Expanded school mental health collaboration

Collaboration in Expanded School Mental Health Programs The Importance of Collaboration... 

In the following, we present ideas for school-based programs to better address the health and mental health needs of children and adolescents with special health care needs. Recommendations are built upon studies and articles on sbhcs and expanded school mental health as reviewed earlier. We also draw on studies and articles that have generally discussed interdisciplinary collaboration in pediatric settings (e.g., Drotar, 1995 Roberts, 1995 Schroeder, 1996). 

Identifying the role of expanded school mental health programs in local systems of care and improving communication and collaboration between each service site. 

The Initiative is housed in the Department of Health s Office of School Health. The Office, with its 23 staff members, is in the Health Systems Bureau of the Public Health Division. The Office of School Health has grown dramatically in the last few years, with the expansion of the New Mexico School Mental Health Initiative (Adelman et al., 1999 Adelsheim, 2000 Adelsheim, Carrillo, Coletta, 2001 Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2001). Funded initially by a Federal Maternal and Child Health grant, this collaboration of state agencies, schools, families, and community partners has made great strides in expanding both programs and support for addressing the mental health needs of students so they may be successful in school. 

One innovative staff role created by this collaboration was that of five School Mental Health Advocate positions. Each regional School Mental Health Advocate, a master s-level trained therapist with school mental health experience, was assigned to a state Public Health district office to work closely with local schools, parents, health professionals, and mental health providers. These critical community partners have provided essential technical assistance, training, and support to schools, families, and communities to expand regional understanding and local capacity to provide collaborative prevention, early intervention, and treatment for students. 

In addition to established need, effectiveness of approach, and widely shared goals, successful advocacy for mental health programs in schools requires collaboration between the mental health and the education fields. Mental health advocates must expand their efforts beyond traditional mental health coalitions to include a broad-based constituency in order to secure buy-in outside of the mental health field. Unfortunately, too many advocacy efforts have been driven by the mental health community in an effort to force services on reluctant school systems. Such efforts are almost certain to fail since policymakers will automatically look to education advocates to determine priorities for school funding and new programs. The best advocacy efforts, as the following case studies demonstrate, are the product of communitywide coalitions and careful collaboration between multiple constituencies. 

In response to the inadequacy of counseling-focused, school-based, mental health programs for urban low-income families, school-based models need to expand their focus to adapt services to the needs and competencies of teachers, parents, and children in order to capitalize on schools unique opportunities to provide mental health-promoting activities for children in these communities (Atkins et al., 1998). We propose fom key foci for school-based mental health programs in urban communities (1) focus on children s academic performance, (2) teacher collaboration and support, (3) parental involvement, and (4) reliance on indigenous resources. The rationale for each goal will follow. 

---