School Improvement Teams
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Schools that successfully integrate mental health services possess the following characteristics:
- Strong, committed leadership
- Collaboration and coordination among community agencies with written agreements
- Internal and external communication methods; utilizing and combining resources
- A proactive approach focused on early intervention and relationship building
- Creative approaches to budgeting strategies (e.g., use of school improvement money) and staffing (e.g., use of community mental health or department of human service staff in schools)
- A mental health policy, including referral protocols
In addition, the three grant pilot sites also focused on professional development through training on the Eliminating Barriers for Learning curriculum. Eliminating Barriers for Learning is a continuing education program for secondary school teachers and staff that focuses on mental health issues in the classroom. Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), its goals are to inform teacher about adolescent social-emotional wellness and provide specific skill-based techniques for classroom use. It aims to:
- Increase knowledge to adolescent mental health, including risks and protective factors
- Show teachers and staff how to develop an action plan to help students who need additional support
- Suggest ways to promote a mentally healthy learning environment through instructional techniques that take into account individual styles of learning and the classroom climate
- Help staff identify school and community resources and partnerships to promote youth mental health
More information on the Eliminating Barriers Curriculum is available on SAMHSA's website.
