Planning and Sustaining COVID-19 Recovery

Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning: Presents the most recent guidance (10/4/23) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to help K-12 school and ECE program administrators support safe, in-person learning for K-12 schools, and keep early childhood education [ECE] programs open, while managing the spread of COVID-19.  Based on the COVID-19 by County, this guidance provides flexibility so schools and ECE programs can adapt to changing local situations, including periods of increased community health impacts from COVID-19. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona stated, “This CDC guidance will help early childhood education centers, summer camps, and K-12 schools provide a healthy environment for their community. By working with local health officials and using layered prevention strategies we can allow our students to continue down the road to recovery this summer and beyond.”

Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems — United States, August 2022: Describes and explains new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] that loosen prior guidelines regarding social distancing, masking and isolation, in light of changing circumstances (i.e. high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools) that have substantially reduced the risk for medically significant COVID-19 illness and associated hospitalization and death. “These circumstances now allow public health efforts to minimize the individual and societal health impacts of COVID-19 by focusing on sustainable measures to further reduce medically significant illness as well as to minimize strain on the health care system, while reducing barriers to social, educational, and economic activity.”

Returning to School: Mitigation and Mental Health Strategies: Provides the presenters’ slide deck, including hyperlinked primary references, for January 2021’s national presentation by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] on how to optimize mitigation strategies and mental health support to facilitate students’ safe return to school in the new year.  Co-hosted by ED’s Office of Safe and Supportive Schools [OSSS] and the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments [NCSSLE], this webinar presented user-friendly tools for schools to inform their selection and implementation of COVID-19 mitigation strategies; and information about how to support and promote mental health for K-12 students and school staff, both in-person and virtually.

Guidance for Returning to Work: Guides employers and workers in safely returning to work and reopening businesses during the evolving Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Employers can use this guidance to develop policies and procedures to ensure the safety and health of their employees. This guidance focuses on the need for employers to develop and implement strategies for basic hygiene (e.g., hand hygiene, cleaning and disinfection), social distancing, identification and isolation of sick employees, workplace controls and flexibilities, and employee training. This guidance, from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], pertains not only to school facilities as workplaces, but also for employer- and business-based on-the-job learning sites for adolescents as part of their career and technical education, and for community voluntarism and extra-curricular activities.

Key Policy Letters Signed by the Education Secretary or Deputy Secretary: Shares new and existing resources from the federal government that can help education systems access COVID-19 tests and implement testing programs in their schools. Secretary Cardona’s (01/12/22) announcement details four resources that can support school-based testing programs: state COVID-19 testing programs and resources funded by the CDC Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program; free lab-based testing through the CDC Operation Expanded Testing (OpET) program; using COVID-19 (ESSER) relief funds to connect with school COVID-19 testing vendors; and partnering with community COVID-19 testing sites. 

FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Increases COVID-19 Testing in Schools to Keep Students Safe and Schools Open: Reports new (01/12/22) Federal actions to increase access to COVID-19 testing in schools. “Through these new initiatives, the Administration will increase the number of COVID-19 tests available to schools by 10 million per month. These additional tests will help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test to stay programs,” more than doubling the volume of testing that took place in US schools in November 2021. The official White House announcement can be accessed here.

COVID-19 Testing in K-12 Settings - A Playbook for Educators and Leaders: Offers detailed, step-by step guidance to help educators, leaders, and their public health partners put CDC testing recommendations into action. The playbook was developed by the non-profit, Testing for America, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and the Skoll Foundation. The playbook expands on the high-level Covid-19 testing protocols for K-12 schools released in October 2020 and is informed by the operational experience and learnings from school district and public health leaders around the country since that time. 

National Resources Supporting School COVID-19 Screening Testing: Information for State Health and Education Agencies and School Districts: Identifies resources available to state and local health and education agencies and school districts that can be engaged in complementary ways as part of school screening programs.

COVID-19 Testing: What You Need to Know: Provides updated guidance (5/11/23) from the CDC about COVID-19 testing. Some schools may offer regular COVID-19 testing for students and staff, even for people who don’t have symptoms of COVID-19. Many schools will also offer testing for people with symptoms of COVID-19 or who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. Schools do not need to require a negative test result for students, teachers and staff to return to school after breaks.

Start-Up Guide for COVID-19 Testing in Schools: Provides a 1-page start-up guide to help schools initiate or strengthen regular COVID-19 testing systems intended to maximize safety for students and school staff while facilitating in-person K-12 learning. This guide is proved by the Rockefeller Foundation, which has joined forces with the White House, the U.S. Department of Education [ED], and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to launch a learning network for school and district leaders to help them start or strengthen COVID-19 screening testing programs. 

Family FAQs about Testing: Offers responses to a set of ten questions parents are likely to consider if invited by their child’s school system to have the student participate in regular COVID-19 testing. This guide is proved by the Rockefeller Foundation, in concert with the White House, the U.S. Department of Education [ED], and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], supporting a learning network for school and district leaders about how to start or strengthen COVID-19 screening testing programs.

Community-Based Testing Sites for COVID-19: Invites individuals to find a COVID-19 testing location near them, no matter what state they live in.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has established this on-line tool, indicating where COVID-19 tests are available at health centers and select pharmacies. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensures that COVID-19 testing is free to anyone in the U.S., including the uninsured. [Beyond those listed, additional testing sites may be available, so readers are advised to contact their health care providers or their state or local public health departments for more information.]

Overview of Testing for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Provides the most recent/current CDC guidance (5/11/23) on the appropriate use of testing for SARS-CoV-2 in light of additional testing capacity throughout the country.

CDC Recommends Updated COVID-19 Vaccine for Fall/Winter Virus Season: Announces (9/12/23) recommendation by Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC] for everyone age 6 months and older to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 illness this fall and winter.  CDC stated, “Vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. Vaccination also reduces your chance of suffering the effects of Long COVID, which can develop during or following acute infection and last for an extended duration.  If you have not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past 2 months, get an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself this fall and winter.”

FDA Authorizes Updated Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine Formulated to Better Protect Against Currently Circulating Variants: Announces (10/3/23) amendment of the emergency use authorization of the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted for use in individuals 12 years of age and older to include the 2023-2024 formula. Individuals 12 years of age and older previously vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine (and who have not already been vaccinated with a recently updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccine) are eligible to receive one dose; and unvaccinated individuals receive two doses. The updated vaccine addresses currently circulating variants to provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death.

CDC Strengthens Recommendations and Expands Eligibility for COVID-19 Booster Shots: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], effective 5/19/22, is expanding eligibility of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses to everyone 5 years of age and older. CDC now recommends that children ages 5 through 11 years should receive a booster shot 5 months after their initial Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination series. Since the pandemic began, more than 4.8 million children ages 5 through 11 have been diagnosed with COVID-19, 15,000 have been hospitalized and, tragically, over 180 have died. As cases increase across the country, a booster dose will safely help restore and enhance protection against severe disease. In addition, today CDC is strengthening its recommendation that those 12 and older who are immunocompromised and those 50 and older should receive a second booster dose at least 4 months after their first.

FDA Authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines for Use as a Booster Dose in Younger Age Groups: Announces (10/12/22) the Food and Drug Administration’s [FDA] emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, as single booster doses in younger age groups. “Since children have gone back to school in person and people are resuming pre-pandemic behaviors and activities, there is the potential for increased risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. Vaccination remains the most effective measure to prevent the severe consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death,” said Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D.

COVID-19 Updated Booster Vaccines Covered Without Cost-Sharing for Eligible Children Ages 5 to 11: Announces (10/25/22) that Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage is available for eligible covered children for the updated COVID-19 vaccines. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] remind the public that “…regardless of what coverage you have, or whether you have coverage at all, COVID-19 vaccines are free to anyone who wants one, for both children and adults.” Information regarding the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Provider Requirements and how the COVID-19 vaccines are provided through that program at no cost to recipients is available at https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccination-provider-support.html and through the COVID-19 Vaccine Policies & Guidance page. “This coverage is part of the ongoing commitment to protect children against severe COVID-19 illness.” 

CDC Recommends COVID-19 Vaccines for Young Children: Announced (05/17/22) the CDC director’s endorsement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that all children 6 months through 5 years of age should receive a COVID-19 vaccine. This expands eligibility for vaccination to nearly 20 million additional children and means that all Americans ages 6 months and older are now eligible for vaccination. 

COVID-19 Vaccinations Covered Without Cost-sharing for Eligible Children Aged Six Months to Five Years: Announces, in light of recent approvals by the FDA and CDC, that children aged six months to five years with Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage are eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations without cost-sharing. Nearly all people with Medicaid, CHIP, Basic Health Program coverage, self-insured employer-sponsored coverage, and group and individual health insurance coverage can get COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, at no cost. People with Medicare pay nothing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, and there is no applicable copayment, coinsurance or deductible. People without health insurance or whose insurance doesn’t provide coverage of the vaccination can also get COVID-19 vaccines and their administration, including boosters, at no cost.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Expands Eligibility for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Dose to Children 5 through 11 Years: Amends the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, authorizing the use of a single booster dose for administration to children 5 through 11 years of age, at least five months after completion of a primary series with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] Commissioner Robert M. Califf, MD announced on 5/18/22, “The FDA is authorizing the use of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children 5 through 11 years of age to provide continued protection against COVID-19. Vaccination continues to be the most effective way to prevent COVID-19 and its severe consequences, and it is safe.” On 1/3/22 the FDA authorized the use of a single booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for to individuals 12 through 15 years of age after completion of primary vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccines.gov: Serves as the federal government’s primary web-based source of information about COVID-19 vaccines, including a VaccineFinder tool to identify a vaccination administration site near any location in the US. This site is managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC].

Unvaccinated Kids at Much Higher Risk of Severe MIS-C Outcomes: Summarizes findings and implications of new COVID-19 research indicating serious health risks for unvaccinated children.  According to the American Medical Association’s liaison to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are seven and 11 times higher in unvaccinated adolescents respectively, compared with their vaccinated counterparts. “Boosting teens is important but promoting the primary vaccination series is just as crucial.” At time of publication (January 2022), only ½ the nation’s 16.7 million 12–15-year-old adolescents were fully vaccinated.

Vaccination Is Our Best Chance to End the Pandemic: Argued in defense of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA]’s emergency temporary standard for COVID-19 vaccination for large businesses. The President of the American Medical Association [AMA] asserted that “Our ethical obligation as healers and health professionals to always put the health and safety of our patients first carries an awesome responsibility that also requires us to become vaccinated against COVID-19.” The AMA has joined several other medical associations in support of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] vaccine requirements in health care organizations. “(More than a dozen leading medical organizations representing family doctors, pediatricians, allergists and immunologists, clinical pathologists) all recognize COVID-19 as a grave danger to public health and support widespread vaccination requirements as the most effective strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic.”

How to Talk to Parents About COVID-19 Vaccines: 3 Tips from Scientists: Suggests schools should center their communication with parents around changes related to the COVID-19 vaccine. The guidance, based on recent expert consultation for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine [NASEM], discusses three basic communication strategies: highlight new, personally relevant information; focus on trends; and address myths and disinformation. The NASEM guidance calls for schools to avoid rebuking or lecturing parents who have not yet gotten themselves or their children vaccinated, but instead “give opportunities to make a new decision.”

COVID-19 Vaccine: Serves as a hub for official CDC information about vaccine data, information on how to get vaccinated, Q&A, as well as clinical and professional resources (updated 5/12/23). 

Biden-Harris Administration Makes 100% Federal Medicaid Matching Funds Available for State Expenditures on Certain COVID-19 Vaccine Counseling Visits for Children and Youth: Announces (12/02/21) new requirement for states to cover COVID-19 vaccine counseling visits in which healthcare providers talk to families about the importance of kids’ vaccination, and establishes funding mechanism to cover costs for such visits.  Medicaid provides health insurance coverage to over 40% of all children in the United States.  This action will “help expand access to individualized medical advice in all communities and give families the support they need to engage with trusted community providers.”

COVID-19 Vaccines and Children: State Strategies to Increase Access and Uptake through Pediatric Providers: Identifies current challenges and state-level strategies to vaccinate children 5–11 years old through pediatric providers. The National Academy for State Health Policy reports that states are rapidly preparing to roll out the vaccine for younger children, addressing issues around equitable access, education, and partnerships.

20 Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccines for Kids under 12: Provides responses from health care experts at University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital to questions below about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for younger kids.

Strategies for Building Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccines: Describes a variety of public engagement and communication strategies that can be implemented at the national, state, and local levels to change patterns of interaction with the public, address hesitancy about the vaccines, and build trust. This rapid expert consultation from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM] asserts that people who are hesitant, reluctant, distrusting, or otherwise not motivated with respect to being vaccinated need resources, information, and support for making the vaccination decision that is right for them. Public engagement and effective communication through clear, transparent messaging will play a central role in building confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines.

School-Located Vaccination: School Nurse Planning Checklist: Identifies key considerations for school nurses when planning for school-located vaccinations, including for COVID-19 and for influenza.  The National Association of School Nurses [NASN] and the Association of Immunization Managers [AIM] directed an environmental scan and roundtable discussions to inform this 3-page product.

Getting Your COVID-19 Vaccine (05/24/23 update): Provides official CDC information and tips to help you know who should get vaccinated, why, how to find COVID-19 vaccinations near you, what information your provider will give you, and additional related resources.

Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines: Presents guidance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (updated 6/7/23)  for everyone aged 6 and older to protect against COVID-19. 

FDA Authorizes Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use in Children 5 through 11 Years of Age: Announced emergency use authorization (10/29/21) of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 to include children ages 5 through 11 years of age. Summarizes key points for parents and caregivers about effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, ongoing safety monitoring systems in place to detect and investigate potential safety problems; and describes the studies/methodologies that supported the authorization decision. 

Becerra-Cardona Letter on COVID-19 Vaccination for Children (11-08-21): Encourages families, students, community members and educators to actively support the vaccination process for K-12 children. The U.S. Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Education made three joint requests, and shared information and resources to support them: 1. Host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at your school(s); 2. distribute information about the COVID-19 vaccine to all families with children ages five through eleven years old; and 3. hold conversations with your school communities on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Coverage is Available for COVID-19 Vaccinations for Eligible Children Ages 5 through 11: Reminds eligible consumers that coverage is available under Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and in the commercial market for COVID-19 vaccination without any out-of-pocket co-payment. CMS issues this reminder in conjunction with the CDC and FDA authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for children in this age group.

Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines: Explains the safety, efficacy and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines with official CDC guidance and information (updated 03/07/23).

Understanding the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination: Explains the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination across the United States. This program has been one component of the Federal government’s strategy to expand access to vaccines for the American public.

Video Series: Communicating about Vaccines: Offers a series of short videos to help public health advocates, staff in local health departments, and others communicate more effectively about COVID-19 and how it intersects with other important public health issues.  In the initial (4 minutes) video, Berkeley Media Studies Group [BMSG] offers strategic communication tips by investing in trusted messengers. 

Understanding and Communicating about COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Equity: Summarizes social, behavioral, and decision science research relevant to communicating how well COVID-19 vaccines work, and how equitably they are being distributed. It offers practical strategies for both the process and the content of such communication, recognizing that people respond to both how they learn about something and what they learn about it. This rapid expert consultation was produced through the Societal Experts Action Network [SEAN] of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in affiliation with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

New Tool Tracks Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitancy Rates Across Geographies, Population Groups: Used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey to provide insights into the public’s feelings about COVID-19 vaccines in near real time (April 2021). The interactive visualization allowed data users to explore national and state vaccination rates; percentage of people by state hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine; most common reasons cited for hesitancy to get a vaccine; vaccination rates by population subgroups; and vaccine hesitancy rates by population subgroups. The data visualization tools will enable analysis of how vaccination and vaccine hesitance rates might vary over time.

Public Health Messaging Vital for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: Leaders Partnering on Communications: Reported findings from large-scale surveys detailing attitudes toward receiving or deferring acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among various dimensions of the American public.  Public health messengers worked with great urgency to persuade Americans to get immunized. A December 2020 survey from Kaiser Family Foundation had found 71% of adults would get a COVID-19 vaccine that was determined safe by scientists and available for free; but more than a quarter were still hesitant.

How School Districts Can Run a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic: Describes how the Anchorage, AK school district has assembled a large-scale community vaccination clinic that offers key lessons to other districts as they consider or plan to operate vaccination clinics.

Innovative Resources Help Communicate, Educate Audiences on COVID-19 Vaccines: Science-Based Information Can be Used with General Public, Essential Workers, Health Professionals: Describes a 2021 campaign to provide Black communities with credible information about COVID-19 vaccines. The series is produced through a collaboration among the Kaiser Family Foundation and Black Coalition Against COVID. The campaign’s resource, the Conversation: Between Us, About Us, offered scores of FAQ videos on a range of topics, including how the vaccines were tested, and how Black people were included in research studies.

Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools, and Homes: Presents guidance jointly developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about appropriate methods to ensure safe, clean and sanitary environments including schools, homes and businesses.

Department of Education Releases Resource to Help Schools Improve Ventilation Systems to Prevent COVID-19: Outlines how American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds can be used to improve indoor air quality to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and provide healthy learning environments. This resource is part of the Department of Education's broader efforts to support schools as they prepare to welcome students back to in-person learning this fall and build back better.

Cleaning and Disinfecting - Best Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Presents clear and simple guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, April 2021) based on the CDC’s 4/5/21 science brief, SARS-CoV-2 and Surface (Fomite) Transmission for Indoor Community Environments.

How to Clean and Disinfect Schools to Help Slow the Spread of the Flu (Spanish language version): Shares specific guidance from the CDC for cleaning and disinfecting as part of a broad approach to preventing spread of infectious diseases in school.

