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Report Points Way to School Success for Children with Mental Health NeedsDocuments Integration of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support with Mental Health
The report and a companion folder with six fact sheets are titled Way to Go: School Success for Children with Mental Health Care Needs.Together they document how states and school districts have successfully combined school-wide positive behavior support (PBS) with effective mental health services to foster a school environment that is conducive to learning and improves children’s lives. The value of school-wide PBS integrated with mental health, the Bazelon Center points out, lies in its three-tiered approach. Eighty percent of students fall into the first tier. For them, school-wide PBS creates “a social environment that reinforces positive behavior and discourages unacceptable behaviors.” A second tier of students benefits from some additional services, often provided in coordination with coordination with the mental health system. This, the report notes, makes it “easier to identify students who require early intervention to keep problem behaviors from becoming habitual” and to provide that intervention. Finally, tier-three students, who have the most severe behavioral-support needs, can be provided intensive services through partnerships between the school, the mental health system, other child-serving agencies and the child’s family. In a project supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Bazelon Center interviewed policymakers, educators and mental health administrators in a number of states and visited PBS school/mental health initiatives in six: Illinois, Maryland, Montana, New Hampshire, New York and Texas. The report reflects the Bazelon Center’s conclusions based on these interviews and site visits, and on recommendations by experts and families. It spells out policy steps for state, local and federal governments, with information about potential funding sources for a PBS school/mental health initiative. Way to Go concludes that the PBS/mental health collaboration “has produced excellent results and won widespread support among stakeholders—school and mental health professionals, parents and youth, support staff and community members. It is affordable, cost-efficient and effective in creating school environments that are safer, more respectful and better suited to learning.” The report and fact sheets may be purchased through the Bazelon Center’s online bookstore at www.bazelon.org or ordered from the Publications Desk at the Bazelon Center, 1101 15th Street NW, Suite 1212, Washington DC 20005; fax 202-223-0409; pubs@bazelon.org. The cost of the 130-page report is $25 plus shipping and handling and for the pocket folder with six four-page fact sheets, $10 plus shipping; both together may be ordered for $29 plus shipping (if billing is requested, add $4.50 administrative surcharge). Bulk discounts are available for orders of 20 copies or more to the same address. The Bazelon Center has also produced two checklists for use by advocates working to encourage states and school districts to undertake PBS/mental health initiatives. They may be downloaded as PDF files from www.bazelon.org/issues/education. #
Media may request a review copy. The Bazelon Center is the leading national legal-advocacy organization representing children and adults with mental disabilities |
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June 7, 2006— “Way to Go—praise for a child and a roadmap for policymakers” is the opening sentence of a report issued today by the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law that lays out a new direction for child mental health systems linked to a new movement in education.
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