Handbook of School Mental Health: Advancing Practice and Research (Issues in Clinical Child Psychology)

With the growing challenges that children confront daily, schools must be prepared at any given moment to intervene on their behalf. And school professionals must be well trained to attend not only to the most routine mental health needs of its students but also to respond quickly and effectively to significant traumatic events. All this in addition to addressing demands to narrow the achievement gap, increase the rate of school success, and lower the dropout rate. Along with an introductory chapter that focuses on advancing school-based mental health practice and research, the __Handbook of School Mental Health__ addresses a broad range of issues, including how to: * Build and enhance collaborative approaches among the various individual, group, system, and agency stakeholders. * Ensure best practices are used in all systems of care; provide effective training for all professionals; introduce strength-based approaches to assessment in schools; and facilitate the implementation of evidence-based practices. * Prevent and effectively manage crises and violence in schools while addressing the unique ethical, cultural, and legal challenges of school mental health. This volume is an essential resource for the diverse coalition of school mental health staff and advocates including educators, social workers, school psychologists, school counselors and other professionals who work with and are concerned with the well-being of children. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction....Pages 1-7 History of School-Based Mental Health Services in the United States....Pages 11-22 Toward a Comprehensive Policy Vision for Mental Health in Schools....Pages 23-43 Effective Advocacy for School-Based Mental Health Programs....Pages 45-59 Mobilizing Research to Inform a School Mental Health Initiative....Pages 61-72 Overcoming the Challenges of Funding School Mental Health Programs....Pages 73-86 Mental Health in Schools....Pages 89-106 Enhancing Collaboration within and across Disciplines to Advance Mental Health Programs in Schools....Pages 107-118 The Community Schools Approach....Pages 119-133 Partnering with Families in Expanded School Mental Health Programs....Pages 135-148 System, Agency, and Stakeholder Collaboration to Advance Mental Health Programs in Schools....Pages 149-162 School-Based Mental Health Services in Urban Communities....Pages 165-178 The Mental Health for Immigrants Program....Pages 179-190 School-Based Mental Health on a United States Army Installation....Pages 191-202 Serving the Most Severe of Serious Emotionally Disturbed Students in School Settings....Pages 203-222 Children with Special Health Care Needs in School....Pages 223-235 School Mental Health in Systems of Care....Pages 239-256 Training for Effective Practice in the Schools....Pages 257-273 Continuous Quality Improvement and Evaluation of Expanded School Mental Health Programs....Pages 275-284 Strength-Based Approaches to Assessment in Schools....Pages 285-299 Facilitating the Implementation of Evidence-Based Prevention and Mental Health Promotion Efforts in Schools....Pages 301-318 Preventing and Addressing Crises and Violence-Related Problems in Schools....Pages 321-334 Achieving Generalization in School-Based Mental Health....Pages 335-348 Cultural Sensitivity, Relevance, and Competence in School Mental Health....Pages 349-362 Addressing Unique Ethical and Legal Challenges in Expanded School Mental Health....Pages 363-374 Back Matter....Pages 375-386 With so few therapeutic outlets readily available to young people, schools have evolved into mental health centers for many students. Yet schools are hampered by limited access to resources needed to provide mental health promotion, prevention, and intervention services. Like its acclaimed predecessor, the Second Edition of the Handbook of School Mental Health offers ways for professionals to maximize resources, make and strengthen valuable connections, and attain more effective school-based services and programming. At the same time, the Handbook provides strategies and recommendations in critical areas, such as workforce development, interdisciplinary collaborations, youth/family engagement, consultation, funding, and policy concerns, summarizes the state of current research, and offers directions for further study. Chapters model best practices for promoting wellness and safety, early detection of emotional and behavioral problems, and school-based interventions for students with anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other common challenges. In spotlighting this range of issues, the contributors have created a comprehensive game plan for advancing the field. Among the Handbook's topics: Pre-service training for school mental health clinicians. Cognitive-behavioral interventions for trauma in schools. Increasing parental engagement in school-based interventions. Models of psychiatric consultation to schools. Culturally competent behavioral and emotional screening. Bullying from a school mental health perspective. Prevention and intervention strategies related to a variety of mental health problems in schools. The Second Edition of the Handbook of School Mental Health is an essential reference for researchers, graduate students, and other professionals in child and school psychology, special and general education, public health, school nursing, occupational therapy, psychiatry, social work and counseling, educational policy, and family advocacy. Turn to this book for practical guidance in attending not only to routine mental health needs of students, but also in responding quickly and effectively to traumatic events. The authors discuss how to build and enhance collaborative approaches among the many stakeholders. You’ll learn how to ensure that best evidence-based practices are used in all systems of care. Next, the handbook introduces strength-based approaches to assessment in schools. Finally, the authors discuss the latest strategies to help you prevent and manage crises while addressing the unique ethical, cultural, and legal challenges of school mental health. Turn to this book for guidance in attending not only to routine mental health needs of students, but also in responding quickly and effectively to traumatic events. Throughout, the focus is on practical solutions to the issues facing school-based programs. This handbook attempts to capture the diverse and unique components of comprehensive mental health programs in schools within our nation.