6 Steps for Safe and Effective Disinfectant Use: Provides a one-page poster from the EPA to guide schools’ use of disinfectants to ensure a healthy indoor environment for students, teachers, custodians, and staff.

Best Safety and Hygiene Practices for Public Workspaces in the COVID-19 Environment: Explores the challenges of operating workplaces with a public interaction component in the COVID-19 environment. This 1-hour webinar recording (6/23/20), shared specific, practical guidance produced by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine [NASEM], and featured the Federal Facilities Council, a cooperative association of more than 20 federal agencies committed to identifying and advancing technologies, processes and practices that improve the management, operations and evaluation of federal facilities. Dr. Nancy Burton from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health discussed how to physically prepare facilities (including school campuses) for reopening and operations; and Ms. Robin Coyne, CIH from Spike Occupational Health & Safety, LLC discussed practical considerations that will arise when the public begins entering a facility.

What School Nutrition Professionals Need to Know about COVID-19: Presented key points from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (12/01/21) about the importance of school lunch and breakfast programs, and guidance about social distancing and sanitation practices to reduce the risk of COVID-19 among employees preparing and serving meals, and the students, families, and other school staff who support or participate in school meals programs. Programs should visit Modifying School Spaces During Mealtimes to Reduce Spread of COVID-19 for information on adapting school spaces for mealtimes to prevent COVID-19. Program operators can also post this checklist of key COVID-19 prevention strategies in areas where meals are prepared and served.

Guidance for Implementing COVID-19 Prevention Strategies in the Context of Varying Community Transmission Levels and Vaccination Coverage: Provides the scientific basis for updated guidance (07-27-21) from the CDC’s COVID-19 Response Team that local decision-makers should assess the following factors to inform the need for layered prevention strategies across a range of settings: level of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission, health system capacity, vaccination coverage, capacity for early detection of increases in COVID-19 cases, and populations at risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19. during June 19–July 23, 2021, COVID-19 cases increased approximately 300% nationally, followed by increases in hospitalizations and deaths, driven by the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant* of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.  Although increasing COVID-19 vaccination coverage remains the most effective means to achieve control of the pandemic, additional layered prevention strategies will be needed in the short-term to minimize preventable morbidity and mortality.

Handwashing: Clean Hands Save Lives: Provides official science-based guidance from the CDC about when and how to wash one’s hands to prevent transmission of respiratory and diarrheal infections. This website presents clear instructions for students, parents and other caregivers (e.g. school staff), explains the science that supports the instructions, and introduces CDC’s Life Is Better with Clean Hands social marketing campaign materials to support dissemination of this important public health information. Many materials/contents are suitable for direct teaching to K-12 students.

Masks for Prevention of COVID-19 in Community and Healthcare Settings: A Living Rapid Review: Informed practice pointers developed by the American College of Physicians with up-to-date evidence through regular search of the literature and review of findings of emerging studies. The US DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ] established this “rapid evidence product” in recognition that the field is currently struggling with urgent questions about how to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Health and service systems, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public want timely, credible evidence to inform critical decisions. In the face of a rapidly changing field amid an ongoing pandemic, AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) has now archived this review.

FDA Advises Consumers Not to Use Hand Sanitizer Products Manufactured by Eskbiochem: Advises consumers to avoid hand sanitizer products sold by this manufacturer, whose products can be toxic when absorbed through the skin, or ingested. The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] issued this advisory on 6/29/20.

Operational Guidance for K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs to Support Safe In-Person Learning: Provides up-to-date (05/11/23) guidance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to support health and well-being of young children and early childhood program personnel.  CDC’s guidance considers current scientific evidence and lessons learned from schools and ECE programs that have implemented COVID-19 prevention strategies.

Office of Child Care: COVID-19 Page: Shares a library of resources (current as of 6/12/23) from the Office of Early Childhood Development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.   Child care has been an essential part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recovery efforts. The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) continues to provide funding to state, territorial and tribal governments to provide support for children and their families with paying for child care.  This webpage provides links to guidance and resources relevant to child care and COVID-19, and continues to be updated on a regular basis as additional information becomes available.

Expired Order: Wearing of Face Masks While on Conveyances and at Transportation Hubs: Reports official expiration effective 5/11/23 of CDC’s prior order, due to the conclusion of the Public Health Emergency [PHE]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had issued an Order on January 29, 2021 requiring the wearing of masks by people on public transportation conveyances or on the premises of transportation hubs to prevent spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. 

Safety Considerations for the Transportation of Students During COVID-19 Crisis: Offers concrete steps school districts should take to plan for and ensure safe transportation of students to and from school activities. This National Education Association [NEA] publication endorses planning based on surveyed need/demand for transportation, families’ capacities to provide transportation for some students, CDC physical distancing guidelines, EPA guidance regarding cleaning and sanitation, and particular considerations for students with special needs.

CTAA Recommended COVID-19 Safety Protocols: Provides guidance and relevant resources from the Community Transportation Association of America [CTAA] about COVID-19 safety protocols including information for masking (for passengers and drivers), at-risk drivers, driver compartment barriers, and vehicle/transit facility disinfecting (initially presented in April 2020).

Department of Education Transportation Offices: Lists, in a single place, hyperlinks to the student transportation offices of each state education agency [SEA].

STARTS (Student Transportation Aligned for Return to School) Guidelines, Tactics and Templates: Offers a school reopening planning resource for school transportation professionals. The Student Transportation Aligned for Return To School (STARTS) Task Force was formed as a partnership among the National School Transportation Association [NSTA], the National Association for Pupil Transportation [NAPT], and the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services [NASDPTS]. The task force, during 2020-21, developed materials to support the school bus industry’s response to the challenges of school reopening in the context of COVID-19. 

Here's One Way to Keep School Buses Safe During the Pandemic: Reports on the measured effectiveness of layered strategies of universal masking, ventilation and cleaning buses that has limited transmission of COVID-19 among students in a closely monitored study in Virginia. ““There was no evidence of COVID-19 transmission during bus transport, even at distances of 2.5 feet, with two-thirds of bus routes at full student capacity, and during the highest community incidence rates of COVID-19, which were 53.2 to 525.7 per 100,000 population,” researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School found. 

Recognizing Innovation in Student Transportation During COVID-19: Shares exemplary strategies used by two recognized school systems (Arlington Heights, IL and Detroit, MI) for leveraging student transportation technology to creatively serve their school families and communities. 

CARES Act Funds Student Accountability, COVID-19 Cleaning on Georgia School Buses: Describes how the Marietta (GA) City Schools used Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds to install ionization units and student RIFD card readers, to increase bus cleaning and student accountability, respectively. Director of Transportation Kimberly Ellis said the 9,000-student district immediately responded to the pandemic last year by purchasing technology that ensured both student and staff safety.

Identification and Management of Mental Health Symptoms and Conditions Associated with Long COVID: Discusses the epidemiology of the mental health symptoms and conditions of Long COVID.  This June 2023 resource from SAMHSA provides evidence-based resources for the treatment of those conditions, and offers resources including recommendations for cognitive symptom assessment, assessment tools and therapeutic intervention strategies.

Overview of the Impacts of Long COVID on Behavioral Health: Reviews pertinent literature and summarizes behavioral health implications regarding Long COVID. This publication by SAMHSA provides an overview of behavioral health disorders associated with Long COVID (“Among the most common symptoms of Long COVID is a gradient of cognitive and psychiatric sequelae -- e.g. depression, anxiety, PTSD -- which may portend significant consequences for patient functioning and quality of life.”), examines neuropsychiatric causes of the behavioral health disorders, and identifies future research needs.

SchoolSafety.gov Back-to-School Resources: Outlines key information and tips on school safety topics including mental health support, targeted violence prevention, fostering a positive school climate, and sustaining safe and health in-person learning in light of continuing outbreaks and concerns with COVID-19, the RSV virus and flu.  This 3-page infographic from the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse identifies several important elements, spanning planning and prevention activities to protection and mitigation measures, to response and recovery actions during and after an actual incident. By integrating these various elements – and applying them to their individualized and unique needs, challenges, and settings – schools can create comprehensive school safety programs and systems.

Back to School and Mental Health: Supporting Our Children for a Successful Year Ahead: Offers a short set of tips and a curated set of information resources to equip parents, teachers, and students with resources and tools to foster a mentally healthy return to school. SAMHSA’s Sunny Patel MD developed this resource (August 2023) to help students, parents and teachers to succeed through the major transitions the new school year presents. “The return to school can be a stressful time, whether it's a child’s first day of kindergarten, a transition to middle or high school, or just the end of the freedoms of summer. It's normal for children to feel anxious about these changes. Here’s how you can help ease their worries.”

The Economics of Transitioning from Remote to In-Person School: 3 District Planning Levers for Increasing In-Person Learning (When It's Safe): Identifies four “starting points” to help district leadership teams plan, navigate, and effectively implement these transitions when the time is right for their public health context.  This resource from the Education Resource Strategies also describes three design levers that can enable school districts to serve more students in smaller group sizes, and discusses trade-offs associated with each. 

Recognizing the Role of Afterschool and Summer Programs and Systems in Reopening and Rebuilding: Describes the role that afterschool and summer programs and systems can play in conjoint strategies with school leaders to support youth, families and communities to prepare for and accomplish school reopening. This succinct brief by the American Institutes for Research explains how afterschool and summer programs can contribute to such strategies, illuminates examples from the field, and identifies numerous resources that can help programs and practitioners to capitalize on opportunities to rebuild and return even stronger than before COVID-19.

Getting Back to School after Disruptions: Resources for Making Your School Year Safer, More Predictable, and More Positive: Describes how multi-tiered systems of supports [MTSS], such as PBIS, are ideal frameworks for implementing strategies to support students coming back to school after experiencing trauma from public health crises, weather disasters, or other upsetting events that may have exposed them to unpredictable schedules, inconsistent supervision, food insecurity or other disruption. Students in such circumstances desperately need school to be a safe, predictable and positive setting. This practice guide, updated by the Center on PBIS to reflect the current COVID-19 pandemic, recommends six strategies for school teams to ensure a safe, predictable, and positive school year.

COVID-19 and Whole Child Efforts: Describes the importance of attending to the basic needs and well being of children and youth as central to supporting their success in school, and the particular salience of that holistic approach for supporting students’ return to classrooms in the aftermath of the COVID-19 national emergency. This brief from the American Institutes for Research defines key themes and terms to support shared understanding across community and school system leaders, and crosswalks prominent guidance for school reopening to the related Whole Child framework concepts.

Free Back-to-School Templates for Teachers and Families: Provides a set of customizable templates intended to support teachers, students and their families during the transition back to in-person learning. Common Sense Education observes that, with distance learning, many routines may have fallen by the wayside… but that doesn't mean you can't bring them back this year.” This collection offers customizable templates to help teachers (re-)establish norms and expectations for in-person learning, provide families with an overview of class goals, and provide families some support in the transition back to in-person learning.

Five Ways to Talk with Students Returning after Pandemic Closures: Presents five common situations educators may see more of due to the stresses of the pandemic, as well as five ways to spark critical conversations with students. This guide hopes to encourage effective conversation in stressful situations through building a trusting relationship.

An Initial Guide to Leveraging the Power of Social and Emotional Learning as You Prepare to Reopen and Renew Your School Community: Shares actionable recommendations to help school leadership teams plan for the social emotional learning [SEL] needs of all students and adults during the upcoming transition into summer and the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. This guide positions SEL as a critical underpinning to the success of overall transition planning, recognizing school leaders have multiple other considerations for reopening schools, including academics, operations, access to technology, and physical health.

Analysis of School Reopening Plans: Explores education recovery plans put forth by states, territories, and national organizations, to examine the ways these plans are designed to support students and teachers. This tracker, a product of Johns Hopkins University’s eSchool+ Initiative, notes only whether provisions addressing each of 12 criteria are/are not present. (As reopening plans are currently dynamic, this ongoing analysis offers a view of state recovery plans as a snapshot in time; there may have been changes or updates to these plans since this analysis was conducted.)

Threats of Student Violence and Misbehavior Are Rising, Many School Leaders Report: Reports and discusses findings of December 2021 survey of more than 1,000 K-12 educators and school leaders that correlate significant uptick in student threats and misbehavior with extensive hybrid and remote learning throughout the pandemic, compared to 2019. According to the Ed Week Research Center, 51% of principals and district leaders in districts in which nearly all the learning was remote or hybrid in 2020-21 reported rising rates of student threats of violence. The comparable rate was 30% for school and district leaders where most learning was in person last year. Over 70% reported a marked increase in student misbehavior this year in districts that offered mostly remote or hybrid instruction last school year, compared with 52% from districts that had offered mostly in-person instruction the previous year.

Recovery from the Coronavirus Pandemic in K–12 Education: Summarizes updated findings (May 2023) from the School Pulse Panel [SPP] on issues concerning students and staff in U.S. public schools related to the coronavirus pandemic and on schools’ responses to the pandemic. ED’s National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] reports that public schools have used a variety of strategies to address pandemic-related recovery: offering after-school programming and remedial instruction, providing teachers with professional development opportunities on learning recovery, providing students with mental health services, and utilizing community services or partnerships. “Although the effectiveness of these and other strategies is unclear, public schools reported that, on average, a lower percentage of students were behind grade level in at least one academic subject at the end of the 2021–22 school year than at the beginning.”

Back to School During COVID-19: Provides a collection of resources vetted by SAMHSA designed to address mental health and resiliency in school settings.  This page (updated March 2023) offers toolkits, guides and other published resources developed by the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center [MHTTC] network; the National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSN]; the National Training and Technical Assistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health [NTTAC]; the Suicide Prevention Resource Center [SPRC]; and other federal resources. 

Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Offers strategies to support state and local efforts in effectively using ARP ESSER funds to address the impact of lost instructional time on underserved and disproportionately impacted students. This resource was issued by the US Department of Education (August 2021) to complement its COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs. Three focal strategies include: 1. Reengaging students in their learning including by meeting the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of students and through such approaches as tutoring and creative staffing; 2. Providing information and assistance to families as they support students, including through home visits and information sharing; and 3. Using high-quality assessments to inform teaching and learning, including acceleration, and target resources and supports.

Why Mental Health Is the Key to Dealing with Learning Loss: Compiles recommendations from experts in the field on why and how to address the mental health needs of students as schools reopen. “The best way schools can help students catch up academically after a year (or more) of distance learning is to ensure they feel relaxed, safe, and connected to their friends and teachers as they return to the classroom.”

U.S. Department of Education Announces Engage Every Student Initiative to Ensure Every Student Has Access to High-Quality Learning: Announces (07/14/22) the Department of Education’s Engage Every Student Initiative to support President Biden’s call for schools to use American Rescue Plan funds to support summer learning and afterschool programs. This initiative will help communities utilize American Rescue Plan funds alongside other state and local funds to ensure that every child who wants a spot in a high-quality out-of-school time (OST) program has one. Secretary Miguel Cardona’s announcement coincided with National Summer Learning Week

Engage Every Student: Provides a hub of technical assistance support to provide schools and communities with connections and assistance they may need to expand access to afterschool and summer learning programs. Through the American Rescue Plan, school districts, cities and states have been funded to partner with high-quality expanded learning programs to support students’ well-being and academic growth. The U.S. Department of Education has partnered with the Afterschool Alliance, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, National League of Cities, National Summer Learning Association, and the National Comprehensive Center to provide this technical assistance hub.

Data and Policy to Guide Opening Schools Safely to Limit the Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Summarizes global data about SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks at K-12 schools, and emphasizes school-based policies shown to diminish spread of infection. Three CDC authors inform this JAMA Viewpoint that “the preponderance of available evidence has been reassuring” that rapid spread of the virus has not been reported as many schools have reopened for in-person instruction, and there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. The authors affirm that all recommended mitigation measures in schools must continue: requiring universal face mask use, increasing physical distance by de-densifying classrooms and common areas, using hybrid attendance models when needed to limit the total number of contacts and prevent crowding, increasing room air ventilation, and expanding screening testing to rapidly identify and isolate asymptomatic infected individuals. Staff and students should continue to have options for online education, particularly those at increased risk of severe illness or death if infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Tracking U.S. COVID-19 Cases, Deaths and Other Metrics by State: Provides data gathered by The Washington Post from local and state government sites and from Johns Hopkins University (cases and deaths), the Department of Health and Human Services (hospitalization and testing) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (vaccinations). “No numbers can fully convey the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, but several metrics taken together provide a clearer view of what is happening now and what may be coming soon.” On May 11, 2023, the CDC stopped reporting Covid-19 cases and deaths. This page has been archived and will no longer update, but will remain publicly available.

COVID Data Tracker [CDC]: Provides maps and charts tracking COVID-19 infections, deaths, and trends across the United States.  The site offers state-level, regional and even county-level views of key data for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for exploration of standardized data across the country. Footnotes describe each data source and the methods used for calculating the metrics. Data is still being updated as of July 2023.

Phase 2 Restart and Recovery: Highlights healthy and safe protocols for reopening schools, parent and family engagement supports, and guidance on trauma-informed social and emotional learning. The Council of Chief State School Officer’s [CCSSO] Restart and Recovery plan is intended to support complex planning and preparation demands on states as they restart schools and recover student learning.

COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Guidance for School Re-entry: Lists and describes numerous factors that should influence and shape collaborative decision-making among school districts, state and local health departments to facilitate a safe and appropriate return to in-person school for K-12 students. This resource, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, focuses especially on student-centered and on environmental considerations, and provides a curated set of resources from both AAP and CDC to support preparations for returning to school (last updated September 2022).

COVID-19 Demographic and Economic Resources, U.S. Census Bureau: Presents selected Census Bureau demographic and economic data to help guide decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Census Bureau also provides a Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ] guide to the COVID-19 data hub. (This site is no longer being updated after April 10, 2023.)

