Reaching Our Neediest Children: Bringing a Mental Health Program into the Schools: A Guide to Program Implementation

Copyright © 2016 Jennifer Crumpley, LCSW-R, Penelope Moore, DSW, LCSW-R

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-0532-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0531-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-0530-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016913823

iUniverse rev. date: 09/28/2016

Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1 Who Are Our Neediest Children?

Chapter 2 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Planning Prior to Introducing a Mental Health Program Into the Public School Setting?

Chapter 3 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About the Roles of Relevant School Personnel Upon Entering the School?

Chapter 4 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Day-to-Day Program Operations in Order to Sustain the Program?

Chapter 5 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About the Annual Start-Up of the New School Year?

Chapter 6 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Identifying Students Who Will Receive Program Services?

Chapter 7 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Counseling Students in the Program?

Chapter 8 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Confidentiality and Informed Consent?

Chapter 9 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Assessment and Intervention?

Chapter 10 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Supervising a School-Based Mental Health Worker?

Chapter 11 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Supervising Social Work, Psychology, and Mental Health Counseling Interns?

Chapter 12 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Staff Turnover?

Chapter 13 What Does a Mental Health Professional Need to Know About Summer Activities?

Conclusion

Appendices

References

Acknowledgments

O ur heartfelt appreciation to those who read through our manuscript:

Cheryl A. Basch, Ed.D., for her wisdom and helpful recommendations.

Mildred Antonelli, Ph.D., for her astute observations and support.

To Patricia Leff, MD, a child psychiatrist who devoted herself to improving the emotional well-being of children, in the belief that layers of noxious social, emotional, and physical factors conspire against children and rob children of hope

Foreword

Reaching Our Neediest Children: Bringing a Mental Health Program Into the Schools

T he fundamental role of public schools is to provide children with the education they need to become productive and informed members of society. Ensuring that teachers are well equipped to teach and that standards are in place for schools to be held accountable are necessary ingredients to ensure positive outcomes, but they are only part of what children require in order to learn.

Children do not come to school as blank slates, simply ready to open up to the lessons and subjects that are intended for them. From the earliest grades through high school, life experiences are always present, and many of these experiences are daunting. If our educational systems are going to succeed, the whole child must be considered.

In November 2015, the mayor of New York City released The NYC Mental Health Roadmap, which includes data on children in public schools. As it points out, 18 % of children through age 18 experience multiple adverse events in their lives that can seriously impact well-being. The report also notes that over 25 % of all high school students experience difficult emotions, including a sense of hopelessness. While the report notes that these are factors that may predict mental illness later in life, these factors reflect the burdens that can be impediments to learning (https://thrivenyc.cityofnewyork.us/).

It makes sense to invest in mental health services in public schools. Having the capacity to address the emotional and situational issues children live with can make an enormous difference, and we have seen this benefit over the years through the work of school social workers and other mental health professionals. Their stories reflect success, time and again, across all grades.

However, mental health services will not be effective without truly thoughtful and clear understanding of public schools as the complex social systems that they are. Teachers, principals, and other school personnel have enormous responsibilities in the fast-paced, often