Research shows that about 35 million children have experienced emotional and psychological trauma in the United States. Yet schools across the nation continue to enforce discipline codes that fail to acknowledge trauma and other mental health conditions as a potential context for “bad” behavior.

Combined with a lack of adequate on-campus supports and services, this method of maintaining order within the classroom can ultimately yield more harm than good.

The Hogg Foundation’s  Trauma-informed Approaches to Behavior in Schools grant program, which awarded funds to two Texas public schools and one school partnership in 2015, actively combats the indiscriminate use of exclusionary discipline practices in academic environments.

In March 2017, the foundation also announced plans to expand its commitment to improving mental health in schools with a call for proposals for a three-year grant program that will fund initiatives designed to improve academic achievement through mental health. Since then, over $1 million in grants has been awarded to three organizations: Dell Medical School, University of Incarnate Word School of Medicine, and Mental Health America of Greater Houston.

For this week’s episode of Into the fold, Vida Clinic Executive Director Elizabeth Minne and Hogg Foundation Program Officer Stephany Bryan sit down with host Ike Evans to weigh in on the ethos driving these grant programs forward. Go here to listen to the podcast and read the full story.

Abridged post courtesy of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health