Burbio's K-12 School Opening Tracker: Audits a comprehensive set of K-12 learning plans (i.e., virtual, traditional in-person, and hybrid) across districts representing 3,000 US counties, including the 200 largest school districts. District plans are reviewed every 72 hours to identify changes. School districts in the data set are a mix of sizes and are distributed nationally to represent local decision-making across the country.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic - Data Hub: Provides official economic, demographic and American Community Survey [ACS] data from the U.S. Census Bureau that can help inform COVID-19 recovery policy- and operational decision-making.

COVID-19 After Action Review Toolkit: Offers a toolkit that can help organizations reflect, assess, learn, and improve. Organizations can use the review tool retrospectively to assess previous activities; and can also use it to guide in-action reviews of ongoing activities. Mathematica and the Public Health Foundation collaboratively developed this toolkit to help organizations conduct effective, equitable, and trauma-informed After Action reviews.

State Policies/Statements on Re-Opening: Provides a list of hyperlinks to policy documents or news stories from every state describing their school reopening plans and actions (collected during July 2020).

OESE Back to School Success Stories: Presents a catalogue of testimonials written and submitted by parents, teachers, school officials, and community members sharing their positive experience bringing students back to school in the wake of COVID-19-related school disruptions and closings. (OESE welcomes submittal of additional submittals. Please reach out to: reopeningschools@ed.gov.)

Returning to School During and After Crisis: A Guide to Supporting States, Districts, Schools, Educators, and Students through a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Framework: Describes the use of a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework to support students, families, and educators during the transitions back to school during and following the global pandemic in a manner that prioritizes their health and safety, social and emotional needs, and behavioral and academic growth.

Back to School Blitz: Strategies for Improving Attendance in the First Three Months of School: Provided a 1-hour webinar presentation (08/25/22) featuring U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten and presenters from ED’s Student Engagement and Attendance Center and Attendance Works.  exploring attendance, absenteeism, and student engagement. Presenters shared data on the issue of chronic absenteeism, including post-pandemic trends, root causes, and impacts on learning and achievement; and offered actionable strategies for improving attendance and engaging students and families.  

Best Practice Guide: Five Ways to Talk with Students Returning After Pandemic Closures: Describes five common situations educators might expect to see, due to the stresses of the pandemic, as students return to school, and offers five ways educators can start a one-to-one conversation to help understand what’s underlying a student’s behavior, based on those situations.  This tip sheet was developed by Kognito, and draws from the American Academy of Pediatrics and adaptations of evidence-based motivational interviewing (MI). 

What Students Are Saying about What It's Like to Be Back in School: Provided a variety of first-person insights by high school students as part of the New York Times’ Learning Network series, Current Events Conversation. Many teenagers reported (September 2021) being back in school for the first time since March 2020. Some have been thrilled to be with their peers and teachers again, while others have had a hard time adjusting. But most agreed that going back to school in an ongoing pandemic has felt “far from normal.”

How Bad Is Student Absenteeism Right Now? Educators Tell Us: Reports findings from an online survey administered by the Ed Week Research Center during the second half of December 2021 to which 1,200 teachers, principals, and district leaders responded. A little over 60% of educators reported that student absenteeism was higher during winter 2021-22 than it was in the fall of 2019, adding new urgency to questions about how to care for students who are struggling with trauma and illness during the pandemic, and how to catch them up academically. These findings echoed statewide drops in attendance that have already been reported in many states and districts. Many districts also reported more students have become chronic absentees (i.e., those who miss more than 10-15% of school days).

American Rescue Plan Funds Can Transform Education for Young Adults: Delineates program and funding strategies states can adopt to effectively support students who are in great need. This brief from JFF Foundation and the National Governors Association [NGA] explains the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] opportunities states now have to use federal stimulus funds to create innovative educational programs to support students who have fallen behind, or have disappeared from schooling altogether during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The brief shows how LEAs can partner with local employers, community colleges, alternative high schools, training programs and other community-based organizations to provide pathways and supports that connect disconnected youth to build college- and career readiness skills.

Social Isolation and Loneliness: State Policies and Interventions for the Post-COVID Era: Identifies avenues for policy development include creating social-emotional learning curricula, providing psychiatric services via telehealth in schools, addressing the social isolation of those in geographically isolated professions, and training teachers to identify social isolation and other warning signs in their students and attending to the shortage of mental health providers.  “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated what was already an epidemic of social isolation and loneliness.” This resource from Council of State Governments (October 2021) also discusses “therapeutic and pharmaceutical solutions” in the companion product, Supplemental Research Guide on Social Isolation.

Addressing Student Re-Engagement in the Time of COVID-19 -- Resource Guide: Highlights emerging strategies, tools, frameworks, and policy guidance to address the subset of students considered missing or “non-contactable” since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic who need reengagement. On behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families, and the Institute for Educational Leadership’s Coalition for Community Schools intend for readers to “blend and braid” the included strategies and tools to match each community’s unique needs, cultures, and priorities.

Attendance Playbook: Smart Solutions for Reducing Student Absenteeism Post-Pandemic: Provides ideas and strategies from FutureEd and Attendance Works for addressing absenteeism surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic has subsided, these partners` have expanded their Attendance Playbook to reflect schools’ changing realities during and after the pandemic. The new analysis includes more than two dozen effective, readily scalable approaches covering topics ranging from family engagement to the value of attendance incentives, as well as students’ social and emotional well-being, a high priority for educators post-pandemic. The playbook explains each intervention, identifies the problem it solves, summarizes supporting research, and highlights schools or school districts that have used the strategy successfully. Attendance Works has added an implementation guide for schools and districts.

Re-engaging Disconnected Students Online and at School: Focus on Intrinsic Motivation: Presents practice notes from UCLA’s Center for Mental Health in Schools and Student Learning Supports that consider numerous options for reconnecting with students and then sustaining their involvement in instruction. Favored strategies should be predicated on and understanding that students who are intrinsically motivated to learn are most likely to seek out opportunities and challenges and go beyond requirements, in contrast to those who are extrinsically motivated.  Practices should appeal to students’ fundamental personal needs to feel self-determining, competent, and related to others; and should avoid over-reliance on “extrinsics” (rewards and punishments) that can undermine intrinsic motivation.

Family Support Toolbox (Louisiana Dept. of Education): Offers parents of Louisiana’s K-12 students with a toolbox and information to empower them to decide the best education for their children.  A family support library, an easily navigated set of current school information, guidance about student assessments and state tests, back-to-school guides in numerous languages (Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese), and special sections on college and career preparation, as well as for students with disabilities, provide parents with extensive information to support their substantial and constructive engagement in their children’s learning, especially in light of continuing challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students Need Emotional Support When Returning to School in Person. Here's How: Offers six recommendations from a licensed professional school counselor in the District of Columbia about ways that schools can prioritize students’ emotional well-being as they resume in-person classes.

Back-to-School 2022-2023: Back-to-School Checklist for Parents (U.S. Department of Education): Offers parents a checklist they can use to ask school leaders during back-to-school and beyond about how they are supporting students, including by using American Rescue Plan [ARP] funds. The strategies in this checklist are ones that support students’ learning, mental health, and overall well-being. While not all school leaders and teachers may know how specific programs at their school are funded, they can tell you if these effective strategies are in place.

Transitioning Back to School: Tips for Parents: Discusses tips for parents for resetting their children's routines. This 2-minute video is one of many resources from the Center for Child Counseling intended to offer and support practical parenting strategies on behalf of young children and adolescents. 

School Attendance and Family Engagement: Offers a set of downloadable resources to support an “Enroll, Engage, Attend” campaign to promote improved school attendance for K-12 students in Kansas City, MO. Turn the Page KC has partnered with the United Way of Greater Kansas City to promote a public awareness campaign focused on school attendance. A strong example of community collaboration and strategic communication, this campaign has produced an impressive set of short videos, fact sheets, talking points, PowerPoint slide sets, social media content, and brochures (English and Spanish).

National Association for Family, School & Community Engagement [NAFSCE] - School Reopening Webpage: Presents policy recommendations on engaging families in school re-opening, and key findings of a national survey on family engagement during COVID-19, championing the perspectives of parents/families to shape school reopening strategies and actions in this unique new school year.

Communicating with Your Audience During COVID-19: Five Essential Tips: Highlights useful tips for thinking through the elements of communicating during a crisis that can be used for family engagement.

COVID-19 Planning Considerations: Guidance for School Re-entry: Lists and describes numerous factors that should influence and shape collaborative decision-making among school districts, state and local health departments to facilitate a safe and appropriate return to in-person school for K-12 students. This resource, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, focuses especially on student-centered and on environmental considerations, and provides a curated set of resources from both AAP and CDC to support preparations for returning to school (updated September 2022). 

An Initial Guide to Leveraging the Power of Social Emotional Learning as You Prepare to Reopen and Renew Your School Community: Shares a framework with actionable recommendations to help school leadership teams plan for the social emotional learning [SEL] needs of all students and adults during the beginning of the new school year. This CASEL guide positions SEL as a critical underpinning to the success of transition planning, recognizing school leaders have multiple other considerations for reopening schools, including academics, operations, access to technology, and physical health.

National Center for Systematic Improvement Webinar Series: Strategic Resource Management in Response to COVID-19: Archives a series of recorded webinars featuring experts who share best practices to help state education leadership teams to make informed decisions and best utilize available resources during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

COVID-19 Resource Guide for High School Professionals: Furnishes a substantial set of resources created or curated by the JED Foundation to support educators’ efforts to help students to maintain mental and emotional health while they strive to maintain focus on their studies.

Building Developmental Relationships During the COVID-19 Crisis - CHECKLIST: Presents relationship-building steps informed by Search Institute’s research to cultivate students’ developmental relationships with parents, educators, youth program staff, and other adults leading to improved outcomes, including reduced risk behaviors. This resource emphasizes that school and youth program staff should continue to build and nurture developmental relationships with young people while they are at home during the national COVID-19 crisis. 

Video Chats, Phone Calls, Postcards: Teachers Rebuild Connections with Students During Coronavirus Pandemic: Examines the loss of school rituals for both students and teachers as part of their school closure experiences. This Education Week article describes numerous ways that K-12 schools and districts are improvising shared experiences to rebuild their communities.

Non-Profit Organizations and Partnerships Can Support Students During COVID-19 Crisis: Describes lessons learned by a group of community (Prince George's County, MD) non-profit organizations that quickly pivoted to serve students remotely after emergency closure abruptly ended in-person classes in a large suburban school district. Child Trends’ blog describes several adaptable lessons learned by the YouthCONNECT partners that provide a range of services including individualized case management, mentoring, college preparation, life skills training, and after-school tutoring.

Returning to School: Considerations for Students With the Most Intensive Behavioral Needs, A Guide to Supporting Students with Disabilities, Their Families, and Educators: Provides a set of strategies and key practices to restart classrooms and schools in a manner that students, their families, and educators can use effectively, efficiently, and relevantly in the current climate. 

The Toolkit Before the Toolkit: Centering Adaptive and Relational Elements of Restorative Practices for Implementation Success: Highlights the mindsets, values, social capital, and structural supports that bind and hold together restorative practices.  While not specifically created as a response to COVID-19 upheavals, this guide from WestEd’s Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety [CISELSS] provides educators, school leaders, and district administrators with strategies, tools, and structural supports to successfully implement restorative practices and transform their schools into strong communities with meaningful relationships, a sense of authentic belonging, and equitable whole-person outcomes – certainly a priority objective for schools in the post-pandemic recovery phase.

PBIS Behavior Teaching Matrix for Remote Instruction: Shares tips for maintaining continuity of learning through defining classroom expectations for remote (i.e., distance) instruction and online learning environments. With a few adaptations, teachers can use a PBIS framework to make remote learning safe, predictable, and positive.

Class-Wide Management Strategies: Provides an evidence-based framework and supporting strategies that, when planned and practiced, lead to increased student engagement and reduced disruption.  The American Psychological Association [APA] has partnered with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC] to provide five 30-minute video modules in this Classroom Management series: 

• Module 1: Introduction and Class-wide Management Strategies
• Module 2: The Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
• Module 3: Functional Behavioral Assessment
• Module 4: Dealing with Challenging Behavior
• Module 5: Classroom Management and Student Engagement in the Era of COVID -19

Youth Emergency Department Visits for Mental Health Increased During Pandemic: Reports findings of analysis of mental health-related emergency department visits across three years spanning March 2019 through February 2022.  Hospital visits for mental health care increased among children and teens in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health. Analyses of insurance claims data for more than 4.1 million children showed an especially notable increase in acute mental health care visits—including emergency department visits—among teen girls.

Mental Health, Suicidality, and Connectedness Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021: Used data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, an online survey of a nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9–12 (N = 7,705), to assess  high school students’ mental health and suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic. This April 2022 CDC study also examined whether mental health and suicidality are associated with feeling close to persons at school and being virtually connected to others during the pandemic. Compared with those who did not feel close to persons at school, students who felt close to persons at school had a significantly lower prevalence of poor mental health during the pandemic, and of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Data Summary & Trends Report, 2011 – 2021: Provides the most recent surveillance data, as well as 10-year trends, on health behaviors and experiences among high school students in the U.S. related to adolescent health and well-being. These include sexual behaviors, substance use, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, experiences such as violence and poor mental health, social determinants of health such as unstable housing, and protective factors such as school connectedness and parental monitoring. This report, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [CDC] Division of Adolescent and School Health [DASH], also highlights disparities in these important outcomes by sex, race and ethnicity, sexual identity, and sex of sexual contacts.

U.S. Teen Girls Experiencing Increased Sadness and Violence: Announces release of new CDC report (2/13/23) that “raises urgency to invest in schools as a vital lifeline to help struggling youth.”  The CDC report documents that teenaged girls are experiencing record high levels of violence, sadness, and suicide risk; and that LGBQ+ teens continue to face extremely high levels of violence and mental health challenges.  “Young people are experiencing a level of distress that calls on us to act with urgency and compassion,” said CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health Director Kathleen Ethier, Ph.D. “With the right programs and services in place, schools have the unique ability to help our youth flourish.”

Provisional Numbers and Rates of Suicide by Month and Demographic Characteristics: United States, 2021: Presents provisional numbers of deaths due to suicide by month and demographic characteristics (age and sex) for 2021, and compares them with final numbers for 2020. This brief from the National Center for Health Statistics reports the overall age-adjusted suicide rate in the U.S. increased by 4% from 2020 to 2021 and, by age group, the largest percentage increase from 2020 to 2021 was for males aged 15–24, by 8%.  

Responding to the Current Youth Mental Health Crisis and Preventing the Next One: Provides video recordings of a series of three workshops convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM] Forum for Children’s Well-being as part of the national observance of Mental Health Awareness Month in May 2022.  Sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], the recorded workshop series focused on the promotion of positive mental health in children youth in the context of the mental health crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It examined community-level strategies for responding to the current crisis, and for preventing future crises. The workshop featured lived experience perspectives and expert presentations, including a session by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy MD. 

Data: What We Know about Student Mental Health and the Pandemic: Highlights findings from recent reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], the JED Foundation, and Education Week’s own recent survey of high school students and educators that help illuminate the nature and scope of mental health challenges that have increased markedly during COVID-19. “Since the pandemic began, children and adolescents have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and stress, and even more specific issues such as addictive internet behaviors…" The effects of the pandemic on students are likely to persist, so it’s important for schools to be prepared to deal with this in a very comprehensive and long-term way.”

Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) - United States, January - June 2021: Releases new data from the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) highlighting the magnitude of the challenges students have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The CDC Division of Adolescent and School Health [DASH] announces this (04/01/22) as “the first nationally representative look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of our nation’s youth.” Funded through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, findings are detailed in five articles in the MMWR Surveillance Supplement.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health During COVID-19: Considerations for Schools and Early Childhood Providers: Reviews the rates of individual mental health conditions (anxiety, depression, trauma and stressor related disorders, ADHD, behavior/conduct disorders) by age, and the practical application for school mental health and early childhood providers in identifying and referring children appropriately for services.  This September 2021 brief was prepared through intramural research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.

Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health in Adolescents: A Systematic Review: Assesses the impact of the pandemic on adolescent mental health through systematic review of 16 quantitative studies conducted in 2019–2021 with more than 40,000 participants. The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reports that adolescents of varying backgrounds experience higher rates of anxiety, depression, and stress due to the pandemic.  Adolescents also have a higher frequency of using alcohol and cannabis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social support, positive coping skills, home quarantining, and parent–child discussions seem to positively impact adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 period of crisis. It is important to seek and use all available resources and therapies to help adolescents mediate adjustments caused by the pandemic.

KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Wellbeing of Parents and Children: Reports findings by the Kaiser Family Foundation about effects of the pandemic on children’s academic and emotional development over time, as well as specific impacts on adults in households that effect the children. In KFF’s large-scale polling in August 2021, 42% report their children have experienced at least one new mental health symptoms in the past 12 months including difficulty concentrating on schoolwork (27%), problems with nervousness or being easily scared or worried (19%,) trouble sleeping (18%), poor appetite or overeating (15%), and frequent headaches or stomachaches (11%). 

Mental Health and Substance Use Consideration Among Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reports the nature and prevalence of anxiety, depression and ADD/ADHD among children and adolescents in 2018 and 2019, and presents comparable reports of mental health (MH) and substance use (SUD) during the extended COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. May 2020, October 2020, March 2021).  Given numerous reports of higher incidence of MH problems among students during the pandemic, this Kaiser Family Foundation analysis examines factors contributing to poor MH among children. It offers differential analysis based on age bands, ethno-cultural dimensions and gender identity; and also examines differential barriers to access to MH treatment and support among the nation’s young people. 

