The Iowa Departments of Education and Health and Human Services awarded today 10 grants totaling $600,000 to public school districts for training and coaching school health care workers on COVID response-and-recovery initiatives focused on social-emotional-behavioral health. The 10 school districts that received grants are: Chariton, Dubuque, East Buchanan, Iowa City, Harlan, Logan Magnolia, North Mahaska, Muscatine, Mount Pleasant and Storm Lake. According to a news release, the COVID-19 Public Health Workforce Supplement Funding grants will help school districts enhance mental health literacy and expand capacity for addressing the social-emotional-behavioral health needs of students resulting from or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants can be used to cover costs associated with planning, training and coaching. The departments received $4.5 million from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for the grants, and this is the third and final round of funding. A total of 17 districts were awarded over $1.3 million through the first two rounds of funding. Learn more about the grants on the Iowa Department of Education’s website.