Policy Leadership Cadre
for Mental Health in Schools

PURPOSE:
To expand, link, and build the capacity of the pool of persons who provide policy leadership for MH in schools at national, state, regional, and local levels. Such leadership includes a policy focus on promoting social-emotional development and preventing psychosocial and MH problems, as well as policies related to treatment of mental illness.

WHO PARTICIPATES?

Any individual willing to play a leadership role in (a) keeping up-to-date with respect to policy for MH in schools and (b) helping to inform, mobilize, support, and enhance the capability of others.
Current Work

Latest Update

As this update indicates, work related to the Cadre interests currently is focusing on:

Continued Work Related to the Recommendations of the President's New Freedom Commission on MH
The members of the Cadre have been involved in tasks aimed at moving policy for MH in schools forward by helping influence SAMHSA's planning and providing input on the Center's efforts to produce related resources.
(see the documents at http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/aboutmh/presmh.html)

Cadre Developed Guidelines for Mental Health in Schools

A field-defining resource and reference work

Mental Health in Schools: Guidelines, Models, Resources & Policy Considerations

The Cadre developed this field defining resource and reference work which is available on-line and in hard copy.

It is designed to address national policy and practice concerns about what mental health (MH) in schools is, is not, and should be.

Major topics covered include:

  • definitional concerns
  • the rationale for mental health in schools
  • a set of guidelines to clarify the nature and scope of a comprehensive, multifaceted approach
  • the ways in which mental health and psychosocial concerns currently are addressed in schools
  • advancing the field.

To enhance the document's resource value for policy and capacity building, a variety of supportive documents and sources for materials, technical assistance, and training are provided.

As is widely recognized, there is a tendency to discuss mental health mainly in terms of mental illness, disorders, or problems. This de facto definition has led school policy makers to focus primarily on concerns about emotional disturbance, violence, and substance abuse and to deemphasize the school's role in the positive development of social and emotional functioning. This document redresses this tendency by stressing a comprehensive, multifaceted orientation to MH in schools and operationalizing this perspective into a set of specific guidelines.

Click here to download/view the complete report in pdf format. To download/view a copy of the executive summary, click here. Hard copies of the document are also available from the Center for a slight fee to cover copying and mailng costs. The executive summary of the report is available at no charge.

To download a copy of the Next Steps for the Cadre response sheet, click here.

Sign-Up
Click here if you would like to be a part of the Policy Leadership Cadre

Current Members
Click here if you would like to see who is in our Policy Leadership Cadre

About the Analysis of Legislation

Mental Health in Schools and Addressing Barriers to Learning and Teaching -
Legislation Analyses: Proposed Frameworks

The Center's staff has begun gathering information on legislation relevant to mental health in schools. Of interest is all legislation, enacted and proposed, that focuses (a) specifically on mental health in schools and (b) more generally on addressing barriers to learning and teaching in major ways that can affect mental health in schools. As something that seems relevant is identified, it is being added to a growing Quick Find in our Online Clearinghouse – See http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/qf/legislation.html

In connection with the Center's first Policy Leadership Institute, the Center staff is about to embark on analyses of the legislation that has been identified. We will ask for guidance and feedback from the Cadre at each step and will provide products for use by the Cadre and others in advancing policy for mental health in schools. Click here for some initial information about this. A feedback form also is attached for your input on the proposed work.

Related Initiative
Those interested in the work of the Cadre will also find the work of the Coalition for Cohesive Policy in Addressing Barriers to Development and Learning of interest. Click here for more information and an update on the work of that group.

Background

Background Statement

Reports from the Meetings that Established the Cadre

View & download the May, 2000 report from the two regional Conferences on: Policy Leadership Cadre for Mental Health in Schools in PDF form (40 pages).

View & download the July 1999, Report from the Mini-Summit: Expanding Policy Leadership for Mental Health in Schools in PDF form. (36 pages)


You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0 or higher. Click here to download.
If you are unable to download the document please contact us. We can send you a copy by mail.

Table of Contents

Home Page

Search

Send Us Email
This page is hosted by
School Mental Health Project-UCLA
Center for Mental Health in Schools
WebMaster: Perry Nelson (smhp@ucla.edu)