National Survey on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH]: Reports findings from the 2020 administration of the annual survey, whose data suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted Americans’ mental health, including measures specific to youth ages 12 to 17. “SAMHSA’s annual NSDUH provides helpful data on the extent of substance use and mental health issues in the United States,” said Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., who leads SAMHSA. This webpage offers a key findings report, frequently asked questions (FAQ), state-level and sub-state level estimates, and specific measures focusing on youth mental health, including trends data.

Anxiety, Depression Track with Prevalence of COVID Cases: Summarizes trends reported through U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey across 2020 and 2021. The reported findings reflect responses from adults (age 18+), whose levels of anxiety and depression are relevant to children they interact with and care for (e.g., as parents and educators).  "The relative increases and decreases in frequency of reported symptoms of anxiety and depression at both the national and state levels mirrored the national weekly number of new COVID-19 cases during the same period," according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (10/8/21). 

Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs: Provides focused information and resources to enhance the promotion of mental health and social and emotional well-being among students. The U.S. Department of Education highlights seven key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K–12 schools, and higher education settings, and presents seven corresponding recommendations. This resource includes real-world examples of how the recommendations are being put into action by schools, communities, and states across the country. It is intended to supplement the information in the ED COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 1: Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs, and Volume 3: Strategies for Safe Operation and Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education Students, Faculty, and Staff. 

Supporting Learning and Well-Being During the Coronavirus Crisis: Offers resources for education professionals and parents to support student mental health and well-being. These resources are selected by Berkeley's Greater Good in Education science-based practices.

Trauma-Informed School Strategies during COVID-19: Uses the National Child Traumatic Stress Network's [NCTSN] Creating, Supporting and Sustaining Trauma-Informed Schools: A System Framework to consider how, during COVID-19, schools can adapt their practices by using a trauma-informed approach to help children feel safe, supported, and ready to learn. The framework presents 10 core aspects of a trauma-informed school system, and explains how each can be adapted to the inherent uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic to assure parents and caregivers that the school community is strengthening their child's well-being, thereby allowing families to reinforce the importance of learning.

The Two Pandemics Call for Commitment to Embedding Mental Health Concerns in All Forms of Schooling: Presents “A Brief Analysis & Call to Action” through which the co-directors of the Center for Mental Health in Schools [UCLA] argue that “leaders concerned with advancing mental health in school need to focus on much more than just increasing clinical services.” They emphasize promoting youth development, wellness, social and emotional learning, and fostering the emergence of a caring, supportive, and nurturing climate throughout a school. Their paper challenges prevailing conceptions of a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS).

Lessons from the Field: How Schools & Districts Are Meeting the Social-Emotional and Mental Health Needs of Students & Staff: Provides a recording, transcript, slides, speaker biographies, and links to a curated set of related resources for ED’s May 12, 2021 national webinar featuring lessons learned and best practices from innovative partnerships of community organizations and school systems that are effectively engaging students in social and emotional learning activities. Leaders from ED, the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] and SAMHSA described current approaches by federal agencies that support strategies like those shared by the local presenters. 

Social and Emotional Climate and Learning: Serves as a learning hub to support social and emotional learning (SEL) for students – one of the primary components of the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework for school health.  In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools are increasing their focus on mental health and well-being. Many schools are working to create a positive social and emotional climate for all students.  This webpage links to information and resources addressing numerous aspects of SEL, including how families can support social and emotional learning (new tip sheet and new toolkit).

SEL at Home: Remote Learning Options: Compiles a list of resources, lesson plans, activities, games, and tip sheets to support infusion of social emotional learning principles, concepts and practices to help families and educators promote well-being for children and youth outside the classroom setting. The Great Lakes Mental Health Technology Transfer Center [MHTTC] network lists and described ten evidence-supported programs that are (currently) available for free.

State Efforts to Elevate Social and Emotional Learning During the Pandemic: Reports findings and recommendations, based on CASEL’s analysis of 50 states’ COVID-19 response plans, about ways to support student and adult social and emotional competencies learning.  This brief has been developed to inform policies to keep SEL and relationships at the forefront. It provides numerous strategies to support equitable learning for students and families.

Updated (6/11/20): Free Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources for Schools During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Lists free resources developed by education technology companies and organizations to equip education systems with supports for social and emotional learning and psychological wellbeing to teachers, students and families during COVID-19 school closures.  

Remote Learning Resources for SEL, Mental Health and Behavior: Collects resources and tools specific to social emotional learning, behavior, mental health  and general health to support schools and families when in-person learning is suspended or interrupted.  A team of professionals from the Colorado Department of Education curates and presents evidence-based practices and supports. 

Systematic Screening Guidance in the COVID-19 Era: Offers numerous well-documented protocols – many with instructional/guidance videos -  to support screening of students for internal and externalizing behaviors in the COVID-19 era.  This website includes more than half a dozen validated screening instruments with extensive supportive resources for screening protocols, primary reference, and training resources.

UCLA Brief COVID-19 Screen for Child/Adolescent PTSD: Offers a no-cost screening tool to triage potential impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on students and their families. The tool is designed for use by professionals across a range of child serving systems, including behavioral health, primary care, pediatrics, schools, child welfare and juvenile justice. The pandemic exposure questions are followed by an 11-item set of validated questions about the frequency of PTSD symptoms in the past month. The score sheet provides an algorithm for determining the need for ongoing monitoring or a full PTSD assessment and, if indicated, evidence-based trauma-focused treatment. The UCLA Brief COVID-19 Screen for Child/Adolescent PTSD is available in English and Spanish.

Helping Children with Traumatic Separation or Traumatic Grief Related to COVID-19: Offers suggestions for parents/caregivers and other adults supporting children with traumatic separation or traumatic grief related to COVID-19.  The National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSN] developed this tip sheet, reminding that, especially in stressful times, in addition to the suggestions here, “all children benefit from caregivers listening to and validating their different feelings.”

How Schools Can Help Kids Heal after a Year of 'Crisis and Uncertainty': Offers insight about the importance of providing regular/daily mental health promotion and support activities for K-12 students. This 7-minute audio segment on National Public Radio (4/21/21) shares examples from students, family members and student support personnel.  Child psychiatrist Matt Beil, featured in this story, commented, "If kids don't return to school and get a lot of attention paid to security, safety, predictability and re-establishing of strong, secure relationships, [they] are not gonna be able to make up ground academically." 

COVID-19 Resources: A Trauma-Informed, Whole Child Response: Provides links to two recent reports from UConn's Collaboratory on School and Child Health about schools' trauma-informed responses to COVID-19. The first article outlines how schools should plan for a trauma-informed response to COVID-19. The second article summarizes easy-to-use and low-cost strategies that can be integrated within existing school initiatives and adapted to fit different contexts. 

Supporting Students Experiencing Trauma During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Identifies best practices for addressing student- and educator-related trauma through the Cross-State Collaborative to Support Schools in the Opioid Crisis (CCSSOC). Through this work, the collaborative developed and curated tools and strategies all educators may find useful when supporting students during this time.

Trauma-Informed Schools During COVID-19: What Can We Do?: Illustrates how both the COVID-19 pandemic and other adverse community experiences can aggravate negative impacts on existing or prior adverse childhood experiences, this one-page infographic also describes four strategies educators can undertake to mitigate harm and promote positive engagement with school in both in-person and distance learning contexts.

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Teaching Through Coronavirus: Guides education professionals in applying trauma-informed best practices to support school-based communities. This resource features recommendations for educators during the COVID-19 crisis, from experts from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Building Student Resilience Toolkit: Offers a toolkit designed for middle school and junior high school educators to strengthen their skills for nurturing student resilience.  Supports for the mental health and general wellbeing of students are particularly essential when students are struggling or experiencing trauma (e.g., contending with impact of COVID-19), while also experiencing adolescence.  Building student resilience can mitigate the impact of adversities, enabling students to rise above the challenges they face and recalibrate their responses accordingly. This resource from the National Center for Safe and Supportive Learning Environments [NCSSLE – April 2021] provides four complementary modules, each of which includes training guides, companion slide presentations, and accompanying handouts.

Psychological First Aid: Supporting Yourself and Others During COVID-19 (Online Course): Teaches techniques for supporting mental health during the COVID-19 crisis.  Based on guidance from the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); this online course is designed to help individuals, build resilience, support themselves and lend support to others. The 60-minute course covers these topics:

• Recognizing Stress in Adults, Teens and Children
• Practicing Mental Health First Aid
• Caring for Yourself
• Supporting Your Family
• Supporting Yourself and Coworkers at Work

Each student who completes the course will receive an American Red Cross Psychological First Aid: Supporting Yourself and Others During COVID-19 Online certificate that will be valid for 2 years.

How Right Now (Spanish version): Promotes, and seeks to strengthen, the emotional well-being and resiliency of populations adversely affected by COVID-19–related stress, grief, and loss. This on-line campaign offers a self-screening mechanism and provides information about various emotions (e.g., fear, anger, sadness, stress), resources that can help a person start a conversation about their feelings and concerns, discover what is helping others experiencing similar emotions, and other resources that can help. Support for the campaign is provided by the CDC Foundation in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. Available in English, too.

Suicide Prevention Resource Center - Schools: Outlines key strategies K-12 schools can use to take a comprehensive approach to help keep students safe. SAMHSA’s national Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides guidance and resources reflecting evidence-based best practices to: promote emotional well-being and connectedness among all students; identify students who may be at risk for suicide and assist them in getting help; and to be prepared to respond when a suicide death occurs.

Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: National Response Action Plan (for Strengthening Mental Health and the Prevention of Suicide in the Aftermath of COVID-19): Presents six priorities and related actions developed by the steering committee of the Mental Health and Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19.  The priority areas and related actions are directed toward those who can create change and implement lasting solutions, including federal and state policymakers, government agencies and non-profit organizations, health care accreditation organizations, professional associations, health care providers, and public and private payers.

Returning to School During and After Crisis: A Guide to Supporting States, Districts, Schools, Educators, and Students through a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Framework: Highlights resources to support the use of a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework to support students, families, and educators during the transitions back to school during and following the global pandemic, in a manner that prioritizes their health and safety, social and emotional needs, and behavioral and academic growth.

Childhood Grief (Resources): Presents a large set of vetted resources intended to support children and families impacted by powerful, overwhelming and often confusing emotions associated with the death of someone close to them or substance abuse in their family.

Psychological Effects of Quarantine During the Coronavirus Outbreak: What Healthcare Providers Need to Know: Introduces foreseeable psychological effects of quarantine, added with strategies for how healthcare providers (including school-based counselors, nurses and school social workers) can implement care for their students’/patients’ and their own mental well-being during periods of quarantine.

COVID-19 Resource Guide for Students, Teens, and Young Adults: Provides curated sets of resources and tips to help young people navigate challenges stemming from pandemic disruptions. Recognizing several COVID-19 related insults to mental well-being -- dealing with sudden changes to regular schedules; feelings of uncertainty and anxiety, even loss and grief – the JED Foundation reassures that it is completely expected and appropriate to experience fear. The selected resources intend to support strategies to manage overwhelming anxiety and keep perspective as the situation unfolds.

National Bereavement Resource Guide: Furnishes state-by-state listings of grief camps, hospice and grief organizations intended to support children and families who are grieving. The Eluna Network compilation of state and local resources also lists curated books and web-based materials to support children and families impacted by grief, addiction and loss.

U.S. Transition to 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Begins Saturday (07/16/22): Announces transition from the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to 988 – an easy-to-remember three-digit number for 24/7 crisis care. The lifeline, which also links to the Veterans Crisis Line, is part of President Biden’s comprehensive strategy to ensure all Americans have access to help during mental health crises.  Implemented as a top priority at US DHHS. the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, signed into law after the passage of bipartisan legislation in 2020, authorized 988 as a new three-digit number for suicide and mental health crisis. All telephone service and text providers in the U.S. and the five major U.S. territories are required by the FCC to activate 988 no later than July 16. To help publicize this new national resource, access free 988 social media shareables here.  You can also order 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline wallet cards here.

Online and Telephone Support Groups: Offers treatment providers (e.g., school counselors, psychologists) and peer support specialists an extensive list of online and telephone support groups for their clients/peers. SAMHSA’s Addiction Technology Transfer Center [ATTC] network has vetted the list to ensure that none is associated with any specific treatment/ recovery center, and that none require individuals to register first to access online group support services. Both 12 Step and non-12 Step-based online support groups are identified. 

Screen4Success – Substance Use Prevention: Asks questions about substance use, mental and physical health, general wellbeing, and family life. This app – a part of SAMHSA’s “Talk. They Hear You” campaign mobile app, provides an easy way for parents and caregivers to identify areas where their children may benefit from additional support. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to fill out the screener with their kids, creating opportunities for discussion in the moment, or they can send it to their children to complete on their own.

2021 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Releases (January 2023): Provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; substance use disorders; receipt of substance use treatment; mental health issues; and the use of mental health services among the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older in the United States. SAMHSA’s NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. The 2021 Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators report summarizes substance use (tobacco, alcohol, vaping, marijuana and other illicit drug use, as well as the use and misuse of prescription drugs); initiation of substance use by type; substance use disorders (SUDs); major depressive episode (MDE), any mental illness, and serious mental illness; mental illness and MDE co-occurring with substance use and SUDs; suicidal thoughts, plans, and non-fatal attempts; substance use treatment and mental health service use; and perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use, mental health issues, and treatment. Estimates are presented by age group and by race/ethnicity for selected measures.

Pediatric Emergency Department Visits Associated with Mental Health Conditions Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, January 2019 - January 2022: Emphasizes the importance of early identification and expanded evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to improve pediatric mental health, especially among adolescent females. This  February 2022 update by CDC investigators shows that weekly emergency department visits among adolescent females (aged 12–17 years) increased for two eating and tic disorders during 2020; for depression, eating, tic, and obsessive-compulsive disorders during 2021; and for anxiety; trauma and stressor-related; eating; tic; and obsessive-compulsive disorders during January 2022, compared with 2019.

Emergency Department Visits for Suspected Suicide Attempts Among Persons Aged 12-25 Years Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, January 2019-May 2021: Reports CDC findings that emergency department (ED) visits for suspected suicide attempts began to increase in May 2020 among adolescents aged 12–17 years, especially girls. During February–March 2021 suspected suicide attempt ED visits were 50.6% higher among girls aged 12–17 years than during the same period in 2019. This report suggests these trends have persisted among young persons as the pandemic has progressed. The authors emphasize that suicide prevention requires a comprehensive approach that is adapted during times of infrastructure disruption, involves multisectoral partnerships, and implements evidence-based strategies to address the range of factors influencing suicide risk.

'I Miss the Interaction': The Pandemic Has Thrown Curveballs at School Counselors: Shares reflections by school counseling professionals about both challenges and “silver linings” when supporting students throughout the pandemic, including through distance-spanning/virtual formats.  Education Week’s 3/31/21 article also describes some innovative adaptations counselors have developed to address the chief challenges.

School Disruption as a Dropout Risk Factor: Examines short and long-term effects of school disruption on the nation’s dropout rates in the context of the current pandemic. This discussion by Dr. Sandy Addis, director of National Dropout Prevention Center, is shared in a video presentation.

CMS Approves California & Kentucky Requests to Provide Essential Behavioral Health Services Through Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams: Reports that six states have now (July 2023) expanded access to community-based mental health and substance use crisis care through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan. California and Kentucky will be able to provide Medicaid services through mobile crisis teams by connecting eligible individuals in crisis to a behavioral health provider 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. Mobile crisis intervention teams aim to provide rapid response, individual assessment, and crisis de-escalation by trained behavioral health professionals and paraprofessionals. The multidisciplinary team provides screening and assessment; stabilization and de-escalation; and coordination with and referrals to health, social, and other services, as needed.

National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Offers best practices, implementation strategies, and practical guidance for the design and development of services that meet the needs of children, youth, and their families experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Additional technical guidance is provided in a companion report produced by SAMHSA in conjunction with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, A Safe Place to Be: Crisis Stabilization Services and Other Supports for Children and Youth.

A Safe Place to Be: Crisis Stabilization Services and Other Supports for Children and Youth: Reviews the need for and components of crisis stabilization services for children, youth, young adults, and their families: someone to contact (crisis call lines), someone to respond (mobile response teams), and a safe place to be.  The Institute for Innovation & Implementation (University of Maryland, Baltimore) and the National Association of State Mental health Program Directors [NASMHPD] produced this technical guide (September 2022) for SAMHSA. Stabilization services at home are critically necessary within a service array. Mobile response can and should be designed to respond to an immediate incident, de-escalate the situation, and begin the process of stabilization. States and localities also ensure they have sufficient capacity to refer for and deliver stabilization services.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Is Now: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Provides information from SAMHSA describing the new National Suicide Prevention Hotline (a.k.a. “988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline”).

Blog: Addressing Trauma and Mass Violence: Addresses the trauma of mass violence with a comprehensive array of coping resources and tools, including toll-free helplines, a range of resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network [NCTSN], and several published resources.  SAMHSA administrator Miriam Delphin-Rittmon posted this blog in the wake of the high-profile mass shooting tragedies in Buffalo NY and Uvalde TX. 

Responding to Death in the COVID-19 Context: Guidelines for Administrators and Crisis Teams: Highlights key considerations in communicating a death with the school community. The National Association of School Psychologists [NASP] acknowledges that, within the contemporary COVID-19 context, there will continue to be deaths within many school communities that impact the teachers, staff, students, and families. Each death of a student, staff member, or parent impacts many people in the school community. NASP reminds that the response to the death is important to help facilitate healthy coping, adaptation, and bereavement. This website offers numerous resources related to grief, including tips for administrators, teachers, and families.

From Crisis to Care: Building from 988 and Beyond for Better Mental Health Outcomes: Provides a series of ten technical assistance collaborative papers providing important resources for state leaders, policy makers, providers, peers and others to learn about innovative services and the need for further 988 implementation. This (September 2022) resource was produced by SAMHSA in conjunction with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

Unmasked Stories of Inequity: Emerging Voices from the Pandemic: Highlights young people’s experiences with remote learning throughout the pandemic and their recommendations for how policymakers, administrators, youth development specialists and other adults can better support them. In this 13-part film series from the National Urban League, young people tell their stories in their voices.

Teens on a Year That Changed Everything: Presents words, images and video presentations by dozens of students across the nation, showing how they have met life’s challenges in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The New York Times synthesized contributions from more than 5,000 students who responded to prompts from the newspaper’s learning network multi-media contest, Coming of Age in 2020.  “It was, in many ways, a generation-defining disaster. Being trapped inside — and missing the milestones that ordinarily mark coming of age in America — was lonely, disorienting, depressing and even suffocating. But many also surprised themselves. They bonded with siblings, discovered nature, found small comforts in Zoom-school, played games, worked out, cooked, wrote, sang, danced, painted and made videos. And, perhaps most important at a time of life focused on figuring out who you are, they reinvented themselves.”

Evaluation of Mental Health Mobile Applications: Proposes a framework to assess mental health mobile applications with the aim to facilitate selection of apps. The results of applying this framework (developed by Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ]) will yield summary statements on the strengths and limitations of the apps, and are intended for use by providers and patients/caregivers.

The All in My Head Podcast: Describes series of 10+ podcast episodes created during the COVID-19 pandemic with the intention of supporting teens through a wide variety of struggles they face (e.g. suicide, cultural appropriation, and multiple struggles of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth).   The podcasts have been made possible by local Oregon-based grants for youth engagement; and the series has been acknowledged by Sources of Strength, a peer-led suicide prevention program. 

Students Weigh In: Learning and Well-Being During COVID-19: Explores what students have to say about learning and well-being during COVID-19.  This series of reports draws upon data from over 500,000 secondary students across more than 600 schools and tracks how secondary students’ perceptions of learning and well-evolved across four time periods (spring 2020, fall 2020, spring 2021, and the 2022-23 school year) relative to the student experience prior to COVID-19.  YouthTruth, a national nonprofit that aims to elevate student voice on critical issues in education, asked how students have perceived their learning experiences, social-emotional development, and well-being at six-month intervals dating back to initial spring 2020 school closures. YouthTruth has analyzed survey data from more than 20,000 students in grades 5-12, collected through a 12-minute online survey, administered in English and Spanish, in partnership with 166 public schools across nine states. Click here to explore the on-line interactive report of all findings.

Our Minds Matter: Support During COVID-19: Supports student-led activities to encourage students to seek help for themselves and friends when they struggle with mental health challenges. During the national COVID-19 emergency Our Minds Matter has created an extensive library of videos, and offers numerous curated resources through this webpage.

Why More Schools Are Excusing Student Absences for Mental Health: Chronicles trend among state legislatures and school districts to allow excused absences for mental health reasons, and shares strategies systems are using to identify student needs for well-being support that avert stigma and can support a culture of constructive follow-up.  A vice president for Mental Health America encourages schools to envision their mental health programming as a spectrum that includes prevention, recognition, and services. “Granting excused absences for mental health days can help prevent a serious problem, or facilitate getting treatment.”

COVID-19 Guidance for Early Childhood Education & Child Care Programs: Provides official CDC guidance for Early Care and Education (ECE) programs, updated May 11, 2023, outlining strategies to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and maintain safe operations.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C Q&A: Responds to inquiries concerning implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part C provision of service in the current COVID-19 environment.

COVID-19 & the Head Start Community: Offers updated information about COVID-19 vaccination form the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. “As of April 7, 2023 there will not be a Head Start requirement for vaccination and testing for Head Start, Early Head Start, and Early Head Start-Child Care Partnership grant recipients in all states, tribes, and territories.

Important Home Visiting Information During COVID-19: Outlines safeguards for home visitors and families during the COVID-19 public health emergency to support state and local early childhood home visiting programs and providers. Webpage updated May 18, 2023. “Please note that the end of the public health emergency does not impact allowable uses of funding for MIECHV awards made with American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) funding. HRSA encourages MIECHV awardees to continue to prioritize using ARP award funding to address the immediate and ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families.”

Historic Crisis, Historic Opportunity: Using Evidence to Mitigate the Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Young Children and Early Care and Education Programs: Provides clear evidence on the pandemic’s impact for children, programs, and educators coupled with concrete policy recommendations. It aims to help policymakers make evidence-informed choices about how to leverage new resources and support efforts to build a stronger ECE system.

COVID-19: Updates and Information: Offers information and guidance from the American Psychological Association [APA] on adapting educational activities for accredited mental health programs. Updated November 1, 2022. 

26 Educational Apps & Sites for Distance Learning with ADHD: Offers a set of educational apps and website curated by readers of the ADDitude webpage that can help students with ADHD to improve their study skills, learn new languages, and supplement school instruction for all ages.

Virtual Reset Room: Offers an extensive, curated set of helpful tools (e.g. visual relaxation, guided practice, wildlife camera, sounds and music) to equip students and educators with means to access to support wellness and resilience amid contemporary stressors. Scores of specific tools have been catalogued at this website by the Rockingham County (NC) Schools’ Behavioral Health Department.

Kansas: Learning Across Kansas: Provides supplemental education content for elementary, middle school and high school students featuring grade-specific educational content delivered in 30-minute televised episodes from some of the state’s most talented and acclaimed teachers. The calendar of scheduled programs, jointly arranged by the state’s four PBS stations, is intentionally expansive to provide numerous opportunities for students and families to participate, despite their unique routines, priorities and challenges.

Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide: Helps all parents and caregivers understand how digital tools can provide tailored learning opportunities, engage students with course materials, encourage creative expression, and enrich the educational experience as they monitor their child’s progress accessing and using technology for learning. Produced by ED’s Office of Educational Technology, this guide also includes easy-to-understand primers on major federal laws governing student privacy and safety.

Fact Sheet: The Emergency Broadband Benefit: Announces the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Broadband Benefit (effective until funds run out, and no later than November 11, 2023) that offers consumers substantial discounts on broadband service and computer devices to support more affordable access to distance learning.  The fact sheet explains the range if discounts available; eligibility criteria (qualifies for free or reduced-price school meals, or for Pell grants); lists more than 800 participating broadband providers in this federally funded COVID-19 relief program; and guides interested families/students about how to sign up for the benefit. 

Simple Activities for Children and Adolescents: Recommends best practices for activity ideas to parents and caregivers whose families are sheltering in place, social distancing, and homeschooling due to closures amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

Tools for Classrooms with In-Person and Remote Students: Offers 27 tools for concurrent (a.k.a. hybrid or hyflex) learning, a complex blended learning model that can be challenging and frustrating for teachers and students. Teachers are increasingly being asked to manage classrooms with both students who are physically present and students attending remotely. Concurrent learning relies on videoconferencing software (e.g., Zoom, Teams, Skype), and poses challenges including technical difficulties, and creating an inclusive environment to facilitating group work or assessments. Common Sense Education has compiled these tools to help teachers create seamless, collaborative digital classrooms that will benefit students learning in-person and those learning online. 

Mental Health Effects of Online Learning: Explains how online learning environments can impact the mental health of students and parents. Clinical professionals from Kentucky Counseling Center also offer tips for students and parents for how to cope with the challenges of online learning.

A Virtual Learning Guide for Professional Development: Provides technical and interactive strategies and approaches to virtual learning to support both educators and the school mental health workforce.

Remote and Hybrid Learning May Be a Permanent Strategy: How Will We Know Whether It Is Successful?: Describes tools to inform implementation of remote and hybrid instruction now and into the future.

Emerging Challenges and Creative Solutions for Early Childhood Play-Based Learning in Remote Settings: Highlights strategies for integrating play-based learning into remote instruction. This blog focuses on how play-based learning engages young students in intentional, structured, and developmentally appropriate play that supports specific learning goals.

Updated: Free Resources for Schools During COVID-19 Outbreak: Provides direct links to resources offered by education technology companies and organizations to support distance learning.  Last  updated in September 2020, links are categorized by academic subject area, and address broadband/internet access/free Wi-Fi resources, and social and emotional learning resources.

Promising Practices Brief: Improving Student Engagement and Attendance During COVID-19 School Closures: Provides an overview of the research on student engagement and attendance in online environments and highlights the efforts of five districts across the country to support student attendance and engagement during emergency school closures during 2020.

Strategies for Trauma-Informed Distance Learning: Offers some general strategies, with specific examples, for how to recognize and respond to students’ social and emotional needs while teaching remotely. The Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety [CISELSS] has organized these strategies according to neuroscientist Bruce Perry’s “3 Rs” approach to intervention: Regulate, Relate, and Reason.

Creating a PBIS Behavior Teaching Matrix for Remote Instruction: Shares tips for maintaining continuity of learning through defining classroom expectations for remote/ distance instruction and online learning environments. This practice brief from the Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, shows how teachers can adapt a PBIS framework to make remote learning safe, predictable, and positive for students.

Keep Calm and Connect All Students: Incorporates a series of reflection questions, highlights promising solutions geared towards remote learning measures for learners, and describes effective practices for educators and system leaders. ED’s Office of Educational Technology provided this extended blog series with multiple posts geared to a variety of audiences. Information shared intentionally complements other publications from the US Department of Education.

Best Practices for Creating Take-Home Packets to Support Distance Learning: Documents ways in which take-home packets can be used as a primary mode of instruction during at-home learning and as a supplemental resource when school is back in session. These best practices are compiled and presented by the US Department of Education's Regional Educational Laboratory [REL-Pacific].

Best Practices for Educating Online: Guides educators and clinicians through best practices, teaching strategies, tips and tricks for delivering high-quality instruction and therapy online with a quick turnaround.  This guide, developed by the Council for Exceptional Children and eLuma Online Therapy, walks professionals through preparation (technology, software, environment, apparel) and execution of instructional strategies for live, online learning in a clear and succinct 8 pages, including numerous hyperlinks to original primary resources.

Supporting Children's Reading at Home: Family Resources for Kindergarten through 3rd Grade: Features a 46-minute webinar recording. Viewers will gain the knowledge and ability to utilize the REL Southeast’s Supporting Your Child’s Reading at Home family resources for kindergarten through 3rd grade in their home setting.

Free Distance Learning Plans for K-2 Students and Their Families: Introduces “fun and friendly” weekly learning plans for K-2 children, assists educators of young students with opening up lines of communication for their families, and engages students in new digital learning routines. Common Sense Learning offers these free resources as a quick-start guide to help establish a comfortable distance learning climate at home. The three packets – one each for kindergarten, grades 1 and 2 students - are structured around basic principles including: 1.) Start with digital citizenship, 2.) Set reasonable goals, and 3.) Attempt a schedule.

The Needs and Joys of our (Im)migrant* Students, Families and Community Partners: Exploring and Expanding Our School Mental Health Practice: Offers a three-part webinar series and ensuing learning community opportunity for school mental health professionals aimed at improving mental health support and services for K-12 students who are immigrants, newcomers, undocumented or transborder learners in the context of the COVID-19 public health emergency. SAMHSA’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center [MHTTC] network has selected priming resources to support the learning series. The webpage provides slide decks and reflection tools for each of the three webinars originally conducted in March, April and May 2021.

COVID-19 Information for ELL and Multilingual Families (En español): Presents multilingual resources, compiled and presented by Colorín Colorado, a national multimedia project that offers bilingual, research-based information, activities, and advice for educators and families of English Learners (ELs).  These collected resources can help schools and communities communicate more effectively with families of English Learners and immigrant students about COVID-19.

Supporting Young English Learners at Home: Provides an educator’s guide for teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle schools. The nine activity sheets, available in both English and Spanish, are designed to provide simple, fun activities families and caregivers can use with children at home to strengthen language development in either the home language or English.

ED Fact Sheet: Providing Services to English Learners During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Outlined considerations for states to administer for English learners and their families during the new normal of extended school closures and workarounds for remote learning due to COVID-19. 

Adapting Instruction for English Learner Students During Distance Learning: Perspectives from Practitioners: Provided an overview of promising practices and resources, and a facilitated question-and-answer session with English learner (EL) teachers and specialists. During this 50-minute REL Southwest “research-to-practice bridge event,”  EL practitioners discussed strategies and resources they have used to engage EL students in remote instruction. In addition, they explained how they have collaborated with colleagues remotely and offer ways that local education agencies can support and build the capacity of EL teachers during periods of school closure driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reaching and Teaching English Learners, Newcomer Students, and English Learners with Disabilities During the Pandemic: This September 2020 recorded webinar from the Region I Equity Assistance Center, Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium (MAEC) shared how educators are pivoting to make sure that English Learners, including newly arrived immigrants and students with disabilities, receive a high-quality education and other social-emotional supports under current conditions. This webinar featured conversations with expert practitioners and researchers and presents strategies that can be applied in your school or district.

Supporting ELLs Through COVID-19: Extensive bilingual website shares guidance, and lessons learned so far, about distance learning for English language learners (ELL’s); communicating and partnering with families; and social-emotional supports for ELLs and immigrant students.

Serie Formativa: Educacion Remota en Emergencia (Remote Education in Emergency): Hosts a six-part Spanish-language webinar series, produced by the Latin America and Caribbean Reads Capacity Program. The webinar sessions were designed to support educators in transitioning from an in-person curriculum delivery to remote delivery during the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions, in Plain Language: Addresses a variety of topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic, drawn from numerous reliable government sources that can be helpful to parents of students. The FAQ has been developed by the PCORI Knowledge Translation Center at American Institutes for Research. Provided as a resource for schools, day care and healthcare organizations, and other public centers to distribute, this resource is designed to make basic health information accessible and comprehensible to everyone, regardless of education level or background. The FAQ is provided in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese.

Return to School Roadmap: Development and Implementation of Individualized Education Programs (Sept. 30, 2021): Details certain Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] requirements related to the development and implementation of individualized education programs [IEPs].  This Q&A document from ED’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Service [OSEP QA 21-06] also offers other information that state educational agencies [SEAs] and local educational agencies [LEAs], regular and special education teachers, related services providers, and parents should consider.

Long COVID under Section 504 and the IDEA: A Resource to Support Children, Students, Educators, Schools, Service Providers, and Families: Provides information about the long-term adverse health effects of COVID-19 (commonly referred to as “long COVID”) as a disability; and about schools’ and public agencies’ responsibilities for the provision of services and reasonable modifications to children and students for whom long COVID is a disability. This resource was issued jointly (07/26/21) by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights [OCR] and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services [OSERS]. The discussion here focuses on two Federal laws: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA].

Commemorating the ADA and Announcing a New Resource to Support Students with "Long COVID": Celebrated the 31^st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (7/26/90), providing context to introduce a new resource from the Departments of Education [ED] and Health and Human Services [HHS] to address the impact of ongoing health problems related to COVID-19. The new resource, Long COVID under Section 504 and the IDEA: A Resource to Support Children, Students, Educators, Schools, Service Providers, and Families, shows how young children and students of all ages who have long COVID may be entitled to disability-related supports, services, and accommodations under Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

Guidance on "Long COVID" as a Disability Under the ADA, Section 504, and Section 1557: Explains that long COVID can be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  This guidance, jointly issued (07/26/21) by the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services [OCR] and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, also provides resources for additional information and best practices.  This document provides a set of questions and answers about “long COVID” and related protections and responsibilities. 

New Guidance Reaffirms Importance of Full Implementation of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Announced guidance sent in 8/24/21 letter from Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services [OSERS] to state and local partners affirming ED’s commitment to ensure that, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic or the mode of instruction, children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and that infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families receive early intervention services in the 2021-2022 school year.  This letter outlined a series of question and answers (Q&As) as children and students return to in-person learning.

Guidance for Direct Service Providers, Caregivers, Parents, and People with Developmental and Behavioral Disorders (Spanish language version): Addressed special considerations for people with developmental and behavioral disorders who have limited mobility, have difficulty accessing information, require close contact with direct service providers [DSP], have trouble understanding information, have difficulties with changes in routines, or have other concerns related to their disability. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] issued this guidance, and has archived the webpage for historical purposes, but is no longer updating it.

OSEP COVID-19 Questions & Answers: Implementation of IDEA Part B Provision of Services: Provides answers to inquiries concerning implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B provision of services in the current COVID-19 environment.

Supporting Students with Intensive Needs During COVID-19: Offers a series of resources to support educators and administrators for students with special needs during COVID-19.  Resources offered by the Center on Multi-Tiered System of Supports at the American Institutes for Research cover mathematics intervention examples, reading intervention examples, behavior strategies, data collection and teaming, implementation support, and collaborating with families. Many of the resources were developed by educators participating in a community of practice during the early months of the pandemic in spring 2020. They include example lessons, implementation videos, tip sheets, and data collection strategies. 

Going the Distance: Online Strategies for Helping Students with Disabilities: Presents research-based suggestions for educators working online with students who have disabilities. This blog from the REL Mid-Atlantic addresses effective practices that advance distance learning, noting that students with disabilities represent a significant portion of our nation’s school-age learners.

READY NOW - Education Technology Resources to Support Special Education Practitioners and Children and Students with or At Risk for Disabilities: Provides a large set of research-based special education learning aids designed to support education practitioners and/or students with or at risk for disabilities, whether for teaching and learning in person, virtually, or a combination of both. Each tool included in this guide has been evaluated by developers and their collaborators for usability, feasibility, and promise of learning or efficacy. 

OCR Short Webinar on Online Education and Website Accessibility: Offers guidance for providing online education and ensuring website accessibility for students with disabilities for schools utilizing distance learning amid physical school closures (8 minutes).

