Date of Award:

5-2015

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Educational Specialist (EdS)

Department:

Psychology

Advisor/Chair:

Donna Gilbertson

Abstract

As psychological well-being, or mental health, is a key factor to academic performance, schools are in a pivotal position to provide needed services to improve the well-being of individual students, parents, and teachers, as well as school-wide wellness. Research has shown positive outcomes related to psychological symptom reduction, but academic outcomes are less prevalent. Due to the increasing need for services, schoolbased mental health (SBMH) programs are being developed to combine the resources and expertise of SBMH professionals and community agency mental health professionals to serve these needs. In an effort toward developing a statewide Communities of Practice Model for the state of Utah, an internet survey was developed to identify the current practices that are being implemented with schools in Utah. This study explored the current and possible types of school based and community services within a multi-tier service system approach at each tier level (universal, at-risk, and intensive) delivered to elementary and secondary students, the outcomes expected to be impacted by these partnerships, and the barriers and key factors associated with effective program iv implementation. The sample included 32 school district respondents from 21 districts and 19 community agency respondents from 18 agencies throughout the state. Results revealed that 18 of the 21 districts are involved in a SBMH partnership implementing a broad range of collaborative activities, assessments and interventions that vary between tier levels. Specific practices, barriers, and implications for SBMH services and future research are discussed.

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