Enhancing Mental Health Services in CMS

1. Enhancing Mental Health Services in CMS • The School-Based Mental Health Program • Cotrane Penn, Ph.D • Student Services Department

2. Current State of Mental Health Services in CMS • School Counselors • 1 per elementary school • 2 – 3 per middle school • 1 for approximately 400 high school students • School Psychologists – one for 2 to 3 schools • Social Workers – 44 assigned to high needs schools • Substance Abuse Counselors- 3 in CMS • Mental Health Therapists – 2 agencies serving 30 schools

3. Current State of Mental Health Services in CMS • Mental Health Agency Services • Concentrated in Title I Schools • Primarily serve Medicaid-eligible students • Primarily serve elementary schools

4. The Future State of Mental Health Services in CMS • CMS holds consistent expectations across agencies • Agency work in CMS is contingency-based • Students served based on need, not ability to pay • True collaborative relationship between district, schools, and agencies • Expanded continuum of care available in all CMS schools

5. The CMS Vision for School-Based Mental Health Services • To increase the availability of evidence-based mental health services for the purpose of improving student’s emotional well-being and enhancing their ability to access and benefit from instruction.

6. Mental Health Goal Strands

7. Increase the Availability of Services • Increase the number of agencies serving CMS schools • Increase the number of schools receiving agency services • Eliminate barriers that prevent students from accessing agency services

8. Mental Health Services Available • District mental health staff: Short-term individual and group counseling, limited long-term individual counseling • Mental health agencies: Psychological evaluations, intensive outpatient therapy, family therapy, intensive in-home services, medication management

10. Access Instruction • Formal monitoring of overall student attendance pre- and post- therapy • Formal monitoring of out-of-school suspensions and in-school suspensions pre- and post- therapy

11. Improved Well-Being • All agencies use the same assessment of student behavior pre- and post- services • BASC-2 Online • Streamlines therapy goal development • Allows for teacher rating of student internalizing and externalizing behaviors • Allows CMS to see typical improvement rates and better understand agency efficacy

12. Benefit from Instruction • Formal monitoring of short-term & long-term achievement growth pre- and post- therapy

13. Authorized School-Based Agencies • The New Providers • Family First Community Services • Mélange Health Solutions • The Continuing Providers • Carolinas Healthcare System • Thompson Child and Family Focus

14. Agency Assignments • Posted on SBMH program website • Questions? cotrane.penn@cms.k12.nc.us • One agency per school model • Based on a number of factors, none school-specific • Goal is to develop consistent practice and quality of care across agencies and school

15. Program Element Highlights

16. Agency Responsibilities • Provide master’s level clinicians • Regular, schedule-based presence at schools • Work collaboratively with teachers and staff • Attend individual student meetings • Maintain contact with student and school when student placed in a facility • Provide consultation and education to school staff

17. School Responsibilities • Support and promote provision of agency services • Work collaboratively with agency staff • Invite agency staff to pertinent planning and intervention meetings • Obtain parent permission for agency presence at student meetings • Conduct regular review meetings to get status and progress updates on agency students • Designate a point person to manage agency protocol within the school

18. Collaborative Responsibilities • Ensure access to services for all students in need • Use a “warm hand-off” for parent permission • Crisis intervention for agency clients • Bi-directional sharing of information • Shared school behavior goals

19. The SBMH “Soft Start”

20. Requesting SBMH Services • Google Forms will be used to make requests • It is a secured site • Any student who will be referred for agency services needs a request submitted • Only the designated CMS staff can make requests • Authorization is needed for service oversight and budget management • The Soft Start Referral process steps

21. Orienting the Agency Therapist • Introduce therapist to critical staff • Administrators • Secretaries • Student Services Staff & EC staff • Share school-specific norms • Sign-in/sign-out expectations • Classroom visit norms • Staff arrival/departure times

22. Orienting the Agency Therapist cont. • Special tips • Staff dress code • Tour of school & provide school map • Help therapist understand various schedules • Elementary grade level/classroom • Middle & High school S1/S2 & A-day/B-day schedules • Testing calendars and related restrictions • How to schedule meeting space

23. The SBMH Fall 2014 “Hard Start”

24. What will be done before the “hard start” in the fall? • Comprehensive training of agency staff on: • School staff roles and responsibilities • School-based team processes • Referral to services process • Agency responsibilities in the school setting • Interacting with clients in the school setting

25. Preparing for the “hard start” cont. • Working in educational settings (general overview of school practices, procedures, and the day-to-day work of schools, importance of the master schedule)* • Agency effectiveness review process • Agency entry plan development*- present entry plan concept to agencies • Acquire and train on BASC-2 usage • Meet with all school leaders to address Q & As

26. School-Based Mental Health Therapy as an RtI Intervention • All students receiving school-based mental health services are considered to be in tier 2 or 3 of the district’s RtI model • Placing a student at tier 2 or 3 denotes that he or she is at-risk and requires additional school-based behavioral supports • Starting in the Fall of 2014, the regular education intervention process guidelines will apply to SBMH Program services

27. Agency Contact Information