Project connect: building trauma-informed schools, families, and community - homedale school district (HSD) requests samhsa trauma-informed services in schools funding to implement project connect:…

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded $503,040 to Homedale Joint School District 370 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to implement Project Connect: Building Trauma-Informed Schools, Families, and Community, a four-year initiative serving rural Owyhee County, Idaho.

Project Connect will strengthen trauma-informed school mental health supports for students in pre-K through grade 12, parents and caregivers, school staff, law enforcement partners, early childhood partners, behavioral health providers, and community members. The district operates three school sites serving 1,256 students. Deliverables include formalizing partnership with Insight Counseling as a credentialed mental health treatment provider, establishing a trauma-informed community coalition and interagency agreements, implementing school-based screening, referral, triage, warm handoff, care coordination, treatment linkage, and follow-up workflows, and strengthening coordination with 988 and local crisis response resources. The project will provide trauma-informed training and technical assistance to address student mental health, safety, bullying, social connection, and help-seeking needs by building one coordinated school and community mental health system.

Partners include Insight Counseling, Azevedo Consulting, Results Learning Center, Mental Health Collaborative, Thriving Minds, the Center for Safe and Resilient Schools and Workplaces, and a local trauma-informed community coalition including school leaders, early childhood partners, law enforcement, probation, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and parents.

The performance period runs through September 29, 2030, with place of performance in Homedale, Idaho.

Project connect: building trauma-informed schools, families, and community - homedale school district (HSD) requests samhsa trauma-informed services in schools funding to implement project connect: building trauma-informed schools, families, and community, a four-year initiative to strengthen trauma-informed school mental health supports for students and families in rural owyhee county, idaho. HSD operates homedale elementary school, homedale middle school, and homedale high school and serves 1,256 students. The project will serve students in pre-K through grade 12, along with parents/caregivers, school staff, law enforcement partners, early childhood partners, behavioral health providers, and community members who support student well-being. Project connect partners will include insight counseling, azevedo consulting, results learning center, mental health collaborative, thriving minds, DR. KIM kane/astrolabe, the center for safe and resilient schools and workplaces, a qualified CQI consultant, and a local trauma-informed community coalition including HSD leaders, school representatives, early childhood partners, law enforcement/SRO, owyhee county probation, idaho department of health and welfare, community school coordinators, parents/caregivers, and other community partners. Project connect will address student mental health, safety, bullying, social connection, and help-seeking needs by building one coordinated school/community mental health system rather than a disconnected set of activities. HSD will formalize partnership with insight counseling as a credentialed mental health treatment provider, establish a trauma-informed community coalition and interagency agreement, implement school-based screening, referral, triage, warm handoff, care coordination, treatment linkage, and follow-up workflows, and strengthen coordination with 988 and local crisis response resources. The project will also provide trauma- informed training and technical assistance, mental health literacy training, suicide prevention training, universal mental health screening implementation support, pbis/mtss fidelity support, and selected evidence-based trauma interventions such as sset, bounce back, cbits, and/or TF-CBT when appropriate. Project connect will use samhsa's trauma-informed approach, pbis/mtss, the interconnected systems framework, developmental relationships, mental health literacy, suicide prevention, and evidence-based/evidence-informed trauma interventions to improve early identification, access to care, school climate, protective factors, and sustainability. The project will serve an estimated 1,856 unduplicated individuals across the four-year project period. HSD will use quarterly performance measurement, CQI, fidelity monitoring, partner data review, and annual sustainability planning to monitor implementation, improve referral and service workflows, strengthen accountability, and embed effective practices into district and community systems beyond the grant period.