K12 Behavioral Health
Rural school professionals throughout Idaho face significant barriers to supporting student success. Approximately 40% of Idaho public schools are in rural areas and serve 25% of the student population. School-based behavioral health providers (e.g., school nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists) fill a valuable healthcare workforce gap by providing health promotion and prevention services for students, staff, and community members residing in the area.
Adolescents have the lowest rates of primary care use of any age group in the U.S. and those from disadvantaged backgrounds are least likely to have completed yearly health maintenance check-ups. School-based health providers fill a necessary gap in care due to accessibility (i.e., they are in a convenient location for students) and an established relationship of trust (i.e., the students already know the provider). Even children with health insurance will still often utilize school-based clinics for health-related issues.
Counselors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses working in the K-12 school setting play a critical role in the health and mental health care of students and are integral members of a multidisciplinary comprehensive school mental health team helping prevent illness and promote health at the individual and population levels.
This K12 Behavioral Health series provides training opportunities for classroom educators, school pupil personnel, school administrators, and clinicians working with school-aged children to gain skills and knowledge to improve quality of life and patient well-being for individuals under their care.
Led by an interdisciplinary panel comprised of a school nurse, psychologist, counselor, administrator, behavior specialists, and pediatric clinicians, this series will help enhance your competencies and provide the opportunity to learn best practices in treating school-aged patients in a school-based setting.
Continuing education (CE) and professional development credits are available for joining live sessions and for watching session recordings on our CE platform, eeds. View this instructional guide to learn how to claim continuing education.
Not looking for credit? Visit ECHO Idaho's YouTube channel to view session recordings for this series.
This series will launch on Sept. 26, 2023.
Virtual sessions will meet twice a month from September-May.
Dates and Time: 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month from 4-5 p.m. MT
ECHO Idaho’s full series schedule.
The target audience is classroom educators and school pupil personnel, which includes school counselors, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and administrators. However, all clinicians and behavioral health specialists not working in schools are also welcome.
Participation in ECHO Idaho is free for educators, clinicians, and organizations.
Please register for the ongoing sessions.
Once you register, you’ll receive convenient, day-of Zoom access directly to your inbox – join us as your schedule allows.
- No-Cost Accredited Continuing Education: ECHO Idaho offers free accredited continuing education/professional development credits.
- Dual-licensed professionals seeking Continuing Education (CE/CME): Claim credit for attending any of ECHO Idaho’s sessions. Refer to ECHO Idaho’s Continuing Education page for additional information regarding CE/CME credits by profession.
- Professional Development (PD) Credit for Educators: Participation in 15 live and/or asynchronous sessions is equivalent to one (1) semester credit hour. Credits will be transcribed through the University of Idaho’s College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
- Virtual Community: Connect with other school-based professionals across Idaho to increase professional satisfaction, decrease feelings of isolation and curate a virtual community.
- Improved Quality of Care: Health care and education professionals who participate in ECHO increase their knowledge and self-efficacy.
ECHO Idaho is led by the University of Idaho and the WWAMI Medical Education Program. The K12 Youth Suicide Prevention ECHO series is supported by funding from the Idaho Department of Education's Youth Suicide Prevention Program.