Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral To services (SBIRT)

SBIRT stands for, “Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral To services”. SBIRT aims to empower Northshore School District to more effectively identify and address the needs of middle school students through the use of a screening tool called “Check Yourself”, developed by Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington with Tickit Health.

The goal of SBIRT is to help us better understand student needs; their challenges; their successes; and to assure students have the appropriate resources needed to succeed. 

In the spring of 2018, the Northshore School District was awarded the SBIRT-SB (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral To services- School-Based) grant, to be implemented in King County middle schools, as part of the Best Starts for Kids King County initiative. 

Best Starts for Kids is a King County voter-approved initiative that focuses on increasing the positive resources and opportunities that help kids grow up healthy and happy, decreasing negative factors that may prevent kids from establishing a strong foundation in life, and intervening early when kids and families need more support.

SBIRT is a King County grant that 5 of our middle schools benefit from: Canyon Park, Kenmore, Leota, Northshore, and Timbercrest.Through SBIRT grant funding the middle schools are provided with an onsite Mental Health Therapist, available to meet with students free of cost. It is the goal of the district to offer the survey to all students, through a designated time, based on the student’s grade level. 

If parents/guardians choose to opt-in their child to participate in SBIRT, the student would immediately be offered the Check Yourself survey. It is important to note that “Check Yourself” is a voluntary student survey, the first question of the screener asks the student if they would like to participate and they may withdraw their participation at any time. A parent or guardian may request student participation, but the student will always be asked about participation.

Schools will use a wellness screener called “Check Yourself”. The “Check Yourself” screening tool was developed by Seattle Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington with Tickit Health. Unlike other screeners, SBIRT is a self-assessment. This interactive teen-friendly survey asks questions around four main areas: Strengths (goals, supportive relationships, and school connectedness); Substance use (potential to use, use in the past year, and frequency of use); Mental Health (anxiety, depression, PTSD symptoms, and self harm thoughts) and Safety (harassment, feeling safe at school, and context at home).  At the end of the survey, students will receive personalized feedback regarding healthy behaviors. For school support teams, this tool will help start conversations with students around healthy lifestyle choices, safety, and address any areas of concern or student needs. Parents and guardians will also be notified if their student(s) can benefit from additional supports at school or within the community.

Participating schools will either screen 7th or 8th grade students through advisory or referral. Screening grade and dates, will be dependent on the school your student attends. If your student will be offered the Check Yourself survey, communication of the screening date will always be shared via an e-mail to parents/guardians.

While this survey was developed by Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington, the data they will receive will not have any identifiable information. Students receive the Check Yourself screener with a randomly generated ID, in which only designated school support staff will have access to identifiable student information in order to follow up with the student if needed. Check Yourself is HIPAA compliant with password protection and meets personal health information privacy and security standards. All documented data associated with the Check Yourself screening tool will be eradicated in the fall of 2022.

If you would not like for your student to participate in SBIRT, you may fill out the opt-out form or connect with an SBIRT specialist.

OPT-OUT FORM