(1) Subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall allocate to community truancy boards grant funds that may be used to supplement existing funds in order to pay for training for board members or the provision of services and treatment to children and their families. (2) The superintendent of public instruction must select grant recipients based on the criteria in this section. This is a competitive grant process. A prerequisite to applying for either or both grants is a memoranda of understanding, between a school district and a court, to institute a new or maintain an existing community truancy board that meets the requirements of RCW 28A.225.025. (3) Successful applicants for an award of grant funds to supplement existing funds to pay for the training of community truancy board members must commit to the provision of training to board members regarding the identification of barriers to school attendance, the use of the Washington assessment of the risks and needs of students (WARNS) or other assessment tools to identify the specific needs of individual children, trauma-informed approaches to discipline, research about adverse childhood experiences, evidence-based treatments and culturally appropriate promising practices, as well as the specific academic and community services and treatments available in the school, court, community, and elsewhere. This training may be provided by educational service districts. (4) Successful applicants for an award of grant funds to supplement existing funds to pay for services and treatments provided to children and their families must commit to the provision of academic services such as tutoring, credit retrieval and school reengagement supports, community services, and evidence-based treatments that have been found to be effective in supporting at-risk youth and their families, such as functional family therapy, or those that have been shown to be culturally appropriate promising practices.

(c) By January 1, 2020, in order to ensure that teachers can recognize signs of emotional or behavioral distress in students and appropriately refer students for assistance and support, the Washington professional educator Standard board shall incorporate along the entire continuum the social-emotional learning Standard and benchmarks recommended by the social-emotional learning benchmarks work group in its October 1, 2016, final report titled, “addressing social emotional learning in Washington’s K-12 public schools.” In incorporating the social-emotional learning Standard and benchmarks, the Washington professional educator Standard board must include related competencies, such as trauma-informed practices, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, and every other school year thereafter, school districts must use one of the professional learning days funded under RCW 28A.150.415 to train school district staff on one or more of the following topics: Social-emotional learning, trauma-informed practices, using the model plan developed under RCW 28A.320.1271 related to recognition and response to emotional or behavioral distress, consideration of adverse childhood experiences, mental health literacy, antibullying strategies, and culturally sustaining practices.

This page addresses trauma-informed practices in professional development