Our Community, Our Schools: A Case Study of Program Design for School-Based Mental Health Services:

Schools face increasing demands to support the mental health needs of students and families; some estimate that 80 percent of students receive mental health services at school. Thus, schools face two daunting challenges: (1) to provide effective mental health support to students and (2) to address how mental health needs affect other students, teachers, and academic priorities. This article presents a case study of collaborative program design and implementation with the intent to improve clinicians’ ability to provide mental health services in a school setting, and to expand the role of clinicians to support school staff and others in the school community. Staff from a community mental health clinic collaborated with school personnel (teachers, counselors, and administrators) to design a school-based program that would enhance the provision of mental health services and help to promote a mentally healthy school community. School-based therapists provided direct services regardless of clients’ ability to pay or insurance coverage and reported that school personnel were interested in and supportive of ongoing consultation and collaboration regarding the mental health needs of students and families.