As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools have been actively working to hire, train and retain school mental health professionals. When interviewing potential professionals for the job, schools look for candidates that connect well with students. One way to ensure this connection is to engage students in the hiring process. One of NCSSLE’s Project Prevent grantees, the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) in Hartford, CT has done this by implementing student-led interview panels as part of their clinician hiring process.

On this episode of “In Session,” we speak with Sixmaritt Pagán Peña, a Project Prevent (Cohort 2 and Cohort 3) grant recipient from the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) and Rashelly, a 10th grader at the Academy of Computer Science and Engineering, about the district’s student-led clinician interview panels. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff.

Learn more about CREC at their website, and read their Grantee Highlight for more information about the student-led interview panels.

1:00 - Introductions

1:56 - Background Information

2:59 - Student Experience and Feedback

4:44 - Formulating Questions for the Interviews

6:13 - Prioritizing Student Voice

9:19 - Impact on Students and the Hiring Process

11:31 - Next Steps

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.