Support for Kids with ADHD During the Coronavirus Crisis - Cómo apoyar a niños con TDAH durante la crisis del COVID-19 (Spanish language version): Synthesizes suggestions from mental health experts for helping children with ADHD (and their families) to cope and succeed. Child Mind Institute reminds us that, while families are struggling to care for (and homeschool) children cut off from their normal routines and activities, those who have ADHD may need extra structure and support to manage attention and behavior challenges and keep on track with learning in this challenging situation.

Plan and Deliver: Educating Students with Disabilities in Remote Settings: Focuses on adapting instruction to distance learning platforms to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities. Provides guidance on pertinent legal requirements, and how to think about accessibility for remote learning in new ways to plan and deliver remote instruction for those students. with disabilities. REL Midwest draws on evidence-based practices from traditional school settings and adapts them for remote and online environments. This blog entry also includes free resources from the Technical Assistance and Dissemination Centers of ED’s Office of Special Education Programs [OSEP].

Distance Learning for Special Education: Provides resources from over 1,800 educators and specialists to support the needs of students with significant disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the move to online instruction. These resources are open source and can be adapted to fit a variety of needs.

Supporting Individuals with Autism through Uncertain Times: Presents seven support strategies designed to meet the unique needs of individuals with autism during COVID-19’s period of uncertainty. The Frank Porter Graham Child Development (UNC-Chapel Hill) Autism Team provides examples and ready-made resources to help caregivers implement the strategies easily. Included materials purposely represent a variety of styles/designs/complexity to model the range of what may be most meaningful across ages and skills, and to demonstrate what can be generated, with few materials, by busy caregivers. 

This Is Your Shot - COVID-19 Native Youth Vaccination Toolkit (Updated September 2021): Provides American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) access to factual information about COVID-19 vaccines. This toolkit, developed by the National Congress of American Indians [NCAI] and the National Education Association [NEA] using information gathered from Indian Health Service [IHS] and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], also includes social media graphics and sample posts that may be shared with families, friends, schools, communities, organizations, Tribal Nations, and other networks.

Staying Safe and Mentally Well During COVID-19: One-page tip sheet from the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins University offers suggestions for exercising mental health and relieving stress, based on input from the CDC and NIDA.

Double Jeopardy: COVID-19 and Behavioral Health Disparities for Black and Latino Communities in the U.S.: Shares data from CDC, the US Census Bureau and Kaiser Family Foundation indicating disproportionate negative impacts of the pandemic on communities of color. This resource from SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity [OBHE] offers an extensive set of recommended actions, with associated resources, that can help to address significant obstacles to adequate behavioral health treatment, services and supports for Black and Latino Americans. 

How the Navajo's Cultural Values Are Driving COVID Vaccinations: Describes culturally rooted appeals and methods that have mobilized the nation’s largest tribal nation to achieve the highest vaccination rates of any major racial or ethnic group in the United States.  Like many other tribal nations, the Navajo people have had to embrace Western science to reclaim their social customs and ceremonies. In this October 2021 interview with Medscape, Dr. Mary Hasbah Roessel described the partnerships that have mobilized the Navajo Nation’s population to get vaccinated.

People of Color Create Their Own Mental Health Services On-Line: Describes five examples of mental health platforms, apps, and organizations that people of color have created to support the well-being of their communities.  As our nation’s current mental health workforce is predominantly White, access to mental health services for people of color can be hindered by socioeconomics, stigma, language, or cultural barriers. Some Black, Latinx, Asian American and Native American people have created digital spaces and organizations to address mental health needs of their communities.

Twitter Analysis Can Help Practitioners, Policymakers and Researchers Better Understand Topics Relevant to American Indian/Alaska Native [AI/AN] Youth: Provides an overview of learnings from a recent analysis of Twitter engagement around AI/AN-focused hashtags. Child Trends’ interactive data visualization displays the top 50 hashtags for each month between January 2015 through July 2020.  The brief shares key implications for practitioners and policy stakeholders who work with AI/AN communities, or on issues relevant to these communities; and includes recommendations for interpreting these Twitter data.

National Indian Child Welfare Association COVID-19 Resource Page: Includes information for frontline workers, children, families/caregivers, and system leaders (including webinar/learning and grant opportunities), a large section of pertinent federal guidance, and links to numerous additional selected resources.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Reports data from Indian Health Service [IHS], tribal and urban Indian organization facilities on number of COVID-19 tests completed, and positive and negative test results, that can help inform local planning for social distancing, school reopening, and gatherings of many individuals. The Indian Health Service continues to work closely with our tribal and urban Indian organization partners and state and local public health officials to coordinate a comprehensive public health response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected American Indian and Alaska Native populations across the country.

FindHelp.org: Presents a meaningful on-line search tool inviting families to search for free (or reduced) cost services (e.g. medical care, food, housing, education, transportation, job training, legal aid) by zip code. Specific COVID-19-related programs and services are also currently featured. This tool, curated by Aunt Bertha, a Public Benefit Corporation, can be used (along with 211.org) by school social workers to link students and families to instrumental support through the current emergency.

2-1-1 -- United Way: Connects visitors to a community resource specialist in the local area who can help to find critical resources and services that can improve - and save - lives. Through a toll-free call to 2-1-1, or a visit to the website, one can find information about:

• Supplemental food and nutrition programs
• Shelter and housing options and utilities assistance
• Emergency information and disaster relief
• Employment and education opportunities
• Services for veterans
• Health care, vaccination and health epidemic information
• Addiction prevention and rehabilitation programs
• Reentry help for ex-offenders
• Support groups for individuals with mental illnesses or special needs
• A safe, confidential path out of physical and/or emotional domestic abuse.

Supports for Students and Families Experiencing Homelessness During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Provides K-12 schools, school districts, regional education agencies, state education agencies, and their community partners with information on supporting students and families experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the REMS TA Center offers an overview of data on students and families experiencing homelessness and of homelessness resources available to students and families. The National Center for Homeless Education shares considerations for students experiencing homelessness that education agencies should address; while SchoolHouse Connection highlights common challenges faced by education agencies and solutions.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - COVID-19 Information and Resources: Serves as the central webpage for Housing and Urban Development COVID-19-related information and resources. The site provides resources for renters, homeowners, and HUD partners, as well as contacts for people experiencing homelessness or those who need free housing help.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - COVID-19 Resources for HUD Partners: Lists resources for Housing and Urban Development partners, programs, and grantees, featuring vaccine access and COVID-19 testing resources. This HUD webpage was updated in June 2021.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - Coronavirus Resources: Public Housing Agencies: Contents of this webpage, most recently updated in June 2021, include:

• Eviction Prevention and Stability Toolkit
• CDC Eviction Moratorium (most protections appear to have expired effective 7/31/21)
• PHA and Transit Agency Partnership Resources
• COVID-19 Toolkit
• Policy Notices
• FAQs
• Resident Information
• Letters From HUD

COVID-19 (Office of Public & Indian Housing Authority) PIH Quick Guide: Provides public housing agencies (PHAs) and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) with considerations as they develop strategies to address the impact of the pandemic on their staff, residents, communities, and stakeholders.

COVID-19 Interaction Playbook for Housing Partners: This playbook from the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] offers promising practices for common interactions and new business situations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It seeks to create a safer environment through social distancing and to ensure the safe distribution of goods and services to prevent the further spread of COVID-19; and to mitigate the health risks on staff, residents, service providers, and landlords.

COVID-19-Related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs): Addresses concerns and FAQs for public housing agencies. This document from the Office of Public and Indian Housing, last updated in September 2020, addresses emergency preparedness, eviction moratorium, operational concerns, resident health, eligible use of funds, and grant administration.

HUD Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) - COVID-19 FAQs for Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs): Assists Tribes and TDHEs while they navigate the impact of COVID-19 on their day-to-day housing functions. The FAQs address emergency funding, key COVID-19 information resources, reporting extensions and waivers, and emergency operations and tribal policies.

COVID-19 Resources for Native Americans: Lists COVID-19 resources from Native Americans from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, specifically focused on Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG-ARP) and Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG-ARP). Find additional COVID-19 resources from the Office of Native American Programs [ONAP] at its COVID-19 Recovery Programs web page.

The Forgotten Students: COVID-19 Response for Youth and Young Adults Aging Out of Foster Care: Examines how the ongoing COVID-19 crisis continues to pose a significant threat to youth and young adults aging out of foster care. After describing and documenting the main concerns, this Third Way report poses a set of policy recommendations for Congress and the federal government to consider, to strengthen essential supports for this vulnerable population.

COVID-19 (ABA Legal Center for Foster Care and Education): Offers three resources to assist local jurisdictions with education for youth in foster care during the COVID-19 pandemic, including: 

• Tip Sheet for School Districts Re: COVID-19 and Students in Foster Care
• Education Addressed in Court Proceedings during COVID-19
• Education During COVID-19: What Child Welfare Agencies Can Do to Help

National Survey on LGBTQ Mental Health 2021: Examines challenges for many LGBTQ youth (ages 13-24) based on nearly 35,000 responses to the Trevor Project’s third annual national survey.  Survey findings provide new data on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health care disparities, discrimination, food insecurity, conversion therapy and suicide; in addition to the benefits of LGBTQ-affirming spaces.

Implications of COVID-19 for LGBTQ Youth Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: Outlines ways that physical distancing, economic strain, and increased anxiety related to COVID-19 may impact LGBTQ youth, and suggests way to minimize deleterious impacts by increasing access for students to a wide range of supports and resources.  This product of the Trevor Project is predicated on, and cites, well-documented research. The website also presents findings of Trevor’s 2020 National Survey on LGBTQ Mental Health.

When School Goes Remote, Many LGBTQ Students Lose a Safe Space: Explains a dimension of loss that many LGBTQ students have expressed because of pandemic-driven social distancing policies, specifically extended school closures.  According to Amy Green of the Trevor Project, “Schools are the most affirming environment that most LGBTQ youth have in their lives.” Education Week’s nationally representative survey of 2,000 high school students (January/February 2021) found that 83% of LGBTQ teenagers said they are experiencing more problems in school than they did before the pandemic, compared to 69 percent of heterosexual high schoolers.  This article identifies some basic actions and strategies to address the needs of LGBTQ students.

Going Back to School During COVID-19: Military Kids Connect: Provides resources and tips that may be helpful as students get back into the new school year. This blog offers tips for learning engagement, physical activity, and tutoring resources.

Blue Star Families COVID-19 Resources: Blue Star Families is a vibrant national organization supporting our nation’s military and veteran families. In conjunction with the American Red Cross, Blue Star Families maintains this comprehensive online resource collection featuring numerous guides, videos, first-hand stories, resource locators (e.g. vaccination sites) and other items intended to protect the health, safety and well-being of our Blue Star Families in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Supporting Military-Connected Youth and Families During COVID-19: In partnership with the U.S. Armed Services, Boys & Girls Clubs of America [BGCA] help military youth access specialized opportunities, cultivate lifelong friendships and develop the resilience they need to build great futures. This column describes that commitment.

8 Ways COVID-19 has Affected Military & Veteran Families, Booz Allen (sponsor of the COVID-19 Military Support Initiative): Reviews research findings about well-being and concerns of military and veteran families throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Research revealed that many pre-existing issues facing the military community have been intensified during the pandemic.

Military One Source, COVID-19 Resources: Offers up-to-date information, resources and answers regarding the impact of COVID-10 on military life. This page includes guidance from the Department of Defense, FAQs, and blog-based updates.

Survivors Know Best - How to Disrupt Intimate Partner Violence During COVID-19 and Beyond: Reports findings from a survey of 1,300 survivors of intimate partner violence [IPV] who have participated in the Safety Fund, a grant program by the non-profit FreeForm organization. The report details the human and financial costs of domestic violence on survivors, and documents how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated domestic violence and complicated typical support ecosystems. It outlines cost-effective approaches to address survivors’ needs, and identifies that religious organizations, banks, credit card companies, employers and health insurance companies can all play constructive roles in enhancing the ecosystem to support survivors, including their dependent children. 

Zero Abuse Project: Offers education and training resources, opportunities, and research to contribute to the elimination of child sexual abuse. In particular, Zero Abuse Project is providing specific resources (e.g. Conducting and Defending a Pandemic-Era Forensic Interview) to support its mission in the context of school closures and social distancing.

Resources for Parents and Caregivers to Help Keep Children Safe: Incorporates up to date resources for parents and caregivers to help workaround cautionary signs in others and themselves, along with additional information for how to respond safely and responsibly. Numerous videos intended to help adults navigate warning signs in themselves and others are among dozens of resources linked to this Stop It Now! website.

COVID-19 Parenting: Keeping Children Safe Online: Highlights risks of the digital world and efforts children can take to protect themselves as part of a collaborative effort by multiple federal organizations.

Joint Letter to Promote Family Strengthening and Virtual Primary Prevention During COVID-19 and Beyond: Encourages family support, maternal and child health, and early childhood programs (including Head Start, home visiting, early intervention, and other early care and learning programs) to promote family strengthening and prevention strategies via virtual, electronic, telephonic, or other safe means during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two federal agencies – the Administration for Children and Families [ACF], and the Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA] – suggest collaborative strategies that states, tribal entities and grantees can use during the national emergency to engage and support the whole family. The letter includes an appendix of Selected Resources for Primary Prevention to Strengthen Families and Support the Whole Family.

Mandated Reporting: Information for School Staff During ‘Safer at Home’: Provides specific contextual considerations for Wisconsin school employees who are designated “mandated reporters” by state law. This two-page resource summarizes signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, cautions about not jumping to conclusions before considering familial and household stressors, offers guidance to support appropriate and helpful conversation with students and caregivers to enable better understanding and to provide support, and directs required reporting to county or tribal child welfare agencies.

Responding to Child Abuse During a Pandemic: 25 Tips for MDTs: Offers a list of tips from the Zero Abuse Project to assist multi-disciplinary teams in responding to child abuse during the pandemic outbreak.

Potential Harms Resulting From Patient- Clinician Real-Time Clinical Encounters Using Video-Based Telehealth: A Rapid Evidence Review: Summarizes and reports findings of a review of 23 studies published between 2012 and 2022.  The rapid review by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ] reported (9/12/23), “ Studies have evaluated the frequency and severity of harms associated with real-time video-based telehealth encounters between clinicians and patients, examining a variety of patient safety measures. Telehealth was not inferior to usual care in terms of hospitalizations or ED visits. More research is needed to improve understanding of harms associated with real-time use of telehealth and how to prevent or mitigate those harms.”

State Medicaid & CHIP Telehealth Toolkit - Policy Considerations for States Expanding Use of Telehealth (COVID-19 Version): Identifies for states the policy topics that should be addressed in order to facilitate widespread adoption of telehealth services, especially when they reside outside the immediate authority of a Medicaid or CHIP program. Tele-health has offered underserved school systems with unprecedented access to mental health professionals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] produced this toolkit to help states identify which aspects of their statutory and regulatory infrastructure might impede the deployment of telehealth capabilities in their Medicaid programs. As the nation prepares to unwind exceptional Medicaid flexibilities by 5/11/23, the toolkit concludes with a list of questions state policymakers can use when establishing new telehealth policy.

CMCS Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Action Plan (Overview): Outlines the national Medicaid and CHIP agency’s strategies for improving treatment and support for enrollees with these conditions. Noting the particularly detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and substance use, this plan’s three areas of focus include improving coverage and integration to increase access to prevention and treatment services; encouraging engagement in care through increased availability of home and community-based services and coverage of non-traditional (including school-based) services and settings; and improving quality of care for MH conditions and SUDs.  A more detailed guide accompanies this July 2023 two-page overview.

Digital Therapeutics for Management and Treatment in Behavioral Health: Advises clinicians and providers about digital therapeutics (DTx) - health software intended to treat or alleviate behavioral health disorders and conditions by generating and delivering interventions that have a demonstrable positive therapeutic impact for patients.  This SAMHSA Advisory (July 2023) explains that DTx may be used independently, or in concert with medications, devices, or other therapies to treat and manage mental health conditions and substance use disorders. DTx may or may not require a prescription and are generally considered medical devices subject to regulatory oversight by the Food and Drug Administration [FDA].

Telehealth and the Underserved: Summarizes actions the Federal Government has taken since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to expand telehealth services and reduce barriers to optimize access to health care for patients across the nation.  The Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA] created this 5-minute video in conjunction with its May 2022 National Telehealth Conference. 

Fiscal Considerations for the Future of Telehealth: Examines health and fiscal implications of adding telehealth services to the nation’s long-term (i.e. post-pandemic) “menu of care.” This April 2022 analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget offers an informative narrative about “the state of play for telehealth coverage” from pre-pandemic times, updating readers that federal telehealth waivers that have been repeatedly extended along with extensions of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency [PHE] were recently extended until July 15, 2022; and that the FY 2022 omnibus appropriations bill signed in March allows for the telehealth waivers to extend 151 days after the PHE ends.

School Counseling During COVID-19: Provides guidance and materials (updated 8/15/22) to support school counselors to provide effective services and supports to students during COVID-19-related school shutdowns and student absences, with complementary materials for parents. The American School Counselor Association [ASCA] furnishes three tailored toolkits:

• Virtual Elementary School Counseling
• Virtual Middle School Counseling
• Virtual High School Counseling

Telehealth Toolbox for School Personnel: Offers a practical and concise guide for mental health providers to incorporate telehealth into their routines as providers working with students.  The online toolbox for building telehealth capacity is provided by the Mid-America Mental Health Technology Transfer Center through its contract with SAMHSA. 

Affordable Connectivity Program [ACP]: Offers helps to many low income households to pay for broadband service and internet connected devices.  Eligible households have incomes below 200% of the Federal Poverty Line, or include members who receive a government benefit like SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, WIC, Pell Grant, or Free and Reduced-Price Lunch. Eligible households could receive:

• Up to a $30/month discount on your internet service
• Up to a $75/month discount if your household is on qualifying Tribal lands
• A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer (with $10-50 co-payment)
• A low-cost service plan that may be fully covered through the ACP*

Through a separate non-FCC initiative, additional no cost plans may be available to Affordable Connectivity Program enrollees. To learn more please visit www.GetInternet.gov.  The Affordable Connectivity Program is administered by Universal Service Administrative Company [USAC] with oversight from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). AffordableConnectivity.Gov is an official website of the United States government.

