Interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline.
The Student Advocacy Center (SAC) supports students who are experiencing conflicts at school—many of whom have behavioral health concerns—through mentoring, education advocacy and support, and community organizing.
At the heart of SAC’s work is breaking the school-to-prison pipeline through student support and advocacy. Millage funds are used to expand SAC’s evidence-based Check and Connect program, which pairs students across the county with a mentor for two years of personalized support.
During the 2023-2024 school year, SAC served 106 youth, of which:
89% decreased or maintained 0-1 days of suspension
69% increased or maintained their initial attendance
72% increased or maintained an A or B average
Showcasing youth perspectives in media
The millage partners with Concentrate’s Voices of Youth (VOY) program, which provides paid journalism opportunities to youth in the area to amplify their perspectives in media. Through the program, youth create content, gain professional journalism experience, connect with community leaders, and share their experiences.
In the 2023-2024 school year, 19 youth participated in the Voices of Youth program by submitting content and attending VOY workshops. Through their work, youth highlighted social issues and mental health concerns that were important to them: They produced content about mental health, race and racism, immigration, gender inequality, youth voting rights, and more.
VOY content engaged large audiences, with:
15 articles produced
230,000+ people reached with VOY articles
3,261 total interactions with VOY content
Empowering youth to create mental health campaigns.
Since 2019, millage funds have allowed students at elementary, middle, and high schools across the county to design and implement their own mental health programs. Each middle and high school receives up to $5,000 and each elementary school receives up to $2,000 for these campaigns, which seek to engage students who don’t usually participate in mental wellness activities and foster communication between students and trusted adults around mental health.
Students and schools pursued a variety of projects with the mini-grants. Several schools created “calm spaces” for students to sit in and self-regulate, Lincoln High School students created a mental health podcast, King Elementary School purchased more than 100 books for a Mental Health Library, and more.
In the 2023-24 school year:
More than $60,000 was awarded to 30 schools in mental health mini grants.
About 800 students helped plan the mental health campaigns.
Nearly 11,000 students were impacted by the projects.
Supporting students with behavioral health needs.
As part of a $2.3 million, three-year millage investment in Washtenaw schools, the Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) addresses service gaps for youth with behavioral health needs.
Millage funds support WISD’s Bridge Team, a group of clinicians and crisis mental health coordinators who provide individual and group counseling, assist with care coordination and case management, conduct comprehensive needs assessments, and connect students and families to appropriate community resources. Crisis mental health coordinators also provide evidence-based wraparound care to students making transitions to and from mental health residential treatment, partial or inpatient hospitalizations, and juvenile justice programs, coordinating between families, schools, and community providers to best support students.
Additionally, Washtenaw schools work with law enforcement officers on a “Handle with Care” program, where officers alert schools when a child has experienced a potentially traumatic event to ensure that child receives special attention and support after the incident.
In the 2023-24 school year:
Needs assessments were conducted for 999 children, representing 443 families.
More than 360 direct hours of services were provided to students.
836 Handle with Care notices were submitted on behalf of 1,225 students.
Educating parents and caregivers.
Millage funds support parent and caregiver education on mental health and community support. As part of this work, WISD hosts a Mental Health Parent Education Series, with monthly workshops featuring guests from community partner organizations.
Additionally, WISD conducts Strong Roots Parent Cafés, which facilitate conversations about self-care, community support, and family healing between parents and caregivers across the county.
In 2024, millage funds hosted:
8 mental health parent workshops with 20-30 attendees at each.
10 Strong Roots Cafés with 38 parents and caregivers attending one or more.
Supporting student athletes.
In 2024, the millage partnered with the Miles Jeffrey Roberts Foundation to support the Mental Health Champions Program, a pilot at Skyline High School working to reduce suicide by supporting the emotional health of student athletes.
Through the program, MJRF Mental Health Champions lead programming to support Skyline student-athletes’ social and emotional health, including presentations and workshops with athletic teams. The goal is to increase awareness of mental health warning signs and improve student athletes’ abilities to recognize signs of mental health concerns.
In 2024, Miles Jeffrey Roberts Foundation:
