School Based - Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SB-SBIRT)

SB-SBIRT stands for screening, brief intervention and referral to services/treatment, a model adopted for a “school based” setting. The purpose of SB-SBIRT is to identify students who may need extra support and ensure they are connected with services or programs that will help them succeed. 

Screening: SVSD will use a screening tool called “Check Yourself” which was developed by Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington with Tickit Health. The screening is administered electronically and takes no more than 30 minutes  to complete. Questions cover four different areas, including strengths and goals, substance use, mental health, and personal safety. The screening is designed to determine whether a student may or may not need additional support. Not all students who take the screener will need to speak with a counselor, however every student who takes the screener may receive personalized feedback.

Brief Intervention: If the screening indicates that a student could benefit from speaking with someone, a member of the SB-SBIRT counseling team will meet with the student as soon as possible. Counselors have been trained in motivational interviewing principles, designed to elevate awareness of potential areas for growth and change. The counselors will continue to meet with a student for multiple short conversations if needed. Parents/caregivers may be asked to join a brief intervention discussion. 

Referral to Services: If after meeting with a student it is decided that a referral to additional services is needed, counselors will collaborate with the student to decide upon the best course of action. Parents/caregivers will also be notified if the screener indicates high levels of risk and additional services are immediately needed. 

SB-SBIRT will be implemented at all Snoqualmie Valley middle schools, on an annual basis, to students in 7th and 8th grades. Students and caregivers will be notified in advance of the date their class will participate in the screening process.

Yes, participation in the screener is entirely voluntary. Families will be notified at least two weeks before their student is scheduled to participate. If a family does not want their student to take part, they can opt out by simply emailing their school.

Students may opt out of the screener by informing their teacher. Additionally, at any time during the screener, students can skip questions or stop participating altogether. There are no penalties for declining participation, and it will not affect a student’s grades.

Check Yourself is HIPAA compliant with password protection and meets personal health information privacy and security standards. Student responses will only be viewed by the school counseling team and SB-SBIRT support staff. King County will be provided with de-identifiable student screener data that omits any identifying student information. Individual screener results are purged yearly.

The Check Yourself screening questions aim to help identify students who could benefit from additional support. The questions cover four main areas:  

• Strengths - goals, supportive relationships, school connectedness

• Substance Abuse - use in the past year, frequency of use  

• Mental Health - anxiety, depression, trauma symptoms, disordered eating, suicide, self-harm thoughts  

• Safety - harassment, feeling safe at school, feeling safe in relationships, context at home 

The goal of the screening tool is to provide the school support team with information about the current needs of students in order to connect them with appropriate resources, and to identify trends to create meaningful school-wide programming. 

When compared to the Healthy Youth Survey, the Check Yourself screener is shorter and meant to identify specific student needs; It’s provided annually to SVSD students in grades 7-8. The Healthy Youth Survey is used to track school and district-wide patterns through anonymous data; It’s administered every two years to grades 6, 8, 10 and 12. 

Parents are notified about SB-SBIRT through ParentSquare in September. Additionally, each principal sends home a letter with an FAQ approximately two weeks before the screener is administered. Both communications include information on how families can opt out. 

After the screener, parents will be informed if their student’s results show a high risk level. If the counseling team refers the student to external support services, parents will be notified as well.