The Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) has rolled out a program aimed at addressing bullying and mental wellness.
The Compassion Action Responsiveness Empathy Support (CARES) program is a response to a Santa Clara High School student’s suicide last month. The student, 14-year-old Jose Zamora, was the victim of bullying and suffered from mental health issues, according to the boy’s father, Jose Bautista.
A multi-pronged approach, the program is a suite of solutions aimed at fostering an environment and culture that make students feel safe. Through partnerships with various agencies such as Santa Clara County Behavioral Health, Healthcare Alliance for Response to Adolescent Depression (HEARD), Center for Living with Dying and KARA, SCUSD is tackling mental health and bullying.
Brenda Carrillo, director of student services, said, while grief, bullying, depression and other mental health issues may be connected, it is important to look at them individually.
“In our mind, bullying is a contributing factor to someone being depressed … a lot of things can be a contributing factor. Mental health is a contributing factor,” Carrillo said. “We know it is a complex issue. The idea of conflating suicide and bullying is a dangerous idea.”
Lest they create a “contagion” mindset, Carrillo said, school officials do not want to draw that relationship.
Solidifying that bullying is the sole contributor to suicide normalizes the idea that it is the solution, which is a misnomer, she said. Many students are bullied, but not all are suicidal. Also, students may be in crisis despite not being bullied, she added.
Although many of the initiatives in the CARES program were already in place, some are additional support services SCUSD added in response to Zamora’s suicide. For instance, the district has added an additional mental health clinician at Santa Clara High School for the remainder of the year.
Further, the district is expanding some of its already-in-place resources, such as 24/7 access to To Be Honest, a mental health referral platform. It is also looking into an anonymous bullying reporting tool and increasing education among parents, teachers and administrators.
With such a diverse population, Lissette Moore-Guerra, coordinator student services, said listening to student concerns and keeping the district’s finger on the pulse of family dynamics is key to the program. In particular, she added, it is important to stay dialed into what students are telling school officials.
“If parents have a level of mental health literacy, understand[ing] needs and how to seek help, it helps in decreasing the stigma,” she said.
Although the district is employing a variety of sophisticated measures with the CARES program, Carrillo said the heart of it is really just about decreasing risk for students, be that for bullying, depression or any other negative outcome.
The district wants to ensure it leaves no stone unturned, pulling any lever at its disposal to assist students in crisis.
“If there is anything we can do to make our system better, that is what we want to do,” Carrillo said. “What are we doing? Is it working? Does it need tweaking? We are always thinking in those terms.”
One of those tools is a webinar for families and district employees, set to be held from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17.
Dial 9-8-8 to reach the National Suicide Prevention hotline. To get assistance via text message, text “home,” for non-emergency support, or “home,” for crisis support to 741-741. To reach the California Youth Crisis hotline 24/7, call 1-800-843-5200 or visit its website at https://calyouth.org/cycl/.
