The Resilient Cardinal

REALiving Connects

REALiving Connects is an opportunity to provide support for employees and help them be proactive with their overall wellness. These wellness-based supports assist you with navigating the stress and secondary trauma that can be experienced in professions such as education. REALiving Connects helps you examine your overall level of self-care and focuses on positive forms of managing stress and helping you identify where you are in relationship to where you would like to be. These are not counseling sessions, but rather education-focused, industry-specific supports.

There are five locations to choose from: two rooms at Kroger Chesnut, one at Parkview Elem, and two virtual platforms: zoom or Google Meet.

SIGN-UP:

Please click on THIS LINK to sign up!

There will be a Wellness Lunch offered on August 28th!

There will be food trucks available for lunch from 11:30-1:00

Activities to choose from include:

De-escalation Strategies presented by Chris Peterson in the auditorium from 12:00-1:00

REALiving Connects from REALiving from 11:30-4:00

Walking around the track from 11:30-1:00

Kubb on the field from 11:30-1:00

Sports activities on the field from 11:30-1:00

Hang out in the bleachers with your friends from 11:30-1:00

Up until now, all EAP services (including the mental health supports for staff) have been run and managed by the Human Resources department.

Starting June 1st the Cardinal Care team took over the EAP services. EAP will now fall under the Cardinal Care Mental Health Supports umbrella. Cardinal Care will then support staff, students, and family members!

The Wellness Committee, Wellness Advocates, Wellness Challenges, etc. will also become part of Cardinal Care with this change.

The Cardinal Care website now includes more EAP and Wellness information for staff under the staff tab!

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions/feedback as we transition the supports over to the Cardinal Care team.

To schedule an appointment with the Employee Achievement Program (EAP):

*Call 1-877-256-9302.

Counseling

6 FREE Counseling services are available to employees and their immediate family members.

To see a list of affiliate counseling agencies, CLICK HERE. Once you have the agency and location you prefer, call the 24/7 Call Center at 1.877.256.9302 for an authorization number. You will then call the agency you picked to schedule your appointment(s).

If you would like help in setting up services please contact Shannon Larson, our Mental Health Navigator at mentalhealthnav@chipfalls.org

Professional Coaching

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REALiving offers professional coaching services to help you be the best in all aspects of your life. These services are provided in person, via telephone, or via video. REALiving coaches can assist you in skill exploration, building strengths, and other skill development to enhance your work performance. Click here to learn about each one of the REALiving coaches available.

Conflict Mediation Services

Conflict mediation services are designed to assist agencies with a conflict that exists in the workplace between two or more people that is perceived to be getting in the way of work. Conflict can be stressful! Therefore, when conflict is present in the workplace, this service will help leadership and involved employees move forward. At the conclusion of the service, REALiving provides proposed solutions for leadership’s consideration.

Crisis Support Services

Events or situations that are outside the range of ordinary human experience and overwhelm one’s ability to cope are sometimes referred to as “critical incidents” or “traumatic events.” These events, which are often unexpected, may cause significant distress and can disrupt daily productivity for a period of time.

Critical incidents may include:

• A workplace accident

• Industrial and natural disaster

• A coworker death or suicide

• A violent incident

• Organizational changes

Crisis support services are designed to help minimize disruptions to the lives of individual employees, as well as the organization as a whole. Services are quickly implemented after a crisis and are customized to meet the unique individual and organizational needs of those impacted.

Organizational Advancement

Looking for a way for your department or company to advance to its BEST? REALiving Consultants will meet with you and your employees about current experiences within the company and ways to create opportunities for betterment. We aren’t looking for problems; we are looking for strengths and solutions!

Wellness Visits

Provide your employees with proactive, wellness-based supports to assist with navigating the stress and secondary trauma that can be experienced in professions such as social work, education, and emergency services. Wellness visits are not counseling sessions, but rather education-focused, industry-specific supports. Employees are also encouraged to use their free EAP benefits to support themselves personally or professionally.

HR Consultation

Utilize our Human Resources experts to provide specialized advice and/or training to maximize efficiency. Our HR consultants are highly educated on the most updated ways to address a particular problem or deficit. We can assist your organization with getting back to being its BEST by implementing assessments, policy review, audits, or organizational change.

BEST Management

Looking to be your BEST in the areas of safety and offering support to injured employees? Ask for details about our Trifecta program. Like you, we want your post-injury employees to get the help they need and ensure a swift return to the workplace—and to their BEST!

