The Pima County Health Department received a $6.8 million grant to help ensure that K-12 students, teachers and families have the needed resources to minimize the impacts of the pandemic.
The funding, which was obtained through the Arizona Department of Health Services, has an emphasis on behavioral health services. Other grant initiatives include providing recovery support for students who test positive for COVID-19, mitigating the spread of the virus in school communities, and continuing contact tracing among students and their contacts.
“This grant will help students and their families get much-needed support so they can stay engaged with school,” Dr. Theresa Cullen, health department director, said in a news release.
The funding will run through May 2022, though county officials can request reimbursement from the state for expenses fitting certain guidelines that were incurred since July 1, according to county documents summarizing the grant.
“COVID’s toll is much more than physical,” Cullen said in the news release. “Being able to support wrap-around services such as providing referrals for youth who may benefit from behavioral health services will help promote emotional healing.”
The news release said the health department is starting a task force that includes schools and behavioral health providers to brainstorm ways to streamline the referral process and make those services more accessible.
Foundation offers grants
The Dragon Kim Foundation is now taking applications for its fellowship program, in which high school students will receive grant funding to create and develop a public service project that will impact their communities.
The 2022 Dragon Kim Fellowship will distribute a total of $150,000 to fund up to 30 student projects, according to a news release from the foundation. High school student teams of up to three teens in Arizona, California and Nevada are eligible to apply.
“As we launch our next class of fellows, we are looking for inspired teens who want to make a measurable difference in their communities,” said Grace Tsai Kim, executive director of the Dragon Kim Foundation.
Applications for Arizona students are due Jan. 1, 2022, and the finalists will be announced within the first quarter of 2022. Once chosen, students will participate in three weekends of leadership and business training, be paired with mentors, and implement their projects.
For more information, visit dragonkimfoundation.org.
Social-emotional pro training
The Arizona Department of Education announced that it entered a two-year contract with the PAXIS Institute to provide teachers with social-emotional professional training.
Under this partnership, according to an ADE news release, teachers will be trained to implement the “PAX Good Behavior Game” strategies inside elementary classrooms.
“Thousands of teachers and students across Arizona have already benefited from the tools provided by the PAX Good Behavior Game,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, adding: “Our continued partnership will allow even more schools the opportunity to implement the groundbreaking, evidence-based strategies available from our partners at PAXIS Institute.”
The initiative will be funded using federal relief and recovery dollars.
