Universal Youth Mental Wellness Supports: South Carolina
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Method: Design, Test & Scale
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Impact Area: Improving Mental Wellness
Meeting Students Where They Are:
Using the Mental Wellness Through Schools (MWTS) Framework, CaroNova and its partners are simplifying, strengthening, and standardizing the foundational elements needed to support youth mental wellness through collaborations with South Carolina. By doing so, behavioral health needs may be identified earlier, allowing students to be connected to appropriate supports.
MWTS is built around the principles:
- All youth deserve access to behavioral health and wellness services early and when needed
- Schools, with the help of community and health partners, are a critical site of action for youth
The goal is to establish foundational school behavioral health standards that South Carolina schools and districts can adopt specific to their local needs and contexts.
Where We Are
- CaroNova brought together local and state experts to co-design and test comprehensive school-based behavioral health standards through the Mental Wellness Through Schools (MWTS) pilot in the Pee Dee region of SC.
- CaroNova and key partners (Florence 1 Schools, BCCW, SBHA, McLeod, MUSC, and OMH – Pee Dee Mental Health) worked with SCDHHS to establish a 2024-25 pilot in F1S.
- Now we are working to refine, test, and validate the MWTS Framework through a second pilot, working with Spartanburg 2 School District and the Spartanburg Academic Movement. Other partners include SBHA, BCCW, Spartanburg Regional Health System, OMH, ReGenesis Health, The Forrester Center for Behavioral Health, and Prisma Health.
- F1S is continuing to sustain and scale pilot work; we will continue to monitor data to track long-term impact.
Where We're Going
- 2026-27 Pilot: CaroNova and partners will co-design the pilot with Spartanburg 2 School District from Feb-June of 2026, with a launch during the 2026-27 school year.
- 2027-28 Pilot: CaroNova and partners will co-design a pilot with Pickens County School District in spring 2027, with a launch during the 2027-28 school year.
- Understanding the needs around continuity of care and connecting kids to care in schools and then ensuring they get connected back to the right level of care, whether in or out of school
- 2026-28 Refine and Scale SC SBH Standards and Processes: CaroNova and partners will continue to refine comprehensive school-behavioral health standards and processes for SC, with a sustainable plan developed by the end of 2028 to begin scaling across the state.
- CaroNova will cultivate partners across South Carolina who are interested in MWTS or similar work to support scaling it across the state.
- Through workgroups, CaroNova and its partners will explore the landscape of payment models and mechanisms available to start or independently sustain school behavioral health initiatives.
- CaroNova and partners will work to understand how to strengthen and enhance continuity of care for students who receive care outside of the school setting.
Our Partners
Seven Steps to Innovation & Impact
CaroNova’s approach to pioneering lasting real-world health solutions is systematic, research-driven, collaborative, and community-minded. We purposely identify opportunities where partners can work together to cultivate, co-design, and catalyze health improvements in the Carolinas through our process.
Innovation Sprint:
Identify sprint sites to test proof of concept.
Apply learnings from the sprints to further refine the model.
Develop an implementation assistance plan
Resources
MWTS Implementation Toolkit
MWTS Implementation Toolkit Worksheets
Pilot 1 Outcomes Summary
Pilot 1 Case Study
Referral Reference Guide (Florence 1 Schools PDF)
Workflow of the MWTS Framework
MWTS Overview, Committees, and Workgroups
Youth Mental Health Opportunity Continuum Diagram
YMH Framework
YMH Patient Journey Map
The State of Youth Mental Health in the Carolinas (Executive Summary)
The State of Youth Mental Health in the Carolinas
Crisis in the Carolinas: A Framework for Youth Mental Health
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