Welcome to our new website!

The location of the information and/or page(s) you are looking for may have changed. We invite you to try the search function in the top-right corner or contact webservices@rcoe.us with any questions or concerns.

Mental Health Initiative

The Mental Health Initiative is one of five initiatives launched by Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez. The initiative is aimed at addressing the needs of the whole student beyond the classroom. The Mental Health Initiative includes supporting and expanding mental health programs and services within the 23 school districts in Riverside County.

Mental Health Initiative logo

Examining Mental Health Initiative Data Across Activities

In October 2024, the Mental Health Initiative team evaluated the following activities for effectiveness in supporting the goals of the Initiative:

  • Professional Development
  • Technical Assistance to Districts
  • Collaborative Service Delivery Partnerships
  • RCOE Employee Wellness

Immediate outcomes included increases in:

  • TK-12 students receiving behavioral health services
  • Schools using trauma-informed practices, MTSS/PBIS framework, restorative, anti-bullying and CASEL's TSEL Core Competencies
  • RCOE workplace wellness, job satisfaction, and engagement
  • Access and number of high-quality mental health and well-being information and services in the county
  • Skills, awareness, and knowledge of well-being
  • Understanding and action around adult self-care
  • Adult knowledge and skills related to student, youth mental health needs and supports

Please see the Examining MHI Data slide deck for additional data and analysis

CAREspace

Providing mental health services for Riverside County students, families, schools, and the community.

Mental Health-Related Bills

Updated as of February 5, 2025

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help peopl experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be:

  • Thoughts of suicide
  • Mental health or substance use crisis, or
  • Any other kind of emotion distress

People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

988 serves as a universal entry point so that no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help.

Learn more by visiting the RCOE Suicide Prevention web page.

Looking for strategies for coping during challenging times? Find newly refreshed tools and resources, including those for Early Care and Education, designed to help restore well-being at the RCOE Virtual Wellness Center.

The following resource directories cover a wide range of services that support mental health and wellness.

Community Resources Booklet ThumbnailRCOE Community Resources Guide (PDF) is a compilation of community agencies and referral sources to help the students and families understand and navigate the local resources available to them.

RCOE Resource Guide was developed specifically to help families find food resources, financial assistance, health resources and mental health crisis/emergency services during COVID-19.

PBIS District Recognitions 2024-25

The RCOE PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention System) Coordinators have arranged visits to 15 school districts to honor the 146 schools across Riverside County that received 2024 CA PBIS Recognition awards. Visits have been to school board meetings, principals’ meetings, and a few school sites. These visits allowed the team to publicly recognize the outstanding climate and culture work in these school districts as well as strengthening our relationships with them. The hope is that even more schools will participate in the 2025 CA PBIS Recognition process.

Learn more on the RCOE Directing Change web page and the Riverside County news web page.