A Cross-Walk of Professional Competencies Involved in Expanded School Mental Health: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs often involve individuals from a variety of professions working together to address student needs evident across school, family, and community systems. Professiondriven differences in philosophies, expectations regarding confidentiality, and graduate training that reinforces isolated rather than interprofessional approaches to working with students, however, represent real challenges to maximizing the potential of ESMH. To address these issues, this exploratory study identified a common set of competencies to support interprofessional practice in ESMH. A total of 51 competencies were identified across seven theme areas, including: (1) Key Policies and Laws; (2) Interprofessional Collaboration; (3) Cross-Systems Collaboration; (4) Provision of Academic, Social-Emotional, and Behavioral Learning Supports; (5) Data-Driven Decision-Making; (6) Personal and Professional Growth and Well-Being; and, (7) Cultural Competence. Mapping of the competencies to existing accreditation and practice standards for selected professions revealed shared and unique competencies. Implications for workforce development and future research are offered.

The Critical Role of School Psychology in the School Mental Health Movement

“…Several professionals, such as school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, school nurses, and special education teachers, play a critical role in delivering SMH services (Mellin, Anderson-Butcher, & Bronstein, 2011). Generally, each of these professionals has the sound training and experiences needed to deliver quality SMH services and work collaboratively across disciplines (Ball, Anderson-Butcher, Mellin, & Green, 2010). Working collaboratively is important because it is clear that not one discipline can individually address the multifaceted mental health barriers to student learning.…”

Validating a Competency-Based HIT Curriculum in a BHA and MHA Program Through the Voice of the Customer

“…The HIT course in both bachelor's in health administration (BHA) and master's in health administration (MHA) programs in our school are designed around AUPHA and CAHME competencies, respectively. In line with best practices (Ball, Anderson-Butcher, Mellin, Green, 2010), our school performs a biannual crosswalk of all AUPHA and CAHME competencies based on courses offered to ensure all competencies are addressed. This is a practice that ensures all competencies upon which the program claims it is based, are integrated into specific courses, taught through deliberately worded learning objectives.…”

Preventive Mental Health at School

“…For example, there are differences in philosophy, confi dentiality considerations, training, knowledge bases, professional backgrounds, and work contingencies such as fee-forservice billing (Ball, Anderson-Butcher, Mellin, & Green, 2010 ;Mellin & Weist, 2011 ). A study by Kelly et al ( 2010 ) determined that a group of social workers used a clinical casework orientation and their choices in practice had not changed in the past 10 years.…”