From Screening to Support: Building a Connected Behavioral and Mental Health System in California

Universal screening is an important first step, but what happens next?

Many schools today have better tools than ever to identify students who may need behavioral and mental health support. Yet, for many district leaders, one question remains:

Once you’ve identified students who need help, how do you ensure they actually receive it?

That’s the challenge Foussat Elementary School in Oceanside Unified School District in California set out to solve.

Rather than viewing screening, classroom instruction, and clinical services as separate initiatives, the school built a connected system that brings each of those components together. By combining universal screening with classroom skill-building and school-based clinical support, Foussat has created a model for helping students earlier—and supporting them more effectively.

A need for more than Identification

School leaders recognized several challenges.

They wanted a more consistent approach to helping students develop behavioral and mental health skills. They needed a structured way to identify students requiring additional support. Most importantly, they wanted to ensure that students who needed more intensive services didn't fall through the cracks.

As one educator explained, before implementing this approach, there were students who simply had "no other option" for receiving the support they needed.

Instead of addressing each challenge independently, Foussat focused on building one connected continuum of care.

Building One Connected System of Care

Today, three complementary components work together to support students throughout the school.

Identify needs with universal screening.

Teachers complete the DESSA mini to quickly identify students who may benefit from additional support while providing data that helps monitor growth over time.

Build skills for every student.

Teachers use Move This World's short, video-based lessons several times each week during morning meetings and classroom transitions, reinforcing behavioral and mental health skills through consistent practice.

Deliver support when students need more.

Students identified through DESSA data, and teacher observations, can be connected to on-campus clinicians from The Stepping Stones Group, reducing barriers that often prevent families from accessing care.

Together, these components create a seamless pathway from identification to intervention.

Early Results Show Strong Engagement Across the School

Although the initiative is still in its early stages, Foussat has already seen encouraging implementation across the campus.

Among the initial outcomes:

• Approximately 89% of students (about 640 students) completed DESSA Mini screening.
• 85% of teachers use Move This World lessons each week.
• Teachers average two or more lessons per week.
• More than 180 clinical services were delivered during the first two months of implementation.

Beyond implementation metrics, screening data also helped school leaders better understand student needs.

Attention and behavioral regulation emerged as the school's most common area of concern, followed by anxiety—insights that helped prioritize interventions and connect students with appropriate services before challenges became more significant.

Small Moments Leading to Meaningful Change

While the numbers are encouraging, educators say some of the biggest successes happen during everyday classroom interactions.

Teachers report hearing students independently use calming strategies like "Balloon Breath" and "Tighten and Release." Students are participating more actively in class, using emotional vocabulary more naturally, and demonstrating stronger listening and self-regulation skills.

Students themselves have shared that they feel calmer, better able to control their emotions, and simply have better days at school.

Making Implementation Realistic for Teachers

One of the biggest reasons for the program's success has been its simplicity.

Teachers consistently described the classroom lessons as easy to incorporate into existing routines, requiring little preparation and fitting naturally into transitions or morning meetings.

One teacher summed it up in a way that resonated across the school:

“Everybody has six minutes.”

That mindset helped remove one of the biggest barriers schools often face: finding time to consistently implement behavioral and mental health supports.

Perhaps the Biggest Success: Turning Identification Into Action

For many districts, screening is only the beginning.

The more difficult question is ensuring students actually receive the support they need after they're identified.

At Foussat, educators have already seen examples of students who previously had no pathway to additional services now receiving regular clinician support on campus.

As one educator shared:

“There was a student we had no other option for, and he now gets clinician support weekly."

It's a reminder that data alone doesn't improve outcomes. Systems do.

Download the Full Case Study:

Foussat Elementary's experience demonstrates what can happen when screening, classroom instruction, and clinical services work together as one connected system of care.

Download the full case study to explore:

• How Foussat implemented a connected behavioral and mental health framework
• Early implementation data and outcomes
• Educator insights and classroom experiences
• Lessons other schools can apply to strengthen their own student support systems