SEL & Counseling

Navigating mental health together

Adolescence can be intense. These years can be both amazing and tough. Emotional and social changes go right along with all the physical changes. These are the times when students are striving for independence and establishing stronger bonds with friends. They might be worried about grades, relationships, fitting in with a group at school or body image. Some teens feel depression or hopelessness because they are in situations that are truly beyond any teen’s coping skills – sexual abuse, an alcoholic or drug addicted parent, or other serious family problems.

If you are very concerned about your self or someone you care about and feel they are in immediate danger, please call 911. They will help!

We're Here for You

Crisis Intervention Team

Crisis Intervention Team Contact Information

Your mental health matters. If you are feeling overwhelmed, struggling with thoughts of suicide, or are concerned about a friend, please know you are not alone—there are people who care and want to help.

Students are strongly encouraged to reach out to a teacher, administrator, counselor, or another trusted adult if they are experiencing suicidal thoughts, or if they believe another student may be in danger.

If you believe someone is in immediate danger or at risk of suicide, please call 9-1-1 right away.

If you or another student is experiencing a mental health crisis during school hours (8:30 AM – 5:00 PM), please don’t hesitate to contact 9-1-1 for urgent help.

You can also reach out to our dedicated Crisis Intervention Team, who are here to listen and support.

The Crisis Intervention Team is available during school hours to assist students and staff with mental health needs, and they are committed to providing compassionate, confidential care.

After school hours, please call 9-1-1 for immediate assistance.

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Counseling Resources

Social Emotional Learning Resources

Mental Health

Our counselors nurture relationships with students, supporting their academic and emotional/social journey of growth. Our staff equip students with skills to navigate new situations, overcome challenges, and build confidence during their time at Feather River Charter School and beyond. Here is a list of resources to support our students and families.

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
This website – The Balanced Mind Parent Network (BMPN), a program of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), guides families raising children with mood disorders to the answers, support, and stability they seek.

We Spark
Many families' lives are touched by cancer. We Spark provides free cancer support services for children, teenagers, and adults. Participate in art class, learn yoga or tai chi, join a discussion group, or go to a workshop – it's all designed to enhance the quality of life for cancer patients and their family members and friends.

Our House Grief Support Center
If you have lost a loved one – whether a family member or a friend – Our House is there to help. This organization is dedicated to supporting people who grieve a loss, whether they be children, teens, or adults.

TEEN LINE
TEEN LINE is a confidential telephone help line for teenaged callers. It operates every evening from 6:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. and is toll-free from anywhere in California. When you call, you don't have to give your name and everything you say will be strictly confidential. The TEEN LINE volunteers who answer the call are Southern California teenagers who have been specially trained. They won't judge you or give you advice — their job is to listen to your feelings and help you to clarify your concerns, define the options available to you, and help you make positive decisions. No problem is too small, too large, or too shocking for the TEEN LINE volunteers. Call 1-800-TLC-TEEN (1-800-852-8336) or in Los Angeles: 310-855-HOPE (310-855-4673) or in The Valley: 818-432-2266

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a 24-hour, toll-free, confidential suicide prevention hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. By dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255), the call is routed to the nearest crisis center in our national network of more than 150 crisis centers. The Lifeline's national network of local crisis centers provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals day and night.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

NAMI SVF-- National Alliance on Mental Illness, San Fernando Valley

When a parent or a child is first diagnosed with a mental illness, the whole family needs help. NAMI SFV provides educational programs and support groups for families at no cost.

Military OneSource
Military OneSource is a free service provided by the Department of Defense to service members and their families to help with a broad range of concerns including money management, spouse employment and education, parenting and child care, relocation, deployment, reunion, and the particular concerns of families with special-needs members. They can also include more complex issues like relationships, stress, and grief. Services are available 24 hours a day — by telephone and online.

The Center for Transyouth Health and Development
The Center for Transyouth Health and Development promotes healthy futures for transyouth by providing services, research, training and capacity building that is developmentally informed, affirmative, compassionate and holistic for gender non-conforming children and transyouth.

Free To Be He, She, They: Helping Young People Navigate Gender Identity
UCSF’s pioneering Child and Adolescent Gender Center is helping a growing number of families seeking advice – and, increasingly, medical intervention – to help a son or daughter’s physiology match their gender identity.

Adolescent Depression
The word depression is used to mean many different things. If asked, most people would say that they have felt “depressed.” What most mean by this is that they have felt sad. Sadness is a universal feeling, and everyone will experience some intense periods of sadness with grief. Not everyone, however, will experience a clinical depression. Sadness or depression is just one symptom of a depressive illness.

Fentanyl Definitions, Facts, and Resources

What is fentanyl?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid made in a lab that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine. It’s approved to treat severe pain, typically acute traumatic pain and advanced cancer pain, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fentanyl is widely used in emergency departments and hospitals. It can also be prescribed. However, the recent fentanyl-related deaths are linked to illegally made drugs.

Fentanyl can come in different forms, such as pills, powder, and liquid. It has also been found mixed with other drugs, including heroin, counterfeit pills, methamphetamine (meth) and cocaine, or even replacing them entirely, according to the California Department of Justice.

Learn more about fentanyl with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fact sheet

What makes fentanyl so dangerous?
Due to its potency, a relatively small amount of fentanyl can be deadly. Just two milligrams can cause overdose or death. It’s very powerful and can be addictive. Fentanyl cannot be smelled or tasted, making it nearly impossible to tell if drugs contain or have been laced with the opioid without special fentanyl test strips.