States Expand Medicaid Reimbursement of School-Based Telehealth Services: Highlights the types of school-based telehealth services that states reimbursed through Medicaid prior to COVID-19, and policy changes during the pandemic. This May 2021 issue brief by the National Academy for State Health Policy discusses those policies and key considerations for states during and beyond the pandemic. The issue brief also links to a concise state-by-state chart showing the range of Medicaid-covered telehealth services in schools, with hyperlinks to each state’s guidance documents supporting that reimbursement (Medicaid-Reimbursable School-Based Telehealth Services)

CMS Physician Payment Rule Promotes Greater Access to Telehealth Services, Diabetes Prevention Programs: Announces CMS’ new Calendar Year (CY) 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule that will promote greater use of telehealth and other telecommunications technologies for providing behavioral health care services, and will boost payment rates for vaccine administration.  The new rule (November 2021) means counseling and therapy services, including treatment of substance use disorders, will be more readily available to individuals, especially in areas with poor broadband infrastructure. Click here to access a fact sheet CMS developed about the new rule.

Telehealth Learning Series for SUD Treatment and Recovery Support Providers: Provides a (free) national online discussion and resource sharing opportunity for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment providers and peer support specialists who are transitioning their services to the use of telephone and video-conferencing methods in response to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.  This website archives webinars and training presentations, curated tools, forms and other resources, and a Frequently Asked Questions and Recommended Resources document contributed by SAMHSA’s Addiction Technology Transfer Center [ATTC] Network, the Center for Excellence on Protected Health Information [CoE-PHI], the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers, and the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies [CASAT] at the University of Nevada - Reno. 

Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) and the American Rescue Plan Act - Pediatric Mental Health Care Access - New Area Expansion (ARP-PMHCA) Programs: Announces expansion of Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) projects into new states and geographic areas, including tribal areas. Through these programs, new state and regional networks of pediatric mental health care teams can now provide tele-consultations, training, technical assistance and care coordination for pediatric primary care providers to diagnose, treat and refer children and youth with mental health conditions and substance use disorders.  Grant awards from the Health Resources and Services Administration [HRSA]’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau [MCHB] increased the number of such networks from 21 to 50 projects throughout the country. Visit this webpage to identify the project in your vicinity, and for contact information and a summary of each funded tele-mental health project.

Practice Guidelines for Telemental Health with Children and Adolescents: Provides clinical guidance for the delivery of child and adolescent mental health and behavioral services by licensed health care providers using real time videoconferencing. This guidance, synthesized and produced by the American TeleMedicine Association [ATA], is based on a growing evidence base and expert consensus. The resource includes sections relevant across the age spectrum addressing ethical considerations; telemental health competencies; clinical supervision and telemental health; and future directions.

State Medicaid and CHIP Telehealth Tool Kit: Identifies policy topics that states should address to facilitate widespread adoption of telehealth services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued this updated toolkit to help states identify policies that may impede the rapid deployment of telehealth, to help ensure that Americans (e.g. students) can access the health care services they need through electronic and virtual means, minimizing travel to healthcare facilities and supporting efforts to limit community spread of the virus.

COVID-19 Telehealth Resources: Provides an ongoing list of COVID-19 telehealth resources from the School-Based Health Alliance, including a webinar series, telehealth essentials checklist, and program development kit.

General Provider Telehealth and Telemedicine Tool Kit: Contains resources from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) related to telehealth and telemedicine, including waiver information related to COVID-19, as well as general policy and set-up/implementation guidance from CMS.

Virtual Service Delivery in Response to COVID-19 Disruptions: Provides guidance to school psychologists to support their provision of services to students with respect to technology, record keeping, privacy, and validity of measures. The National Association of School Psychologists [NASP] encourages school psychologists to strive to ensure all students have equitable access to mental health and other school psychological services provided remotely, mindful of special considerations for students with disabilities, students from low-income economically marginalized communities, students in rural areas, and students in unstable home environments.

Checklist for Initiating Telehealth Services: Provides prompts for questions a program should consider an implementing a new tele-health site or program. This tool, furnished by the Great Plains Telehealth Resource & Assistance Center [gpTRAC], can be used by schools and community-partnered mental health agencies to guide establishment and launch of initial and expanded telehealth services.

Making a Good Connection: Engaging Students and Families in School Tele-Mental Health: Archives a three-part webinar series geared toward providers making the transition from in-person to telehealth services. Session content focused on practical strategies and equity concerns related to engaging children, adolescents and families using distance technology. This website of SAMHSA’s Mental Health Technology Transfer Center [MHTTC] Network includes webinar session recordings and slides, and related FAQs and resource materials.

Planning for Virtual/Distance School Counseling During an Emergency Shutdown: Explains how schools can deliver comprehensive virtual school counseling programs during emergency school closures. The American School Counselor Association recommends that school counselors continue to teach the school counseling curriculum as much as possible, but prioritize the most critical academic, career, and social-emotional lessons.

Clinical Innovations in Telehealth Learning Series: Offered a 4-session on-line series of learning events in May-June 2020 targeting high-priority clinical issues for providers using telehealth. The learning series was produced by SAMHSA’s MHTTC Network. Experts in clinical care and telehealth devoted the first segment of each hour-long session to a specific topic, then addressed questions submitted by registrants. This site now hosts recordings of the four presentations, and accompanying resources, including an FAQ document.

Telehealth in the Time of COVID-19: Tracks federal and state policy actions addressing telehealth barriers. Broken down by state, this database is compiled and maintained by the National Telehealth Policy Resource Center, Center for Connected Health Policy.

Understanding Telehealth Policy: Includes information on telehealth-related laws, regulation and Medicaid programs in all fifty states and the District of Columbia from the National Telehealth Policy Resource Center, Center for Connected Health Policy. 

Office and Technology Checklist for Tele-Psychological Services: Provides a checklist published by the American Psychological Association [APA] to determine whether video-conferencing services are appropriate for an individual, of technology considerations, for set-up, preparing for and undertaking therapeutic sessions.

Telehealth Tips: Managing Suicidal Clients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Provides tips for evaluating and treating suicidal individuals remotely via telehealth. This resource was developed by Columbia University's Center for Practice Innovations and Suicide Prevention - Training, Implementation and Evaluation [SP-TIE].

Telehealth Tips: Provides more than 20 practical tips from a certified telemental health therapist. Licensed marriage and family therapist Pam Suraci shares guidance from her experience in a 27-minute video interview.

Telemental Health 101: Provides a videotaped training video to help prepare school mental health clinicians to use telemental health to provide services and supports to students and families. Jennifer Cox, LCSW-C, director of the University of Maryland School Mental Health Program, prepared this 47-minute training video to support the transition from in-person to virtual formats in response to extended widespread school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 Telehealth Program (Invoices & Reimbursements): Provides funding, appropriated by Congress, to help health care providers provide connected care services to patients at their homes or mobile locations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 Telehealth Program provides immediate support to eligible health care providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by fully funding their telecommunications services, information services, and devices necessary to provide critical connected care services. This webpage serves as a hub for information, forms and processes related to this reimbursement program. The FCC has provided a set of Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ’s] for this program.

HHS Takes Action to Provide 12 Months of Mandatory Continuous Coverage for Children in Medicaid and CHIP: Reports letter sent by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] to state health officials on 9/29/23 reinforcing that states must provide 12 months of continuous coverage for children under the age of 19 on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beginning January 1, 2024. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to using every available lever to protect and expand coverage for children. Today’s action will help to ensure that eligible children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP have uninterrupted coverage over the course of a year, helping children maintain access to the health care services they need to thrive.”

Coverage for Half a Million Children and Families Will Be Reinstated Thanks to HHS’ Swift Action: Explains recent action by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to prevent a potential state systems issue from inappropriately disenrolling children and other enrollees from Medicaid and CHIP programs when the state has other information indicating the person remains eligible.  As a result of CMS’ action nearly 500,000 children and other individuals who were improperly disenrolled from Medicaid or CHIP will regain their coverage, and many more will be protected from improper disenrollments going forward. 30 states have reported this systems issue to CMS, and all 30 have been required to pause procedural disenrollments until/unless they could ensure all eligible people are not improperly disenrolled due to this issue.

Unwinding and Returning to Regular Operations after COVID-19: Provides specific information to support states to resume normal operations, including restarting full Medicaid and CHIP eligibility renewals and terminations of coverage for individuals. Beginning April 1, 2023, states are now able to terminate Medicaid enrollment for individuals no longer eligible. States will have up to 12 months to return to normal eligibility and enrollment operations. On April 10, 2023, the COVID-19 National Emergency ended. On May 11, 2023 the Secretary for Health and Human Services let the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency expire.

Medicaid and CHIP Continuous Enrollment Unwinding: A Communications Toolkit: Supports efforts to minimize the number of people who will lose eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP as temporary flexibilities related to the COVID-19 public health emergency [PHE] unwind beginning 5/12/23.  Students have been covered at unprecedentedly high rates as a result of those flexibilities. This CMS communications toolkit contains important information about steps that can be taken now for enrolled individuals to get ready to renew their coverage. CMS is working with states and other stakeholders (e.g. schools) to inform people about renewing their coverage and exploring other available health insurance options if they no longer qualify for Medicaid or CHIP.

CMS Releases New Resource for States Related to the Optional COVID-19 Group: Provides guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] for states that adopted the optional COVID-19 group to inform how they can manage ending coverage when federal authority for the group expires on the last day of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). This new resource discusses coverage of the optional COVID-19 group, redetermination and notice strategies for the affected beneficiaries, and expectations for ending coverage in the group in states unwinding plans.

COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Unwinding Frequently Asked Questions for State Medicaid and CHIP Agencies: Provides a new (10/17/22) set of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) Unwinding Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS].  The FAQs provide answers to queries CMS has received regarding guidance to support state efforts to unwind the continuous enrollment condition and other COVID-19 temporary authorities in Medicaid and CHIP after the PHE ends.

Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Trend Snapshot: Provides a retrospective view of the past 12 months of Medicaid and CHIP enrollment up to the most recent monthly enrollment report and compares enrollment to various factors.  This tool helps to track trends in Medicaid and CHIP program enrollment and also look at the potential drivers of increases in enrollment. The Enrollment Trends Snapshot is produced by the Medicaid and CHIP Learning Collaborative. 

COVID-19 Booster Now Available for Children Aged 5-11: States that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] will ensure coverage for protection from the virus that causes COVID-19, including the booster dose authorized in May 2022, without cost sharing. CMS is providing organizations with free, customizable materials through this CMS COVID-19 web page to use in their outreach efforts, including digital videos, palm cards, posters, infographics, social media messages, and graphics. 

InsureKidsNow.gov - Mental Health: Offers a set of tools to encourage parents and caregivers to enroll their children (students) in Medicaid and CHIP to access important mental health benefits.  The national Medicaid agency [CMS] is emphasizing mental health care in its recently launched Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign to reach out to families with children and teens who can qualify for Medicaid and CHIP coverage. Check out the Outreach Tool Library for a full view of the variety of outreach materials available, and CMS’ Initiative’s pages to locate topic-specific resources.

Medicaid and CHIP Coverage of Stand-alone Vaccine Counselling: Releases a State Health Official Letter to provide guidance to states on coverage and payment for stand-alone vaccine counseling in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). CMS is interpreting the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit in the Social Security Act to require the provision of stand-alone vaccine counseling to eligible beneficiaries. This mandatorily applies to both Medicaid and Medicaid-expansion CHIP beneficiaries eligible for EPSDT. States have the option to cover stand-alone vaccine counseling for adult Medicaid beneficiaries and beneficiaries in separate CHIPs.

UPDATE: HHS and CMS Take Steps to Help Keep Families Connected to Coverage After the Eventual End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Provides states with guidance (03/03/22) as they plan for whenever the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) does conclude. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] guidance will help states keep consumers connected to coverage by either renewing individuals’ Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program [CHIP] eligibility, or helping them look at other affordable federal and state-based health insurance options. The Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS] has committed that it will provide states 60 days’ notice before any planned expiration or termination of the PHE. As a condition of receiving enhanced federal funding, states agreed not to terminate enrollment for most individuals enrolled in Medicaid from March 2020 through the end of the month in which the PHE concludes.

RE: Mandatory Medicaid and CHIP Coverage of COVID-19-Related Treatment under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (SHO# 21-006): Provides guidance (10/22/21) to state health officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] about states’ statutory requirement to cover COVID-19-related treatment without cost-sharing in Medicaid and CHIP for many seniors, low-income adults, pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities who receive health coverage through these programs. This health care coverage, supported through the American Rescue Plan [ARP], includes care for conditions that could complicate the treatment of COVID-19 in patients who are presumed positive for the virus or have been diagnosed with COVID-19. This guidance “furthers the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to improve Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries’ health outcomes and reduce health disparities.” 

CMS Current Emergencies: Offers technical guidance for health care providers and states about flexibilities in Medicaid and CHIP programs (service coverage, billing and coding, provider qualifications) to maximize health care support for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lists extensive updates (most recent 04/26/23) of information and ongoing updates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] on health and health care-related aspects of the coronavirus public health emergency, due to expire at the end of the day on 5/11/23.

COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for State Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Agencies: Posts additional FAQs to aid state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) agencies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new FAQs cover a variety of Medicaid and CHIP topics, including Eligibility and Enrollment; Notice and Fair Hearings; Optional COVID-Testing Group FAQs; Premiums and Cost Sharing; Benefits; Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT); Information Technology; and Financing. CMS has integrated the new questions and answers with previous FAQ documents, and pledges to continue to review incoming questions and provide responses with ongoing updates to these FAQs.

Leveraging Medicaid to Support Early Childhood and Parental Mental Health Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond: Shares examples from several states of strategies to leverage cross-agency collaborations and strengthen Medicaid programs to support early childhood and parental mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and beyond.   The Center for Health Care Strategies is leading a partnership, Aligning Early Childhood and Medicaid, under Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsorship, to enhance alignment across Medicaid and state agencies responsible for early childhood programs. This blog post describes Medicaid coverage of screening for maternal depression, extended coverage for women beyond 60 days post-partum, billing for family interventions, and other innovations.

Restart & Recovery: Leveraging Federal COVID Relief Funding & Medicaid to Support Student & Staff Wellbeing & Connection: Highlights how state and local education agencies can use federal COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to support student and staff mental health and wellbeing. This guide, developed by the Council for Chief State School Officers [CCSSO], Healthy Schools Campaign [HSC] and National Center for School Mental Health [NCSMH], explains how to leverage these one-time-only funds to access additional funding streams, such as Medicaid, to ensure efforts are sustained.

Updated Guidance Related to Planning for Resumption of Normal State Medicaid, CHIP and Basic Health Plan (BHP) Operations upon Conclusion of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE): Updates specific eligibility and enrollment guidance initially provided to states in December 2020 (SHO #20-004). The updated guidance (08/13/21) from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] extends the timeframe for states to complete pending eligibility and enrollment work to up to 12 months after the PHE ends; and requires states to complete a redetermination of eligibility after the PHE for all beneficiaries prior to taking any adverse action. 

State Medicaid and CHIP Strategies to Protect Coverage During COVID-19: Describes the actions states have taken to protect and expand coverage for Medicaid and CHIP enrollees during the COVID-19 public health emergency, sourced from state websites and approved Medicaid and CHIP disaster relief state Medicaid plan (SPA) amendments. 

Addressing the Needs of Medicaid Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Collects resources for health care stakeholders aimed at lessening harmful impacts of COVID-19 on high-risk populations. Vulnerable populations that rely heavily on Medicaid, including families with low-incomes, people of color, and those with complex medical, behavioral health, and social needs, are being disproportionately impacted. The Center for Health Care Strategies [CHCS] pledges to expand and refresh this library of key guidance, reference materials, and tools over time.)

New York: COVID-19 Guidance for Medicaid Providers: Serves as a one-stop repository for rapid dissemination of quickly evolving guidance to take fullest possible advantage of extraordinary flexibilities in Medicaid health care coverage (e.g. tele-health, direct support for persons needing long-term care, child and family treatment support, transportation), and as a clearinghouse for key federal (e.g. CDC, CMS) and state-specific information. Note: Every state Medicaid program is unique, within broad federal parameters. States can and often do learn from and adapt innovations from one another to best meet the needs of their own populations.

National Association of School Nurses: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Resources: Provides guidance and numerous resources to assist school nurses in planning for post-COVID return to school for students, provision of virtual care, use of personal protective equipment (PPE), safe transmittal of resources between home and school, teaching students and families about risks and safe behaviors, and more.

Connect to Care [Child Mind Institute]: Offers answers from mental health clinicians to common questions families have about seeking, navigating, and securing care and support for their children and families. This website is designed to help parents consider whether/why to seek mental health care for their children; links to professional organizations and directories to help locate care; questions caregivers should ask when exploring and arranging care options; how to seek telehealth treatment in particular; and how to seek support through your child’s school.  All content is provided in both English and in Spanish.

Family Guide to At-Home Learning: Offers practical strategies for helping children of all ages who may be struggling with an at-home learning task. Families of students with disabilities might find these strategies – produced by the CEEDAR (Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform) Center, useful when helping their children complete various reading, math, and/or behavioral tasks at home.

Preventing Parenting Burnout: Offers 12 ways for parents to tap into their love for their children who have significant mental health issues. The Child Mind Institute offers an extensive on-line Family Resource Center featuring evidence-based guides, a symptom checker, questions and answers on topics of interest, and more.  

