The idea for Connect Strength launched in Spring 2021 when seven school districts collaborated on a school-based mental health strategy. The charming part of the story is the history of the strategy goes back to 2018 when the Prairie du Chien School Counselor collaborated with two local mental health therapists and Sources of Strength.
The goal of Connect Strength is to increase socioecological protective factors by increasing skill in the following areas:
MENTAL WELLNESS
HELP-SEEKING
HELP-RECEIVING
SENSE OF BELONGING
The tools to achieve our goal include braided funding, asset mapping, Sources of Strength, mental health screening and school social work.
Now, in Spring 2022 there are 15 school districts in Southwestern Wisconsin connecting their strengths and increasing sustainability for the strategy. Our hope is for every student in Wisconsin to experience an increase in protective factors and for each school to implement these tools by 2032.