Training for Effective Practice in the Schools

Abstract

Reforms in health care and education have highlighted the value of schools as a setting for the delivery of intervention and prevention services for children with or at risk for mental health problems. These reforms have focused attention on the resources of the school for coordinating mental health services to reduce the fragmentation that exists among systems in the community. Further, the key role that schools can serve in preventing mental disorders and promoting health for all children has been emphasized in the literature. The intent of this chapter is to offer broad guidelines and to outline core domains of training that need to be addressed to prepare mental health professionals to become scientist-practitioners in schools. Guidelines for training are derived from the eight priorities for the future outlined in the Surgeon General's recent report on mental health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). These guidelines are then used to specify core domains of training and specific competencies that should be addressed in a comprehensive training program. A model program based in a doctoral-level school psychology training program is described to illustrate how a set of didactic and practicum training experiences can be integrated to address these guidelines. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)