This session is designed for local education agencies/school districts engaged in school mental health initiatives that provide students and families service referrals. The information will also be relevant to state education agencies seeking to advance policies and procedures that ensure a full spectrum of services are accessible to meet student and family wellness needs.
Learning Objectives
Participants who join this session will be able to:
1. Understand and articulate the value of ongoing investment in effective school mental health referral pathways.
2. Leverage best practices to build and refine pathways linking schools, providers, students, and families to support student mental health.
3. Select and apply easy-to-implement tools and templates that improve school mental health referral pathways.
Session overview
What level of need warrants referral to an outside provider? Does your team have a communication procedure for a student’s supported re-entry to campus? Are the school mental health providers you work with timely in their intake of students after they have received a referral? This session outlines the benefits off effective school mental health referral pathways. After reviewing best practices, you will be able to improve the consistency and efficiency with which your students are connected to appropriate levels of mental health support. Given the dynamic nature of schools and service agencies, establishing and maintaining good methods of contact and tracking requires regular attention. This session will also provide tools and templates to strengthen your referral pathways, and it will explain how these tools and templates can be adapted to the circumstances and culture of your school system.
