News and Events

New U.S. Department of Education Report Highlights Examples of Work of CFS Faculty

Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral and Mental Health

U.S. Department of Education Releases New Resource on

The U.S. Department of Education has released a new resource:  to provide information and resources to enhance the promotion of mental health and the social and emotional well-being among children and students.

This report highlights seven key challenges to providing school- or program-based mental health support across early childhood, K–12 schools and higher education settings, and presents seven corresponding recommendations.

As part of the recommendations, the report highlights examples from the work of CFS faculty, most working within the , the , and the .

The following faculty provided leadership to the featured systems work:

  • Lise Fox, PhD, Principal Investigator of the NCPMI and Co-Director of Florida Center for Inclusive Communities
  • Heather Peshak George, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Center on PBIS and the Florida PBIS Project
  • Don Kincaid, EdD, Technical Assistance Director of the Center on PBIS, and Co-Director of the Florida PBIS Project and the Florida Center for Inclusive Communities

Resources and citations highlighted in the report include:

Lise Fox

Anna Winneker, Lise Fox, Meghan von der Embse, Erin Sizemore, and Dana Peña


Rochelle Lentini, Lindsay N. Giroux and Mary Louise Hemmeter

Gage, N. A., Grasley-Boy, N., George, H. P., Childs, K., & Kincaid, D. (2019). . Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 21(1), 50–61.

Florida PBIS, Florida Center for Inclusive Communities, & the University of South Florida. (2020). . Presented at the 17th International Virtual Conference on Positive Behavior Support.

Massey, O., & Vroom, E. (2019). The role of implementation science in behavioral health. In B. Levin, & A. Hanson, K. (Eds.), Foundations of behavioral health (pp. 101–118). New York: Springer.

LaSalle, TL, George, HP, McCoach, DB, Polk, T, Evanovich, LL. An Examination of School Climate, Victimization, and Mental Health Problems Among Middle School Students Self-Identifying With Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. Behavioral Disorders. 2018;43(3):383-392. doi:10.1177/0198742918768045

Weist, M. D., Garbacz, S. A., Lane, K. L., & Kincaid, D. (2017). . Center for Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (funded by the Office of Special Education Programs, U.S. Department of Education). Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon Press.