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Workforce for Student Well-Being Initiative: Celebrating Our Second Cohort

2025 Photo Gallery! 

This year, we proudly celebrate the achievements of our second cohort of the Workforce for Student Well-Being Initiative, as 24 emerging school social work professionals complete an intensive year of learning, skill-building, and community engagement. Through a comprehensive program of virtual seminars, in-person retreats, and ongoing mentorship, these dedicated individuals are now better equipped to support the behavioral health and well-being of Washington’s K-12 students. The photos in this gallery showcase highlights from the end-of-program retreat and networking dinner, where we honored each participant with a certificate of completion and recognized their commitment to making a lasting impact in schools and communities across the state.
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Read Erin Vidler Romanuk’s inspiring remarks from the networking dinner, where she reflects on the vital role of school social workers and the impact of this important work: view full  speech > here

News Spotlight

The SMART Center received the 2024 School Social Work Advocate of the Year award from the Washington Association of School Social Workers (WASSW)! There to accept the award on behalf of the SMART Center was: Kelcey Schmitz, Director, Training and Technical Assistance, Rachel Barrett, Workforce for Student Well-being Program Manager and Nikki York, Workforce for Student Well-being Program Operations Specialist. Read more about it here.

Articles

Helping Youth In Crisis
With the continuing youth mental health crisis, the UW SMART Center is joining forces with other Washington State organizations to implement a new Department of Education grant to increase the number of school social workers in our state over the next five years.
Posted  01/2023

UW Magazine | Opinion and Thoughts From The UW Family
Posted  09/09/2023

Resources

Washington Association of School Social Workers Conference | WASSW Presentation Materials

Rachel Barrett, Workforce for Student Wellbeing (WSW) Program Manager, presented on the “School Mental Health Service Professionals (WA-SMHSP) Project,” funded by the U.S. Department of Education. She was also joined by Nikki York, our WSW Program Operations Specialist, to co-present on “Recommendations for the School Mental Health Workforce 2025-2027 Biennium.”
Posted 11/26/24

Northwest Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports Network | NWPBIS Presentation Materials
Posted 4/26/24

National School Mental Health Conference | ASMH Presentation Materials
In December, we traveled to New Orleans to present to a national audience at the Annual Conference for Advancing Student Mental Health. The WSW used this opportunity to present preliminary findings about the make-up of our inaugural cohort and share our model as one of the potential solutions to the school mental health crisis.
Posted 01/05/2024

 

Workforce for Student Well-Being Initiative: Celebrating Our First Cohort

Welcome to our 2024 photo gallery! 

Here, we capture the spirit of the Workforce for Student Well-Being Initiative as we celebrate a significant milestone with our first cohort. Photos in this gallery highlight our end-of-program retreat and networking dinner where we honored our students with a certificate of completion.