Transcript OHpowerpt - Center for School Mental Health

Bringing Health Care to Schools for Student Success
School Mental Health
Capacity Building Partnership*
Ohio Stakeholder Discussion Groups
*A project funded through a Cooperative Agreement with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH)
“Promoting School
Mental Health through
Capacity Building to
State and Local
Education Agencies
(SEA’s and LEA’s)”
Goal 1

Strengthen collaborative national efforts to
improve mental health services in schools
by increasing intersections between mental
health, health, and schools.
Goal 2

Develop, organize and synthesize key
documents and resources related to best
practices for SEA and LEA improvement
and expansion of effective SMH services.
Goal 3

Provide technical assistance, resources and
professional development to aid SEA’s and
LEA’s in implementing effective school
mental health programs.
Statewide Stakeholder Discussion Groups:
PURPOSE

to help identify successes and lessons
learned in “early adopter” states -- at both
the state and local levels -- related to
school mental health policies, programs
and services.
Statewide Stakeholder Discussion Groups:
PROCESS

4 “early adopter” states selected

Selection criteria:
– Shared mental health/education/family agenda
– Strong state level collaboration
– Vision of how to integrate health into school mental
health agenda

Four discussion groups per state
– Three with state and local leaders in education, family
advocacy, health and mental health
– One youth only discussion group
Stakeholder Discussion Groups:
Ohio: December 2006
 Maryland: February 2007
 Missouri: May 2007
 Oregon: August 2007

Ohio School Mental Health
Stakeholder Discussion Groups
Process: Adult Discussion Groups

December 7th and 8th, 2006

Three 2-hour discussion groups

30 total participants
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Mental Health: 13
Education: 7
Health: 7
Family members/advocates: 2
Youth development: 1
Results

Responses to Questions
– Themes
– Key Quotations

Challenges

Opportunities
Stakeholder groups began with the
following introduction to the state’s school
mental health agenda:
For the last few years Ohio has been in the
process of developing a school mental health
agenda that aims to accomplish the following:

Promote a better understanding of the
importance of children's mental health,
especially as it is linked with school climate
and academic achievement.

Identify and facilitate effective strategies to
reduce stigma for children and families who
need mental health services and supports.

Expand state and local collaboration across
education, mental health, families, and
family-serving organizations to support
schools as a primary place of engagement to
address children's mental health and academic
achievement.

Enhance the awareness of and improve access
to effective school/community mental health
promotion initiatives, as well as effective
prevention, early intervention and treatment
practices for children at risk and those with
identified problems.
Are you all aware that Ohio has this
school mental health agenda?

Most participants were aware of Ohio’s efforts.

There is not necessarily just one agenda multiple agendas in Ohio exist related to school
mental health.

Since the initiative has been driven by the
Department of Mental Health, there is not a sense
of shared ownership (with the Department of
Education), leading to fragmented
communication.
How do you know about it?
Departments of Mental Health, Health and
Education
 Regional networks
 Local committees and boards
 Professional associations and trainings
 State agencies
 University and national centers for school
mental health
 Local and state mental health initiatives
and grants

What would make it a stronger
agenda?
Shared ownership and buy-in of all
stakeholders
 Social marketing and mental health
promotion
 Funded legislative mandates
 Enhanced link between mental health and
physical health
 Shared funds and resources, with an
emphasis on reducing duplication of
efforts

Major Themes


The existence of an overall state school
health agenda is unclear, and state
policies connecting mental health to
health are not necessarily put into
practice.
Having a “champion” for school mental
health is important; however leadership
must be imbedded into a collaborative
approach in order to ensure sustainability.
Major Themes (continued)

Strategies designed to increase
stakeholder involvement in school mental
health efforts emphasize the importance
of involving family, youth and school
staff in all aspects of school mental
health, including policy and program
development, planning, service delivery,
and evaluation.
Major Themes (continued)

There is a scarcity of efforts that ensure that
school mental health services meet the needs of
students from diverse cultural backgrounds.

