Pictured left to right are Erin Black, NTACT-C YETI member; Valerie C. Williams, Director, OSEP; Dante Q. Allen, Commissioner, RSA; and SPAN's own Johan Mora Valverde.

NTACT-C General Session Includes YETI Youth In Interactive Transition Discussion

On May 9, at the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: The Collaborative (NTACT:C) Capacity Building Institute, the General Session was comprised of a panel discussion that included members of the NTACT:C Youth Engagement Transition Initiative (YETI) in conversation with Valerie C. Williams, Director, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education and Dante Q. Allen, Commissioner, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

This interactive session, moderated by SPAN's own Youth Engagement Manager, Johan Mora Valverde, focused on state and local collaborations and strategic planning to enhance services and outcomes for transitioning students and youth.

To learn more about SPAN's transition supportive services and programs, please click here.

Resources for Mental Health Month

May is Mental Health Month and SPAN is raising awareness of the important role mental health plays in our lives. We are encouraging members of the community to take action toward protecting their mental health and overall well-being.

This May, SPAN is focusing our efforts on helping members of our community to:

• LEARN how modern life affects mental health with new resources to navigate their changing world.
• ACT by building their own coping toolbox to manage stress, difficult emotions, and challenging situations.
• ADVOCATE to improve mental health for themselves, the ones they love, and their community.

Mental Health America has created a toolkit to help individuals figure out where to start. The toolkit provides free, practical resources for addressing mental health. Go to mhanational.org/may to learn more.

If you think you may be experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition and are unsure of where to start, take a free, private mental health test at mhascreening.org to determine next steps.

It’s important to remember that working on your mental health takes time. Change won’t happen overnight. Instead, by focusing on small changes, you can move through the stressors of modern life and develop long-term strategies to support yourself — and others — on an ongoing basis.

For resources from SPAN supporting child and youth mental health, click here.