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National Center for School Mental Health

School Mental Health Quality Guides

These guides from the National Center for School Mental Health provide information to help school mental health systems advance the quality of their services and supports. There is a unique guide for each of the seven domains of the SMHQ Assessment: teaming, need assessment and resource mapping, screening, teaming, Tier 1, Tiers 2 and 3 (services and supports), funding and sustainability, and impact. Each guide contains background information on the domain, best practices, possible action steps, examples from the field, and resources.

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Advancing Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems: Guidance from the Field

Comprehensive school mental health systems provide an array of supports and services that promote positive school climate, social and emotional learning, and mental health and well-being, while reducing the prevalence and severity of mental illness. This 2019 guide from National Center for School Mental Health offers collective insight and guidance to local communities and states to advance comprehensive school mental health systems. Contents were informed by examination of national best practices and performance standards, local and state exemplars, and recommendations provided by federal/national, state, local and private leaders.

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Teaming Guide for School Mental Health

A school mental health team is a group of school and community stakeholders at the school-or district-level that meets regularly, uses data-based decision making, and relies on action planning to support student mental health. This guide contains background information on teaming, best practices, possible action steps, examples from the field, and resources.

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SHAPE System

The School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) System is a public-access, web-based platform that offers schools, districts, and states/territories a workspace and targeted resources to support school mental health quality improvement. SHAPE was developed by the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH), in partnership with the field, to increase the quality and sustainability of comprehensive school mental health systems.

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School Mental Health Quality Assessment

The School Mental Health Quality Assessment School Version (SMHQA-S) is designed for school teams to 1) assess the comprehensiveness of their school mental health system and 2) identify priority areas for improvement. The SMHQA-S covers seven domains of comprehensive school mental health, which includes a full continuum of supports for the wellbeing of students, families, and the school community.

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Memorandum of Understanding between School and Community Mental Health Provider

Use this sample Google doc to develop your own MOU with community mental health providers. The purpose of an MOU is to establish roles and responsibilities of the Parties to develop and implement a comprehensive school mental health system (CSMHS) that utilizes the strengths and expertise of school and community-partnered professionals. CSMHS are defined as school-community partnerships that provide a multi-tiered system of mental health supports (MTSS) to support students, families and the school community. “Mental health services” include activities, services and supports that address social, emotional and behavioral well-being of students, including substance use.

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CARE assessment (Culturally responsive, anti-racist, and equitable) tool

The CARE assessment (Culturally responsive, anti-racist, and equitable) tool meausres schools on these 5 domains of a CARE school are: (1) Teaming and Collaboration; (2) School Climate; (3) School Discipline; (4) Curricula and Teaching Practices; and (5) Professional Development.Each indicator includes a few ways schools may demonstrate success in each area. The included examples are not exhaustive but illustrative, and ratings in each domain can be used as a starting place for quality improvement initiatives. This assessment tool provides suggestions for action planning that can be tailored to meet your school’s needs using the resources in the SHAPE resource library.

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