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7 - Comprehensive Evaluation of a Rural School Mental Health Program

from Part II - Research, Assessment, and Program Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

By
Samantha N. Hartley ,
Melissa Strompolis ,
Courtnie Collins ,
W. Joshua Bradley ,
Darien M. Collins ,
Patrick M. Bresnan  and
Mark D. Weist
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Long Island University, New York
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Summary

Promoting youth resilience and well-being in vulnerable rural populations requires a coordinated approach that builds connections between schools, families, community resources, and school mental health clinicians. Emphasizing a community psychology and ecological systems approach, this chapter describes how one school–community–university partnership improved school mental health (SMH) programming and reduced the impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in eight rural South Carolina elementary schools. This approach included delivering a continuum of evidence-based SMH services, helping families navigate community resources to address concrete needs that would otherwise function as barriers to student well-being and achievement, building community-level ACE awareness and capacity for resiliency promotion, and conducting a thorough mixed-methods evaluation to highlight program achievements and areas for improvement. Information on the nature and outcomes of the project and strategies for conducting rich evaluations for similar regional programs are presented. Finally, a new model – the Empower Action Model – for organizations interested in developing a functional, coordinated plan of action for improving equity, health, and well-being in their communities is introduced.

Keywords

School mental healthadverse childhood experiencescommunity psychologyecological approachschool–community–university partnershipEmpower Action Model
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology
Interdisciplinary and Contextual Perspectives
 , pp. 137 - 160
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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