Superintendent Bernal and district staff told the North Wasco County SD 21 board that the district has launched a youth wellness community collaborative and placed three youth outreach workers (YOWs) in schools to address student mental health and chronic absenteeism.

The collaborative brings community partners together to coordinate mental‑health supports and address attendance, substance abuse prevention, direct mental health services, supports for LGBTQ+ students and transportation/community access. “We had over 25 community partners come alongside us,” Superintendent Bernal said, explaining the group’s aim to reduce silos and build a coordinated support network for students.

Why it matters: the district said the collaborative aims to connect schools and community organizations so attendance and student well‑being are approached as community responsibilities rather than school‑only problems.

District staff described how targeted school improvement dollars allocated to each of five schools were pooled district‑wide so the money could fund three youth outreach worker positions under a contract with Next Door. “We ended up pulling that money, and we had enough money to hire 3 youth outreach workers,” Bernal said. Each YOW covers two schools on a rotating schedule, focuses on student mental health and chronic absenteeism, provides in‑school mentoring, links families to resources and collaborates with attendance teams.

Board members asked whether funding is sustainable given uncertain federal budgets. Staff said the YOW positions are currently funded with federal targeted school improvement dollars; district staff and state associations are monitoring federal funding decisions. “For 25‑26, we've already been told that we're gonna get those federal dollars again. But that doesn't mean we will get them,” Bernal said, emphasizing uncertainty about future federal allocations.

The collaborative will meet again next week to do a deep dive on regular‑attender data using the ATLAS protocol and to seek community‑wide solutions to chronic absenteeism, staff said. The board received the update with no formal action requested.

Ending: Staff plan regular principal check‑ins with the Next Door contractor and monthly progress reviews to evaluate YOWs’ effectiveness and consider alternative funding should federal support lapse.