This brief shares nine strategies for implementing and sustaining evidence-based programs to support students’ social and emotional health. Situated within a four-stage framework, these strategies consider the costs, resource allocations, funding streams, infrastructure and partnerships that are necessary for effective implementation. Input from administrators in seven school districts — each with a track record of delivering and sustaining social-emotional learning (SEL) programs — helped shape the strategies identified.
Its companion piece, Funding Effective Implementation of Evidence-Based Programs in Child Welfare, presents eight strategies to help child welfare agency administrators and partners fund and sustain evidence-based programs benefitting children and families.
Unmet social, emotional and mental health needs can derail a student’s academic growth. By implementing programs that promote social and emotional development as well as academic achievement, school systems can fully prepare young people for future success. Such work, however, requires sufficient planning, funding and resource allocation at every step along the way.
