Behavioral health grants awarded to 53 Wisconsin school districts

143 schools in 39 counties benefit

Marshfield Clinic Health System and Security Health Plan have announced b.e.s.t. grant recipients for the 2022-23 school year.

b.e.s.t. ® (Behavioral Emotional Social Traits) is an online screening tool that helps educators build and support the emotional health of all school children while identifying students who may need additional positive behavioral support. Developed by school psychologist Eric P. Hartwig, Ph.D., the tool provides educators with recommended actions to take based on student behaviors.

"Since the inception of b.e.s.t. and our partnership with Marshfield Clinic Health System and Security Health Plan we have completed over 312,000 b.e.s.t. screenings on children," Hartwig said. "Throughout our partnership we have identified some very important trends about children's behavioral health needs. The last school was year especially revealing as many children re-entered their schools full time. We saw once again the important role structure, predictable routines and social opportunity plays in a child's development."

"This could not be a more important time to recalibrate our thinking about what families and schools can do in partnership to support a child's behavioral health. b.e.s.t. is one tool schools can use to put the right people in the right place at the right time to help build reciprocal relationships and develop personal self-regulation in real time in the classroom."
Since 2013, Marshfield Clinic Health System and Security Health Plan have partnered with the b.e.s.t. program and provided b.e.s.t. to 68 school districts.

"We're glad to be partnering with so many school districts to improve the well-being of our children," said Jay Shrader, vice president of community health for the health system. "The last two years have hit our teachers and students hard and we know from a 13-year history with this program that b.e.s.t.'s delivery of simple, concrete actions for classroom teachers will help students achieve better outcomes in and out of the classroom."

In the 2022-23 school year, 143 schools in 39 counties will benefit from the grant, which provides technical support, bi-annual screenings for students, training, consultation and support. Marshfield Clinic Health System and Security Health Plan are supporting the implementation of b.e.s.t. during the 2022-23 school year in the following districts:

Unified School District of Antigo
School District of Athens
School District of Auburndale
Augusta School District
Beaver Dam Unified
School District of Black River Falls
Bowler School District
Bruce School District
Butternut School District
Chequamegon School District
Chilton School District
Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District
Columbus Catholic High School
Cornell School District
School District of Crandon
D.C. Everest School District
Unified School District of De Pere
Drummond Area School District
Durand-Arkansaw School District
Edgar School District
Eleva-Strum School District
School District of Fall Creek
Lac Du Flambeau Public School
Lake Holcombe School District
Lakeland Union High School District
Marathon County Child Development Agency Inc,
Marathon School District
Mayville School District
Mellen School District
Mercer School District
Mondovi School District
Osseo-Fairchild School District
Port Edwards School District
Randolph School District
Regis Catholic Schools
Rio Community School District
Rosholt School District
Shell Lake School District
Spencer School District
Stanley-Boyd School District
Stratford School District
School District of Tomahawk
Tri-County Area School District
School District of Turtle Lake
Waupaca School District
Waupun Area School District
Wausau School District
Wayland Academy
Webster School District
Wild Rose School District
Wisconsin Heights School District
Wisconsin Rapids Public Schools
Woodruff J1 School District