Introducing A New Action Pack of Tools from Turnaround for Responding to Crisis Within A Tiered Supports System

“The crisis component of a tiered support system allows for students who are experiencing disruptions in their health, mood, behavior, and/or skill development to receive support immediately.”

Young people, families and educators are facing an unprecedented situation this fall. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice and economic uncertainty are combining to require schools and families alike to make significant adjustments in our daily ways of functioning. However, the intentional, collaborative response of a school community to support the needs—of all of its members—will strengthen resilience and mitigate the impact of the challenges resulting from this pandemic, helping to guide schools and students on the road to recovery.

To help schools address this unparalleled situation, Turnaround for Children has created a new Action Pack—a grab-and-go collection of tools and resources based on the science of learning and development—to guide staff, schools and systems in Responding to Crisis Within A Tiered Supports System. The crisis component of a tiered support system allows for students who are experiencing disruptions in their health, mood, behavior, and/or skill development to receive support immediately.

Turnaround’s Action Packs are curated, topic-specific samplers distilled from our complete Toolbox (launching in full later this school year). This new collection of tools and resources will enable schools to understand the impact of trauma and work collaboratively, within the structure of a tiered support system, to address and meet the needs of all students and staff, especially in the wake of the scale of collective trauma in our world. 

Included Tools and Resources

The Responding to Crisis Action Pack starts off with a series of blog posts that frame the importance of a school crisis plan, the integral nature of collaboration to the process, and nuts-and-bolts advice on launching a plan. Tools and resources are then organized by role for teachers, school leaders and student support staff.

Included are resources that help establish the purpose of a school crisis plan, such as a rationale to guide users in the science that undergirds the pack, and a toolkit from Turnaround’s complete Toolbox on stress and the brain. Background knowledge on tiered supports systems and key frameworks such as Turnaround’s Building Blocks for Learning (a framework for the development of skills, mindsets and habits children need for success in school and beyond) and Vision for School and Student Success (which shows how to operationalize a whole child purpose within a school setting) help to contextualize the tiered support crisis tools within the universe of Turnaround’s insights and offerings—all grounded in the science of learning and development.

Guidance is provided on roles and responsibilities throughout a school community and paired with a set of ready-to-use tools for making a referral, engaging caregivers and families, monitoring for progress, and connecting the dots with a mental health agency.

Responding Collectively to Collective Trauma

Renee Prince, LCSW, Turnaround’s Director of Mental Health Integration, shared these thoughts on the launch of the new resource collection: “The dissemination of these tools is important to me as a parent, as an advocate for improving quality of life for both children and families, and as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker—it is critical that educators feel supported and are equipped with the knowledge and resources necessary to collectively respond to the needs of our students and communities.”

The complex issues being faced by students and caregivers today require a diverse set of resources to ensure quality and responsiveness—but they must be experienced in a holistic, integrated way. Turnaround’s Action Pack for Responding to Crisis Within A Tiered Supports System will help schools prepare to meet the needs of every learner, no matter what they have experienced.

Access Responding to Crisis Within A Tiered Supports System here.