 988

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Q&A

Students are typically referred for mental health and behavioral services through the following process:

• Staff observe a mental or behavioral health concern with a student who is demonstrating difficulty managing emotions and/or behaviors at school.

• The school’s counselor meets with the student for a minimum of two sessions, unless the counselor determines through collaboration with the building’s mental health therapist that an immediate referral for mental health services is appropriate. 

• If the student’s functioning in the classroom is being impacted by suspected mental health concerns, school staff holds a 'Response To Intervention (RTI)' meeting and develops a plan of interventions to assist the student in the classroom. Staff schedules a follow-up RTI meeting in 4-6 weeks for review.

• During the follow-up RTI meeting, if the team determines the student continues to exhibit challenges in the classroom, a referral to school-based mental health services is submitted. At that time, the student’s parent/guardian is contacted regarding the school’s intent to submit the referral. 

• If the team believes a referral to the District’s behavior coach is warranted, the team submits a referral and the behavior coach schedules a meeting with the team to review the information in the referral, interventions attempted, and assists the team in considering additional interventions to support the student.