REALiving provides the following specialized support services:

Immediate Crisis Support Team: Our crisis support services can be in group or individual formats that are designed to assess, stabilize and support employees through the short and long-term effects of critical incidents. The crisis team will be available within 24-48 hours of the incident.

Management Consultation: We will guide your agency’s response as the situation evolves and continue to provide support even after the crisis has ended. We provide specialized information for management that is solution-focused and assists managers in anticipating what they can expect, as well as proactive ways they can BEST support their employees.

Specialized Educational Materials for Employees: Our educational materials for employees are designed to give them the tools they need to cope during the aftermath of a critical incident. Informational handouts are practical and solution-focused, designed to normalize feelings and reactions after a traumatic event. Handouts will assist employees in identifying strategies to manage and alleviate symptoms.

Financial Consultation Planning is critical to achieving financial success, and our financial services are designed to help employees with a variety of financial, matters such as:

• Budgeting assistance

• Financial planning for college

• Financial crisis and hardship

• Credit counseling

• Debt management and consolidation

• Identity theft support Each employee is eligible for a 30-minute telephone consultation, renewed annually, with a trained financial counselor for assistance with financial concerns.

Financial Planning Tools Employees also have access to an array of web-based information and tools to help with all their financial planning needs. Our webbased financial information is practical and includes various financial planning tools.

Legal Consultation Employees have access to a 30-minute-per-issue, phone-based legal consultation, renewed annually, with an attorney to discuss a wide variety of topics, which may include:

• Landlord/Tenant

• Personal Injury

• Estate Planning & Probate

• Adoption/Guardianship

• Divorce/Child Custody/Child Support

• Mediation

• Traffic Violations

• Small Claims

• Real Estate

• Referral to Local Resources

Management Consultation As a supervisor or manager you are a “Champion of People.” As a Champion, it is your job to highlight the skills, abilities and talents of your people and make them stronger—their BEST. We know that as a Champion, you want the BEST for your business, your employees and your customers.

Our consultants are a point of contact for access to the “people experts” to receive trusted advice that is:

• BEST focused

• REAL

• Commonsensible

• Strength based

Our “people experts” help develop solution-focused strategies to:

• Successfully move through organizational changes, such as downsizing, reorganization, merger or expansion.

• Recognize, assess and address employee performance issues in the workplace, such as communication issues, conflict, anger management, or alcohol or drug problems.

• Mediate and resolve conflict.

• Grow your team into their BEST.

• Assist in curriculum and training plan development, including expansion of training resources.

To access other information or REALiving materials visit:

www.EAP. REALiving.com

Username: CFAUSDistrict@realiving.com

Password: cfausd_employee

Are you interested in utilizing counseling services during your prep hours? Here’s a list of providers that offer tele-health as an option:

1. Ozaukee Community Therapies
2. Aurora Community Counseling
3. N Kay Counseling
4. Wisconsin Lutheran Child and Family Services
5. Holistic Path Counseling
6. Winding Rivers Counseling
7. 22 A Day Counseling
8. Thrive Psychological
9. Terri O’Donnell
10. S.M. Backus
11. Halcyon
12. Family Service of Madison

There’s also the affiliate list located on our REALiving website: www.eap.realiving.com

Username: CFAUSDistrict@REALiving.com

Password: cfausd_employee

The wellness committee was absorbed into the Our People Committee starting with the 2021-22 school year. Click here for a list of the committee members for each building.

I will be looking into bringing the Wellness Committee back and meeting as a large group next school year. More details to come.

Committee members act as the wellness advocates for the staff in their respective buildings. Wellness advocates are able to utilize resources in this monthly update, the wellness website, and ideas of their own to engage staff in wellness activities.

This last school year we had...

* 23 therapists come into our schools to work with students

* 10 additional clinicians come into our schools to work with students

* MOUs with 26 different agencies to provide mental health supports to our students

* 303 students that were seen in our schools during the school day as of April 30th (You can CLICK HERE to see updates)

* 334 students referred by school staff for SBMH, outpatient counseling, SEL groups, or co-facilitated small groups

* referrals from parents, pediatricians, day care providers, and Chippewa county as well

* 78% of the students referred have started services. (That means 262 of the students referred by staff have started services. 38 of the remaining families declined services. 1 student moved out of the district. The remaining 33 families are in the process of getting set up with services.)

