Helping schools provide sustainable mental health support to students
TRAILS is a nonprofit born at the University of Michigan, now working with more than 2,000 schools nationwide.
Elizabeth Koschmann
What began as a project of University of Michigan Medical School...
TRAILS started at the University of Michigan Medical School, training school staff in evidence-based practices and studying what changed for students. Our founder, Elizabeth Koschmann, started as a school psychologist, encountering colleagues who were among the most hardworking individuals she had ever met: generous, compassionate, and tireless. Yet the problems their students brought in the door every day were overwhelming: poverty, homelessness, bullying, depression, domestic violence, abuse, anxiety.
...is now in over 2,000 schools and growing.
At a school in rural Michigan, Jayden, was a 14-year-old boy so paralyzed by anxiety that he was unable to speak beyond a whisper, all day, every day.
Koschmann launched TRAILS in 2013 for students like Jayden, and for school staff who needed better tools to help their students meet the challenges they faced, every day.
Over a decade, our methodology and approach evolved and expanded from a handful of Michigan schools to more than 2,000 across the country. Today, we are continuing to improve and widen our impact, as an independent non-profit program, helping trusted adults in districts and schools across the country sustainably support the mental health of their students.
Schools thrive when everyone has effective tools.
More students need support than any counseling staff can reach. But the trusted adults are already there—in classrooms, hallways, lunchrooms, gyms, offices, and buses. TRAILS gives every one of them role-specific support, tools for the moment, and one shared language across the building.
Built with practicality in mind.
Modules run four to eight minutes. In the hallway, break room, or office, our platform is designed for busy school staff who can’t afford to miss a class while building the skills they need.
A full pathway takes under three hours with the flexibility of your own time.
Designed to support existing school systems.
Evidence-based, CBT-informed, and aligned with MTSS, we offer supportive solutions for all tiers. Our evidence-based programming is designed based on real schools and real students, not an ideal.
Staff use it, because it works, not because they have to.
More than 90% of surveyed staff use TRAILS in their real work. In hallway conversations, calmer classrooms, moments handled instead of escalated.
We reach the students with the fewest resources first.
We prioritize Title I schools and the communities with the least access because that's where equipping adults has the most impact.
Bringing together leaders in education, mental health, and research.
View Our TeamEducators
Our team includes teachers, counselors, and school leaders who have lived the day this platform is built for. They keep every tool in line with what a real classroom allows.
Clinicians
Licensed mental health professionals add every skill and every crisis pathway, so what reaches students reflects the best of clinical practice, in words anyone can use.
Researchers
Our research team collaborates with external research partners, studying what changes for students to feed those findings back into the program.