Pediatric Depression and Parents: Provides guidance for pediatricians to offer to parents of depressed adolescent patients. Adolescent depression is a common pediatric disorder, especially in the COVID-19 era when many relationships and activities have been limited or cut off. With treatment, most adolescents recover. While it may be taking longer to find a therapist during COVID-19, pediatricians can make treatment recommendations, support the teenager and parents, address safety concerns and, if indicated, start medications. The co-authors, a leading child and adolescent physician and a professor of pediatric psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, emphasize that “Parents are your natural partners as they are concerned about their children's health and safety and eager for guidance on how to best support their recovery.”

Covid-19 Resources for Parents, Families and Youth: The National Federation of Families has developed training videos, toolkits, and activities that are simple for parents to navigate – including a set of six Helpful Parenting Infographics from the international Parenting for Lifelong Health program, specific resources for families of children with disabilities or special health care needs, and direct links to more than a dozen additional COVID-19-related resource pages from national and international organizations.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Resource Library: Shares resources compiled by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [AACAP] for parents, patients, and clinicians to help with the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), including tips for parents and teachers about children and masks; tips for transitioning back to school; and helping kids cope with the holidays during the pandemic.

Parents: Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic (en Español): Offers tips for parents to support their children’s learning while at home. This easy-to-navigate on-line module, designed by Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development based on principles of adult learning, addresses several challenges (e.g. distractions) parents might likely encounter; and offers practical tools, easy-to-implement tips, and additional resources that can prepare and support parents. The curriculum is particularly attuned to challenges with home teaching of children with disabilities or other special needs.

The Pandemic Toolkit Parents Need: Introduces eight tips for parents from child psychologist and trauma expert Bruce Perry MD, PhD, offering guidance to anticipate stress related to COVID-19 pandemic and school closures; and how to manage it through self-regulation to increase one’s own resilience and support growth of resilience in one’s children, too.

Helping Your Teen Find Purpose During the Pandemic: Provides clear clinical guidance to parents in a short (less than 3 minutes) video from the JED Foundation. 

Helping Homebound Children During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Establishes positive measures families can utilize to include children in planning for the family, and proactive behaviors to help support their sense of agency and control.

Strategies for Parents on Supporting Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Offers tips to support children’s learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic utilizing modules. The IRIS Center is a national center dedicated to improving education outcomes for all children, especially those with disabilities birth through age 21, using effective evidence-based practices and interventions.

Coping in Hard Times: Fact Sheet for Parents (NCTSN): Describes how families' ways to reconcile may be affected by economic hardships. This comprehensive product from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network offers a variety of ways to cope during these uncertain times.

Tips for Supporting Yourself During the Pandemic: Offers parents and caregivers six suggestions for self-care to help fortify parents support their children's needs for safety and security in the context of the national emergency. The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations developed this succinct, two-page guidance. 

COVID-19 Information and Resources: Presents an ongoing list of guidance and policies related to elementary and secondary education, special education, higher education, and other essential components of lifelong learning from the U.S. Department of Education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidance for school settings on 10/25/22. This information can equip states, communities, educators, and families with resources and flexibilities that empower students to continue pursuing their education goals.

What Prevents Isolation and Dropout for Non-Traditional Students? Connection: Features interview with Melvin Hines (CEO, Upswing), describing lessons learned in engaging and supporting non-traditional (e.g. adult learners, on-line students) college students, whose isolation has been exacerbated by restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. This 29-minute podcast interview and transcript describes strategies including tutoring, advisement and on-line learning assistant (“Ana”) options to strengthen engagement. Hines indicates the strategies have increased graduation rates by 10-15%. 

Your Guide to Creating a Contactless Campus: Offers a free downloadable guide that walks interested institutions of higher education [IHE] through a three-step process to resume classes while managing the safety of every one on campus: enabling Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, adding mobile capabilities, and switching to cloud-based administration.  The free e-book from TouchNet Information Systems Inc., includes step-by-step ideas for transitioning everyday campus activities to low-or no-contact equivalents; a Contactless Campus checklist to help identify key elements of an IHE’s contactless strategy; and additional pandemic-related resources specific to higher education. TouchNet offers a more extensive suite of resources to support campus safety, Timely, Targeted Resources for Transitioning Your Campus.

Encouraging Protective COVID-19 Behaviors among College Students: Presents research-informed habit-promoting and communication strategies to encourage the adoption of behaviors that can stem the spread of COVID-19 infections on college campuses.  This rapid expert consultation report by the Societal Experts Action Network [SEAN] of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM] draws from developmental psychology and brain research, and was developed to support campus leaders as they work together with students to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on college campuses and in the surrounding communities.

Perspective | COVID-19 Sparks Mental Health Crisis on College Campuses Nationwide: Offers a student-level perspective on the mental health crisis evident among college and university students as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches beyond 2021. Cites a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] revealing that one in four individuals between 18-24 had considered suicide in early months of the pandemic, and across the ensuing semesters, students have reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.  The author asserts, “Though it seems like we have made it to the other end of the pandemic, we cannot ignore the long-term effects COVID-19 has had on students. Now is a crucial time to start putting the mental health of students at the center of the conversation.”  

Speaking of Suicide - Resources: Offers an extensive set of links to hotlines, tip sheets, on-line chats and forums, suicide prevention publications and other resources vetted by Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW, an associate professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, a psychotherapist and author of the book Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals.

Is Online Campus Counseling Here to Stay?: Describes rapid expansion of colleges offering remote (telephonic and online video) counseling services for students during COVID-19, and evinces a widespread recognition of inherent advantages for higher education student populations and for institutions of higher learning. “Close to half of students surveyed in this past fall's Healthy Minds Study screened positive for clinically significant symptoms of depression and/or anxiety,” and “studies have shown video therapy to be as effective as in-person sessions."

COVID-19: Potential Implications for Individuals with Substance Use Disorders: Examines how populations with substance use disorders may be disproportionately affected as the world contends with COVID-19, subject to worsening underlying respiratory and pulmonary issues in addition to potential socioeconomic concerns. (Generally, substance use disorders are relatively more frequent among young adults of typical college-student age.) This blog entry was hosted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Coping with Stress During Infectious Disease Outbreaks (en Español): Provides tips for coping with stress during an infectious disease outbreak. This SAMHSA fact sheet describes common signs of stress and how to recognize when to get help.

Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health During an Infectious Disease Outbreak (en Español): Describes feelings and thoughts individuals may have during and after social distancing, quarantine and isolation. This SAMHSA tip sheet suggests ways to care for one’s own behavioral health in these circumstances and provides resources for more help.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Crisis Response Practice Guide (North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction): Serves as a resource to support the social-emotional needs of staff and students during school closures and in planning for re-opening. Six major recommendations address crisis response and social emotional learning (SEL) that can be implemented when schools are closed. Recommendation #7 focuses on key SEL strategies that support safe and compassionate re-entry for students and staff when brick-and-mortar instruction resumes. Key information resources and tools are linked to each of the seven recommendations.

Six Ways to Find Your Courage During Challenging Times: The science of courage might offer a psychological lifeline to help educators and others clarify what really matters so they can bring a steady, values-based resolve to their work (and even inspire it in others).  This column from the Greater Good Science Center (University of California – Berkeley) explores the literature in courage research with teachers in mind; offers six evidence-supported ways educators can tap into their capacities for courage; and links to several publications on this topic, including materials suitable to teach social and behavioral skills for courage to students, too.

National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness: Outlines the Administration's January 2021 actionable plan, across the federal government, to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including twelve initial executive actions issued by President Biden.

Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces Strategy to Address Our National Mental Health Crisis: Lays out the Biden Administration’s vision to transform how mental health is understood, perceived, accessed, treated, and integrated – in and out of health care settings. As a precursor to his 3/1/22 State of the Union address, President Biden announced a national mental health strategy to strengthen system capacity, connect more Americans to care, and create a continuum of support – “transforming our health and social services infrastructure to address mental health holistically and equitably.” Mr. Biden stated, “The American Rescue Plan laid the groundwork, providing critical investments to expand access to mental health services. Now, far more is needed to ensure that everyone who needs help can access care when and where they seek it.”

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Provides the latest updates on the national pandemic situation, including guidance for how to protect individual health and reduce virus transmission, updates to scientific data that serves as a basis for CDC guidance, extensive information about COVID-19 vaccines, state-specific data and links to public health websites, and information resources for specific audiences including healthcare professionals and facilities, families, child care and school settings.

Schools and Child Care Programs: Provides guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] for how schools, summer camps, and youth recreational sport institutions can plan, prepare, and respond to COVID-19. Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance (10/18/21). CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.

Secretary Cardona Lays Out Vision for Education in America (01/27/22): Lays out Education Secretary Miguel Cardona’s vision for continued recovery through the pandemic, and his priorities for broader investments in America's education system to ensure all students can succeed and thrive. During the 22-minute address (click here for YouTube video; or click here for transcript), Secretary Cardona discussed key strategies the U.S. Department of Education, schools, and colleges and universities must take to help students, educators, and school communities – from preschool through postsecondary education – continue to recover from the pandemic and address inequities that have long existed in our education system.

Update on the IES (Institute of Education Sciences) Use of ARP Funds: Provides an update (8/31/21) by IES director Mark Schneider on how ED’s IES is using $100-million appropriated through the American Rescue Plan [ARP] to invest in research grants, gather data through the School Pulse, and make sure the information IES generates about accelerating learning is translated into forms that are useful, usable, and used.

The Road to Learning Recovery: Announces appropriation of $100-million in American Rescue Plan [ARP] to conduct research related to learning losses caused by COVID-19. The Institute of Education Sciences [IES] at the US Department of Education was ordered by President Biden (March 2021) to administer surveys to identify school and instructional changes in response to the pandemic, identify and disseminate effective practices; invest in innovative approaches (e.g. artificial intelligence) to deal with learning loss and close longstanding achievement gaps; and focus certain investments on particularly hard-hit student populations (e.g. students in special education, in foster care, and students who are homeless). 

U.S. Department of Education Launches Best Practices Clearinghouse to Highlight Innovative Practices for Reopening Schools and Campuses (4/30/21): Announces the U.S. Department of Education (ED) launch of the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse, a website that highlights the innovative work underway nationwide in continuing to reopen K-12 schools, early childhood centers and postsecondary institutions. Through the Clearinghouse, the Department is providing examples of how schools and other educational institutions can safely reopen as communities continue recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department of Education Announces American Rescue Plan Funds for All 50 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to Help Schools Reopen (3/31/21): Announced the amount of American Recovery Plan [ARP] Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief [ESSER] funding that each State, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia will receive “to support their efforts to reopen K-12 schools safely this month and equitably expand opportunity for students who need it most.”  The announcement coincided with the Department of Health and Human Services' announcement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide $10 billion to states to support COVID-19 screening testing for K-12 teachers, staff, and students in schools. Additional information, including an ARP ESSER Fact Sheet and allocation tables, can be found at https://oese.ed.gov/american-rescue-plan-elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief.

ED COVID-19 Handbook Volume 1: Strategies for Safely Reopening Elementary and Secondary Schools: Presents the first volume in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) COVID-19 Handbook, a series intended to support the education community as schools reopen. This series provides tools to aid educators in implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance by addressing common challenges and providing practical examples. This series is updated as additional scientific evidence becomes available, including evidence related to new variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. This handbook does not have the force or effect of law and is not binding in any way (except where statutory or regulatory requirements are referenced).

COVID-19 Handbook Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students' Needs: Presents the second volume in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) COVID-19 Handbook. This volume provides additional strategies for safely reopening all of America's schools and to promote educational equity by addressing opportunity gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

COVID-19 Handbook Volume 3: Strategies for Safe Operation and Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education Students, Faculty, and Staff: Presents the third volume in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) COVID-19 Handbook. This volume provides additional strategies for higher education institutions (IHEs) and communities as they work to reopen for in-person instruction safely and equitably.

COVID-19 Resources for Schools, Students and Families: Presents selected information resources to assist both K-12 schools and higher education institutions to disseminate critical information about the disease and its potential transmission to students, families, staff and community members. ED regularly updates this page as more information and resources become available. Readers are invited to send questions on which the Department can be helpful to: COVID-19@ed.gov.

Comprehensive Center Network COVID-19 Education Resources: Offers a repository for education resources related to COVID-19. Additional resources and further curation are updated by Westat under a grant from the Department of Education's Office of Program and Grantee Support Services [PGSS] within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education [OESE].

Resources for Education Providers and Families: Presents information about specific resources, organized by topical areas and intended audience, curated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education [ED-OESE].  Resources include websites, webinars, guidance documents, practice briefs and tools created by OESE, its technical assistance centers and other partners across the Department and government to support K-12 education programs. In the wake of the COVID-19 national public health emergency, this collection includes topical pages about Safe School Environments and Social Emotional and Behavioral Support. These pages provide resources to support district leaders, school leaders, and educators in creating welcoming, safe, and supportive learning environments.

Continuity of Learning During COVID-19: Offers information, tools, and resources to help educators, parents and families, and related service providers meet the educational, behavioral, and emotional needs of children and youth with disabilities through remote and virtual learning. This dedicated webpage of the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) provides a searchable database of resources and information for educators, parents and families, and related service providers to support students with disabilities. The webpage also links to the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (ECTA) repositories for resources addressing continuity of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

What Congressional COVID Funding Means for K-12 Schools: Provides an overall summary of the education-related appropriations and provisions of the three major federal relief packages: Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security [CARES] Act, (March 2020); Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act [CRRSA], (December 2020); and American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA], (March 2021).  This resource by FutureEd also links to several specific resources, including the Biden Administration’s detailed explanation of K-12 funding requested in the American Rescue Plan, and a state-by-state funding tracker from Education Week.  

ARP PATHS: The American Rescue Plan Act Partnership, Assistance, Transformation, and Heightened Support Resource for States: Provides a resource to help states share their progress deploying American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds to support safe in-person instruction, address the effects of lost instructional time due to COVID-19, and meet students’ social, emotional, mental health and academic needs. The Department of Education, and its technical assistance partner, the National Comprehensive Center, have developed this optional resource as a support for SEAs and LEAs to communicate how they are working to ensure that funds are used appropriately and effectively, as intended by the law, and are targeted to support the students most impacted by the pandemic. The tool includes several considerations for States as they determine how to build capacity and communicate their work with these and other federal pandemic recovery funds.

U.S. Department of Education Announces Distribution of All American Rescue Plan ESSER Funds and Approval of All 52 State Education Agency Plans: Announces that every state education agency (SEA) received approval of their American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) plan before the end of December 2021. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education has distributed all $122 billion of ARP ESSER funds to all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. A comprehensive table linking to each SEA’s state plans, as submitted and as finally approved, is provided here. The table also includes or links to school district (LEA)-level ESSER spending plans to which all SEAs are required to provide access).

U.S. Department of Education, National Comprehensive Center Release Latest Tool to Support Effective Use of American Rescue Plan Funds: Announces 01/28/22 release of a resource to help states share their progress deploying the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds that support safe in-person instruction, address the effects of lost instructional time due to COVID-19, and meet the social, emotional, mental health, and academic needs of students. The ARP Partnership, Assistance, Transformation, and Heightened Support (ARP PATHS) tool invites states to describe the strategies they are implementing that could serve as promising practices for other states and the nation. The new tool is available here.

How States Are Spending American Rescue Plan Funds: Shares the status of American Relief Plan [ARP] allocations in states, and state funding amounts and priorities, with a focus on health-related uses of the funding.  This clickable map of states is presented by the National Academy for State Health Policy [NASHP].  The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act [ARP] provides significant funding for continued pandemic response and beginning the road to recovery, including $195.3 billion in Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds that must be obligated by December 31, 2024 and expended by December 31, 2026. The map and attached state profiles show how states are in different stages of allocating this funding.

American Rescue Plan Act - Summary of K-12 Provisions: Presents a one-page summary of APRA provisions and appropriations for state education agencies, institutions of higher education, and other education-related entities, by the Alliance for Excellent Education, including a link to the full text of the legislation (H.R. 1319).

HHS Announces More Than $100 Million in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act Funds for States and Territories to Improve Mental Health Services: Announces (10/21/22) more than $100 million in funding from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act [BSCA] to states and territories for mental health emergency preparedness, crisis response, and the expansion of 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline services.  HHS awarded $59.4 million to states and territories through the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) program, and also announced the availability of another $50 million in supplemental grant funding, provided by BSCA, to help states and territories expand and enhance 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline services.

USA.gov - COVID-19: Links to a broad range of assistance offered by the federal government (e.g. child tax credit and stimulus checks; financial assistance for food, housing and bills; passports and travel during COVID-19; small business loans and assistance; unemployment benefits). A Spanish version is also available.

Supporting Students and Teachers with Benefits.gov: Provides students, parents and teachers with information about resources that can help them to succeed in the classroom. Benefits.gov offers information about school lunch and breakfast programs and other health and nutrition supports; resources for educators, including on-line professional development opportunities, fellowship programs, and even some targeted home purchase opportunities. This webpage offers a “benefit finder” tool that can help visitors find benefits for which they might qualify.

A Message on COVID-19 from the Children's Bureau: Provides curated resources for children involved in the child welfare system, foster care providers, child welfare providers, and child welfare workforce guidance from medical professionals about ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during an infectious disease outbreak. Updated September 2022. 

SAMHSA Training and Technical Assistance Related to COVID-19: Highlights products and resources that can be useful when coping with the effects of widespread public health crises such as assisting community leaders in addressing psychosocial impacts of disasters; and supportive practices for mental health professionals during pandemic-related social distancing.  Imminent webinar opportunities, published tools, guides and tip sheets, technical clinical information for prescribers and other practitioners, asynchronous on-line training curricula, and policy-related (e.g., confidentiality and privacy requirements and regulations) are among wide range of topics linked to this regularly updated collection.