A Crucial Lifeline: CAJE’s Day School Mental Health Network
Posted on 02/07/2025 @ 05:00 AM
One of the best things about being the Executive Director of CAJE is the privilege of working with our outstanding and talented staff.
This past week I attended the national organization Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools conference in Boston with Valerie Mitrani, CAJE’s Director of Day School Professional Development and Audrey Maman Bensoussan, CAJE’s Director of Day School Programs and Services.
Both Valerie and I had the opportunity to kvell when Audrey presented her initiative in creating CAJE’s Day School Mental Health Network of school counselors along with co-presenters Zahava Garber of the Hebrew Academy, and Dr. Oshra Cohen Prizmah’s Director of Mental Health and Wellness.
As you will read below, helping the helpers save lives is just another crucial role that CAJE plays in our community.
- Rabbi Efrat Zarren-Zohar
It began with a phone call to Audrey Maman Bensoussan — a desperate father seeking help for his son, recently expelled from school.
This father’s plea highlighted a systemic issue: schools struggling to meet the mental health needs of their students.
That call became the catalyst for the creation of the CAJE Mental Health Network — a cohort of school counselors from 16 Miami-Dade Day schools.
Schools that operate in isolation face significant limitations when it comes to addressing the complex mental health needs of students. Without collaboration, resources are stretched thin, and solutions often fall short.
The goal was clear: break down silos, encourage dialogue, and create a network where mental health professionals could collaborate on strategies and resources to tackle shared challenges.
Recognizing the value of partnership, CAJE also reached out to the national organization Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools to provide critical workshops, including crafting safety plans to address suicidal ideation and learning practical tools for students to manage their anxiety in classrooms and with parents.
Together, we’ve tackled pressing issues — learning best practices to handle anxiety, trauma, and this year, eating disorders and body dysmorphia.
By working together, we’ve transformed isolation into empowerment, showing what’s possible when we unite for a common cause.
Zahava Garber, Hebrew Academy (RASG):
In 2022, I began my new role as a full-time high school social worker at Hebrew Academy. There was one of me and 170 teenagers, each facing a range of challenges, some more severe than others.
My struggle was the overwhelming feeling of trying to help them all on my own until I was invited to join CAJE’s Mental Health Network, where I was introduced to 17 other school counselors. I found a new sense of support and confidence.
That year, the network brought in Prizmah and with the help of Dr. Oshra Cohen, we focused on Suicide Prevention and Safety Planning. We were provided with a safe place to explore this difficult topic and given tools to utilize should we encounter this with a student.
As part of the safety plan, we identified an internal suicide prevention team and involved those individuals in its implementation.
So when a 15-year-old student approached me that year, confiding to suicidal thoughts and ideations, I was able to remain calm.
I followed the established safety protocol and utilized the tools provided by our network. With the support of my internal team, we were able to effectively assist the student and their family.
Just like the father who reached out to Audrey, this family couldn’t navigate it alone either.
For each family, one child represents an entire world, and their well-being is the true measure of our collective effort.
Oshra Cohen, Prizmah’s Director of Mental Health and Wellness:
64% of school counselors report feeling burnout. It’s a heavy burden to carry alone.
Counselors are at the intersection of all stakeholders at the school including students, parents, staff and administration.
The aim for all of our work is for the counselors to learn the skills and then teach their larger teams.
By training the trainers we enlarged the circle of impact with a clear focus on the needs of Jewish day schools.
Thanks to the high level of collaboration between CAJE and Prizmah, we were able to quickly pivot when Oct. 7th happened.
We opened a virtual zoom support room that provided Miami counselors with a space to express their own struggles.
In a world in which counselors were supporting everyone else, the CAJE Network served as their haven.
We may all be in our own boats, but we are navigating the same storms.
As Rabbi Sacks of blessed memory said: “We can face any future without fear, so long as we know that we won't face it alone."
As you can see, the CAJE Mental Health Network is making a difference: students receive better care, mental health professionals feel supported, and schools are more resilient.
Our vision for the future includes expanding the network, integrating more innovative strategies, and deepening community engagement.
The call from a father looking for help for his son wasn’t just the beginning of a story— it was the spark for a network that continues to grow.
For more information about the CAJE Mental Health Network contact Audrey Maman Bensousan at AudreyMaman@caje-miami.org.
