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Symposia
Child / Adolescent - School-Related Issues
Andrew Orapallo, Ph.D.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Jami Young, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Professor
Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Katherine Kellom, BA
Director of Qualitative Research Core
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Diya Nag, MPH, CHES
Clinical Research Coordinator
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Lanelle Quzack, MSW, LSW
Clinical Research Coordinator
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Sara Christianson, M.A., M.S.
Assistant Director of Teaching & Learning
Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Morton, Pennsylvania, United States
Aviele Koffler, PhD
Program Administrator of Mental Health Services
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit
Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States
Siobhan Leavy, Ed.D.
Director of Student Services
Chester County Intermediate Unit
Downingtown, Pennsylvania, United States
Brittany Lourea-Waddell, PhD
Director of Student Services and ExplorationsPHP Director of treatment
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit
Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States
Kimberly Mecca, M.A., Ed.S.
Assistant Director for Student Services
Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Morton, Pennsylvania, United States
John Reid, M.Ed.
Assistant to the Executive Director for Student Services
Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Morton, Pennsylvania, United States
Gwendolyn Lawson, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Faculty Member
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Schools are a key setting for the delivery of evidence-based prevention and early intervention programming to support student mental health, particularly for marginalized and minoritized youth (Lyon et al., 2013). However, there are substantial implementation challenges in this setting (Eiraldi et al., 2015). It is critical to engage school and district partners to ensure that efforts to support internal mental health programming align with local needs and priorities. We conducted a mixed-method needs assessment across 44 diverse school districts (ranging from 15% to 98% minoritized student population) in three southeastern Pennsylvania counties to contextualize key needs and priorities for student mental health, identify existing prevention and early intervention programs offered in schools, and elucidate implementation barriers and facilitators.
We used a sequential mixed-method approach. First, school district leaders (n = 35) completed a survey regarding their priorities for student mental health and existing programming. Then, district leaders (n =12) and school staff (e.g., administrators, teachers, mental health support staff; n = 27) participated in semi-structured interviews regarding needs, priorities, and implementation barriers and facilitators. Survey data were analyzed descriptively, and qualitative interviews were analyzed using an integrated inductive and deductive approach. Survey and interview data were integrated with qualitative results expanding on quantitative results.
Across quantitative survey and qualitative interview results, describing the most pressing student mental health needs, participants identified anxiety, emotional and behavioral dysregulation, and navigating social relationships. Although several prevention and early intervention programs are currently being implemented, participants described several barriers to successful implementation. Salient themes included a desire for more resources, training, and technical assistance to implement programs with fidelity; the importance of gaining buy-in from school staff; and the desire to sustain programs more effectively over time.
With schools increasingly becoming an access point for delivery of mental health services, particularly for minoritized youth, these findings emphasize the complex challenges that schools face in supporting student mental health. We will discuss implications for engaging district and school leaders in efforts to support mental health prevention and early intervention programming.