* 6 different topics of co-facilitated small groups were facilitated by outside clinicians (AODA, Meditation Practices, Equine Therapy, Mindfulness, Self-Regulation, and a Substance Abuse Group)

* held Cardinal Care pop-up booths at open houses as well as during the school year

* started mental health themed contests at the elementary level

* met with a high school group of students for ideas

* met with a middle school group of students for ideas

For next year...

* We have 5 new therapists planning on starting next school year

* We will continue to offer all the same mental health supports for students and their families

* We will continue to meet with students to get their ideas of how they want to learn about mental health supports

* We will continue to offer pop-up booths at the secondary level and contests at the elementary level

Short film on youth resilience features Chippewa Valley places and faces

A local mental health coalition is debuting a powerful short film about youth mental health and resilience, featuring many Chippewa Valley residents and produced by an Emmy Award-winning creative duo.

The film, titled “Shaping Destiny,” takes a close, sensitive look at how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact kids’ mental health and how youth can build resilience.

“Shaping Destiny” features 22 Chippewa Valley residents, including adults, youth-serving professionals, and youth. Viewers will hear firsthand personal testimony from adults who have overcome adversity that happened during their childhoods – and hear what local youth have to say in lively unscripted conversations.

The Mental Health Matters Coalition is a group of more than 20 partnering organizations in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties. It works to support and improve youth mental health in the Chippewa Valley. The coalition hopes the short film will be an insightful training tool for everyone in our community, but especially professionals who work with kids – teachers, medical professionals, coaches, counselors, social workers, and more.

According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 32% of youth in Eau Claire County and 28% of youth in Chippewa County felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities. The survey also found that only 22% of youth in Eau Claire County and 21% of youth in Chippewa County get emotional support when needed, most of the time or always.

The coalition decided to make the film after designing a two-hour workshop about building youth resilience and overcoming ACEs. The workshop was so popular that in 2022, the coalition worked with local creative duo Story Time with Steve & Micah to create a condensed, 30-minute film inspired by the workshop.

For more information about the Mental Health Matters coalition, visit cvmentalhealthmatters.org/. The Mental Health Matters project is funded by the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

“School Mental Health Works!” is a quick-dip podcast featuring dialogues on school mental health in Wisconsin. Produced by the Coalition for Expanding School Based Mental Health in Wisconsin, the series highlights the successes and challenges experienced by a range of partners as communities collaborate and show that school mental health works!

Episodes feature Coalition board representatives and invited guests – each bringing a unique perspective and experience within Wisconsin’s systems for supporting school mental health.

Through thoughtful discussions between mental health providers, school professionals and parents representing lived experience, the series explores each of the six components of Wisconsin’s comprehensive school mental health model including: 1) a continuum of mental health supports; 2) collaboration; 3) needs assessment and resource mapping; 4) mental health referral pathways; 5) sustainability; and 6) data.

Click HERE if you are interested in listening to the monthly podcasts! The Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District is featured in episode 3!

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills have been demonstrated to be effective in helping adolescents manage difficult emotional situations, cope with stress, and make better decisions.

Chippewa County has recieved a grant to fund our district in getting trained in the DBT STEPS-A program. While originally designed as a comprehensive curriculum, we are hoping to utilize the work as an intervention resource. There are multiple trainings being offered specifically designed for different roles in a school district and each will provide an overview of DBT as well as how you can best support your students.

Unfortunately, many of the students you work with are missing skills to help them overcome personal obstacles and stay on track toward their goals. DBT emphasizes building student skills in the following areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. While many of you already have experience in helping these students, we are excited to provide you the opportunity to add even more tools to your toolbox.

Secondary administrators attended training in February.

Pupil Service staff were trained in either March or April.

Classroom teachers that signed up will be trained on August 1st-3rd.

To schedule an appointment with the Employee Achievement Program (EAP):

*Call 1-877-256-9302.

Counseling

6 FREE Counseling services are available to employees and their immediate family members.

To see a list of affiliate counseling agencies, CLICK HERE. Once you have the agency and location you prefer, call the 24/7 Call Center at 1.877.256.9302 for an authorization number. You will then call the agency you picked to schedule your appointment(s).

Professional Coaching

​

REALiving offers professional coaching services to help you be the best in all aspects of your life. These services are provided in person, via telephone, or via video. REALiving coaches can assist you in skill exploration, building strengths, and other skill development to enhance your work performance. Click here to learn about each one of the REALiving coaches available.

