Social, Emotional & Mental Health in Schools Practice Group 2009

14 th Annual CSMH Conference on Advancing School-Based Mental Health Minneapolis, MN Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, 2009 – 7:20 to 8:20 a.m. Presenters Stacy Skalski ▪ Amanda Fitzgerald ▪ Judith Shine

 Overview of the history of the practice group  Understanding of need for additional school/community school mental health providers  Increased involvement by cross stakeholders  Develop direction for “Next Steps” 3

There is a supply/demand shortage of school and community child mental health professionals in the country. Existing training program capacity will not meet this demand. There is also a shortage of professors. State higher education funding support is diminishing.

Originated in Cleveland, OH, at the 2005 CSMH Conference in response to a perceived lack of understanding of the training and competencies of school mental health providers. First name was Mental Health-Education Training and Workforce to reflect concern regarding training and competencies.

In early 2008, belief that original title did not reflect the mission or activities of the group led to new name: Social, Emotional and Mental Health in Schools (SEMHS) practice group. SEMHS offered more flexibility and distinguished the practice group’s role more clearly to include, but not be limited to, improving the workforce’s pre-service and provider level competencies and skills. Also allowed for inclusion of activities that address the social and emotional needs of children in relation to workforce training, academic success, and federal legislation.

The Social, Emotional and Mental Health in Schools (SEMHS) practice group has as its primary objective to promote the active exchange of ideas and collaboration between school employed and community employed mental health providers, educators and families. This exchange is to support the social, emotional and mental health and the academic success of all children and adolescents.

Research suggests that the social/emotional health of children and adolescents is linked to their academic and overall success in schools. A collegial, invitational approach to working together will allow professionals and families to effect positive systemic change resulting in better informed and skilled school personnel to address the social, emotional and mental health needs of students.

No one professional or parent group has the capacity or resources to address these needs alone, but working together in a collaborative and creative manner both school and community resources can better serve the educational and social/emotional needs of all students and assist in ensuring good mental health. The SEMHS practice group will endeavor to develop and expand upon these core beliefs and encourage others concerned about this topic to assist with these efforts.

 To develop tools and resources to assist schools in the development of comprehensive collaborative school mental health programs that support the social, emotional, and academic development of all students. 10

 Develop a dialogue guide to assist schools and communities in examining the important roles and contributions of school mental health professionals. 11

 1.1: Identify a source document for the development of the dialogue guide questions. Status: Completed. Document: Overview of School Based Mental Health Services jointly constructed by NASP, ASCA, ACA and SSWAA. 12

 1.2: Convene a small group of school- employed mental health professionals to generate the initial list of questions for the dialogue guide. Status: Completed. 13

 1.3: Send a link to interested COP participants requesting their input into the development of the dialogue guide. Status: Completed. 14

 1.4: Review input from COP participants and convene a group of additional interested participants at 2009 CSMH Conference reflecting broader stakeholder group representation and community mental health input. Status: In progress, 2009 CSMH conference. 15

 1.5: Review list of stakeholder groups and invite missing voices to add to the discussion. Status: To be completed. 16

 1.6: Reconvene core group of SEMHS leaders to finalize questions and submit for approval by IDEA Partnership leadership. Status: To be completed. 17

 1.7: Post approved Dialogue Guide on IDEA Partnership site as well as SharedWork.org. Status: To be completed. 18

 1.8: Promote use of the dialogue guide by cross school-community mental health groups in schools.  – Request support of national/state school- employed professional associations.  – Request support of national/state school-based mental health and community agency associations, family groups, and interested others. Status: To be completed. 19

 Expand the vision of the practice group by encouraging and requesting broader stakeholder involvement. 20

 2.1: Consider renaming practice group to reflect a more invitational posture. Suggestion: Building A Collaborative Culture for Student Mental Health.  – Present and discuss with participants at CSMH conference.  – Review with practice group participants via Sharedwork.org website and/or conference call. Status: To be completed 21

 2.2: Identify steps that reflect collaborative thought and action with regard to provision of school mental health services.  – Discussion with CSMH participants.  – Review by practice group facilitators to narrow initial possibilities. Status: To be completed 22

 2.3: Convene an electronic invitational meeting of cross- stakeholders to generate possible next steps (examples):  White paper on workforce skills and competencies required of all providers of mental health services in schools  White paper on school mental health provider roles along a continuum of care  Identify protocols for referring students from schools to community mental health providers that reflect best practice Status: To be completed 23

 Develop a Power Point presentation on children’s mental health that can be used to inform teachers and families about the relationship of mental health to academic achievement  Explore educational strategies that can be used in the classroom to reduce mental health stigma and encourage early intervention  Identify realistic classroom management strategies for dealing more effectively with students with social and emotional needs Status: To be completed 24

 2.4: Development of an action plan by practice group stakeholders based on group’s decision re: choice of product.  – Identify tasks, timeline, responsible individuals and/or subgroups, needed resources.  – Consult with IDEA Partnership leadership to determine available resources and request any assistance necessary. Status: To be completed 25

Stacy Skalski, Director of Public Policy National Association of School Psychologists Amanda Fitzgerald, Director of Public Policy American School Counselor Association Judith Kullas Shine, President American Council for School Social Work SharedWork.org 26