A range of mechanisms to ensure successful
coordination of school mental health services
include:
- holding regular meetings with stakeholders
- having a resource/service coordinator to coordinate
referrals and services
- actively engaging the community in the planning,
oversight and evaluation of school mental health
efforts.
Major Themes (continued)

Strategies to ensure that school staff is equipped
to respond to the mental health needs of
students include:
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–
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pre-service training and ongoing professional
development for educators on topics related to
mental health;
opportunities for educators and mental health
providers to understand their respective roles related
to the mental health of students
school-wide programs that provide training and
resources related to mental health to all school staff.
Challenges

Statewide fragmentation and duplication of
efforts due to the localization of efforts

Lack of effective social marketing or
public awareness efforts related to mental
health in schools

Limited resources and funding to establish
or sustain school mental health efforts
Challenges (continued)

Lack of a shared agenda inclusive of all
stakeholders including families, education, health
and mental health

Sustainability of efforts after the departure of key
leaders or “champions” of school mental health

Lack of pre-service and ongoing teacher
education on mental health issues
Opportunities

Reduce duplication of efforts and enhance
communication and shared learning at all
levels (i.e., local-to-local, local-to-state,
state-to-local).
– many state, regional, and local efforts to
advance school mental health in Ohio
– statewide agenda provides a potential
opportunity to connect efforts and facilitate
communication
Opportunities (continued)

Increase stakeholder and public understanding
about mental health through social marketing and
public awareness efforts.
– already present in some of Ohio’s communities
– existing needs assessment and quality outcome
evaluation data can support these efforts.
– include a dialogue about effective language that will
resonate with stakeholders and consumers (e.g.,
“mental health” versus “wellness”)
Opportunities (continued)

Institute pre-service and ongoing teacher
education related to mental health.
– Several educator training programs exist in
local communities
– pending legislation to mandate such training at
the state level.
Opportunities (continued)

Improve efforts related to ensuring that
school mental health services meet the
needs of students from diverse cultural
backgrounds.
– several communities are pursuing this agenda
related to education around socioeconomic
differences and poverty
– need enhanced efforts in addressing other
cultural differences including race/ethnicity
and sexual orientation.
Opportunities (continued)

Work towards shared ownership of and
participation in the school mental health
agenda by all stakeholders (including
families, educators, health and mental
health).
– Examples of models in Ohio that have shared
ownership and service integration include:
School-based health centers
 Family and Children First Programs,
 Cincinnati Community Learning Centers

Youth Discussion Group
PURPOSE:
 to identify, from a youth perspective, the
most effective strategies for providing
mental health services in schools and for
engaging youth in the development of
school mental health policies and
programs.
Youth Discussion Group
PROCESS
 December 6th, 2006
 One 1.5-hour discussion group
 Eight participants
– Ages 14-22
– Four from the Youngstown City Schools Student
Advisory Board (SAB) and four from Ohio Mental
Health Teen Resiliency Group
– 7 attended public school, 1 high school graduate
– 4 students were known to have had mental disorders
Process: Youth Discussion Groups
SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
1.
2.
3.
How can adults at your school make all
students feel supported both in school as well
as other areas of their life?
What can schools do to better understand the
different cultures or backgrounds a student
comes from?
How well do you think that adults in your
school respond to students with mental health
problems?
Process: Youth Discussion Groups
FINDINGS:

Students emphasized the importance of the
whole school environment –the facility as well
as all staff – in feeling accepted and supported
at school.

Students stressed the need to have adults
around them whom they can trust, who accept
their differences, and who get to know them as
individuals in order to feel supported.
Process: Youth Discussion Group
FINDINGS:

While students acknowledge the importance of
staff being trained in how to respond to
students with mental health problems, they
would prefer to talk to the adult whom they
trust most, regardless of their role at school or
training.

Students with mental health problems
expressed a need for policies that address their
individual situations rather than harsh
discipline.
Process: Youth Discussion Groups
FINDINGS:

Students communicated the value of being
involved in extracurricular activities in
developing leadership skills, confidence, and a
connectedness to other students and the school.

Students are most likely to participate in adult
led activities when they get rewards, but more
importantly they want the youth voice to be
taken seriously.
Discussion Groups: Next Steps

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Provide summaries to states
Develop cross-state case study
highlighting themes of all four states
(Fall 2007)
Incorporate findings from case study into
school mental health capacity building
process for SEA’s and LEA’s
(Spring 2008)
Bringing Health Care to Schools for Student Success
Laura Hurwitz
School Mental Health Project Director
[email protected]
202-638-5872, x206
1-888-286-8727 - toll free