To access other information or REALiving materials visit:

www.EAP. REALiving.com

Username: CFAUSDistrict@realiving.com

Password: cfausd_employee

In the CFAUSD we use Project AWARE grant funds to pay community clinicians to come in and offer consultation and professional development to staff.

CONSULTATION:

You can call 1-855-838-7170 at anytime and ask for consultation. This is NOT counseling.

Examples of what to use this for may include but are not limited to:

• If you have a student that you are concerned about, you can call and ask for ideas or strategies to use in the classroom to best support the student
• If you notice a trend in your classroom, such as high levels of anxiety, stress, anger, etc. you can call and ask for strategies to use in your classroom

Staff Professional Development:

We utilize Project AWARE grant funds to offer professional development around mental health and wellness during the Cardinal Conference. We can also use these funds to offer staff professional development at ANY TIME during the school year. This can take place during staff meetings, after school, or whenever works best.

Examples of Staff professional development may include but are not limited to:

• Mindfulness
• Yoga
• Self Care
• Common Mental Health Issues in Schools
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Autism
• ADD/ADHD
• Understanding Suicide and Self Harm in Youth
• Understanding and Supporting Trauma in Schools
• Supporting LGBTQ+ Population in Schools
• Classroom Strategies to Support Self-Regulation
• Accentuating YOU (On Behalf of Your Team)
• Be YOUR Own Champion
• Being a BEST-ie - How to be Your BEST Colleague in the Workplace
• BEST-ie 2.0
• BESTologyTM
• Blue Ribbon Customer Service
• Budgeting to be Your BEST
• Change Champions: Leading People Through Change
• Communicate Like a Champion
• Dancing With Stress
• EQ- Another Piece of the Puzzle
• Fitness in a Busy World: Fitting in Fitness
• Fitting in Self-Care
• Generational Leadership
• Getting REAL with Your Goals
• Handling Difficult Conversations Like a Champion
• How to be Positive in a Sometimes Not Very Positive World
• Leading in a Crisis
• Mindful (or Mind full)
• Play Nice!
• The Confidence to Achieve
• The Speed of Light
• Time and Organizational Potluck
• Verbal Judo
• What's for Lunch
• What's in your Backpack?
• Your BEST Meeting Facilitation Skills
• Your Energy Story
• Your Personal Brand-Your Real BEST You
• Your Superpower-Resilience

***Click HERE to read a brief description about any of the professional development opportunities offered by REALiving

Please reach out if you would like help setting any of these up for your staff!

Professional Coaches available within district

Jamie Ganske : ganskejl@chipfalls.org x3007

Amy Erickson: ericksae@chipfalls.org x2463

What is a Professional Coach?

As a professional striving to be your BEST, you may seek someone at times to help you achieve a goal or improve your performance. A coach is there to help with professional development in areas such as organizational skills, leadership development, communication skills, and work/life balance. Important questions to ask yourself as you start the coaching process are: "What do I want to get out of this? What abilities and skill sets do I want to discover and master? How do I want to show up differently so I am my BEST?

A BESTology Professional Coach can also help you navigate setting up EAP resources.

CONSULTATION AVAILABLE!

Any staff member can call 855-838-7170 at any time for consultation. This means you can call and ask for support if you are seeing a student with high behaviors or if you see a trend in your classroom. REALiving can help give you some ideas of what to do.

Wellness Resources

If you are feeling overwhelmed or distressed over COVID-19, you can call a distress line at

1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746.

Text HOPELINE to 741741

Northwest Connections Crisis Line 1-888-552-6642

Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Chippewa Valley Free Clinic 715-839-8477

Open Door Clinic 715-720-1443

Wellness Shack 715-855-7705

HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital Outpatient 715-717-5899

L.E. Phillips Libertas Treatment Center 1-800-680-4578 or 715-723-5585

HSHS Sacred Heart The Healing Place 715-717-6028 *Not currently available*

Marshfield Behavioral Health 715-858-4850

Mayo Health System Outpatient 715-838-5369

Chippewa Cty Mental Health and Recovery Services 715-726-7788

If you have additional questions about mental health resources in the

Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District, please see www.cardinalcare.info

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Email: ganskejl@chipfalls.org
Website: www.cardinalcare.info
Phone: 715-726-2795