Can fentanyl be absorbed through the skin or by touching an item that has fentanyl on it?
No, that is a common myth. Fentanyl cannot be readily absorbed through the skin, nor can you overdose on fentanyl by touching a doorknob or dollar bill. As a result, it is safe to help people who have overdosed on fentanyl.
There are fentanyl skin patches that are prescribed by a doctor in which a special formulation of the opioid can be slowly absorbed through the skin. Even then, it takes hours of exposure.

What does fentanyl look like?
Fentanyl is typically available in two main types: powder and liquid.
Powdered fentanyl can be made to look like other drugs. It is often pressed into pills that look exactly like prescription pills, such as Percocet or Xanax.
In the liquid form, illegally made fentanyl can be found as a replacement for heroin. There are also reports of fentanyl being packaged as nasal sprays and eye drops. Additionally, liquid fentanyl can be dropped onto paper or small candies.

What is “rainbow fentanyl”?
“Rainbow fentanyl” is a newer phenomenon in which fentanyl is mixed with dyes and either pressed into brightly colored pills or sold as powder in various colors. It is likely that drug traffickers are using these dyes to avoid detection and potentially appeal to teens and young adults. Despite claims that certain colors may be more potent than others, there is no indication through laboratory testing that this is the case.

Check out the DEA’s fentanyl awareness campaign

Is there anything that can reverse the effects of fentanyl?
Naloxone (also known as Narcan) is a life-saving medication that can rapidly reverse the effects of opioid overdose if given in time, according to the CDC. It’s available in all 50 states and can be bought without a prescription in most states.

Naloxone comes in an injectable form or a nasal spray. It works by blocking the effects of opioids and can restore normal breathing within 2-3 minutes. Naloxone can also be used to help people overdosing on drugs other than opioids. It's safe to use if you suspect any type of overdose, not just fentanyl.

Our UC Davis experts recommend naloxone be available in all public venues, similar to the availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The California Department of Health Care Services offers free naloxone to qualified organizations, including schools and universities.

What are signs that someone might be experiencing a fentanyl overdose?
Recognizing a fentanyl overdose can save someone’s life. Here are the signs you should look for, according to the CDC:

Small, constricted “pinpoint” pupils
Falling asleep or losing consciousness
Slow, weak, or not breathing
Choking or gurgling sounds
Limp body
Cold and/or clammy skin
Discolored skin (especially in lips and nails)

What should you do if you suspect a fentanyl overdose?
If you think someone has overdosed on fentanyl, you should:

Call 911 immediately. (Most states have laws that may protect a person who is overdosing or the person who called for help from legal trouble.)
Administer the life-saving medication naloxone if you have some.
Try to keep the person awake and breathing.
Turn the person on their side to prevent choking.
Stay with the person until paramedics arrive.
Opioid and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Resources

If you or someone you know wants help to stop using opioids or other substances, here are some resources to help:

Substance Use Disorder Treatment (UC Davis Health)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
Substance Abuse and Treatment Resources (CDC)
Choose Change California (State of California)
How to find opioid treatment programs (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

Suicide Prevention

A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: Feather River Charter School is committed protecting the health and well-being of all Feather River Charter School students, including vulnerable youth populations, by having procedures in place to prevent, assess the risk of, intervene in, and respond to suicide and self-harming behavior. Vulnerable youth populations include LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) youth, youth living with mental and/or substance use disorders, youth who engage in self-harm or have attempted suicide, youth in out-of-home settings, youth experiencing homelessness, American Indian/Alaska Native youth or youth that identify with other racial minority groups, youth bereaved by suicide and youth living with medical conditions and disabilities. A copy of the our comprehensive policy is available here.

GET IMMEDIATE HELP

Human Trafficking Prevention

Senate Bill 1104 requires schools to identify methods of informing parents and guardians of students in grades sixth through twelfth of Human Trafficking Prevention resources.

"Trafficking can involve school-age youth, particularly those made vulnerable by challenging family situations, and can take a variety of forms including forced labor, domestic servitude, and commercial sexual exploitation." - U.S. Department of Education

Please view the Human Trafficking Fact Sheet for Schools from the U.S. Department of Education for more information.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING FACT SHEET

Cyberbullying & Discrimination

For families looking to deepen their understanding or access resources, we encourage visiting the UC/CSU Collaborative for Neurodiversity and Learning. This site offers a wide range of tools and information designed to address learning challenges, school-based bullying, and discrimination, while promoting inclusive educational practices that support neurodivergent students and their families.

Immediate Support & Help Lines

California Youth Crisis Line (runaways & all other problems)	800-843-5200
Child Abuse Hotline	800-540-4000
Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center	877-727-4747
Eating Disorders Referral Service	800-931-2237
Fire, Police, Ambulance	911
Gay & Lesbian Youth Talkline	800-246-7743

For gender identity related questions contact:
malachi.briggs@sequoiagrove.org

Mandated Postings

Synthetic Drugs

Synthetic Drugs

Social media has changed how we communicate and share information, but it also plays a troubling role in the illegal marketing and sale of synthetic drugs. These platforms can provide a sense of anonymity, allowing dealers to easily connect with vulnerable individuals, especially young people. They often use targeted advertising, influencers, and private messages to reach their audience.

Synthetic drugs are frequently advertised as "legal highs" or designer substances, which can make them seem appealing and even trendy. Transactions often take place using cryptocurrencies, making it even harder to trace these activities. Despite efforts by social media companies to enforce rules against illegal sales, many of these activities still slip through the cracks.
This is concerning because synthetic drugs can be extremely dangerous. They’re often unsafe and can lead to severe health risks, including overdose, addiction, and long-term health problems. It’s important for everyone to be aware of these issues when using social media and to understand the potential dangers that come with these products.

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