A storyboarding approach to train school mental health providers and paraprofessionals in the delivery of a strengths‐based program for Latinx families affected by maternal depression.

Mental health professionals in schools and the community are often overburdened and underfunded in high‐need areas, limiting their capacity to deliver needed family‐based mental health interventions. To address this issue, paraprofessional school personnel (e.g., family engagement liaisons) can facilitate these family‐based mental health interventions alongside licensed mental health professionals, thereby increasing access to mental health services for families with mental health needs. To train professional and paraprofessional school personnel in maternal depression and interventions, we used storyboarding, a narrative storytelling method traditionally used to create films. Latinx families who had previously participated in a family‐focused program for maternal depression shared real life stories focused on themes of (a) maternal depression, (b) impact on children, (c) cultural views and role of immigration, (d) self‐harm and suicide, and (e) what families need. In this conceptual paper, we describe our engagement of families in a multistep process of storyboarding that resulted in video modules of family stories for a training website and in‐person workshop for school professionals and paraprofessionals. We conclude with how community‐engaged tools such as storyboarding can be used to increase awareness and reduce stigma of maternal depression among staff training to deliver family‐focused mental health programs in schools. Highlights: Schools are well positioned to support the mental health of students and their families.For schools to deliver mental health family programs, they need specialized training.We used storyboarding to capture the narratives of families with a history of maternal depression.Family storyboards were then used to create training videos on a website for school staff.Engaging families in training can increase school staff's empathy and knowledge, and reduce stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]