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Closing the gap in school mental health: A community‐centered model for school psychology
Author(s) -
Splett Joni Williams,
Maras Melissa A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/pits.20561
Subject(s) - mental health , closing (real estate) , school psychology , psychology , best practice , evidence based practice , process (computing) , medical education , professional development , applied psychology , pedagogy , public relations , medicine , psychiatry , political science , alternative medicine , pathology , computer science , law , operating system
Abstract Disciplines involved in the development and/or provision of services in school mental health have recognized the promise of evidence‐based practices in meeting the growing unmet mental health needs of children, adolescents, and families in this country. As a result, School Psychology has strongly emphasized the development and dissemination of evidence‐based practices through professional development opportunities and published literature. Despite these efforts, evidence‐based practices are not implemented as widely or as effectively as intended. This article describes a community‐centered (CC) model for closing the research‐to‐practice gap in school mental health. CC models emphasize both adopting new practices successfully and improving existing practices through a process of planning, implementation, and evaluation, and an exemplar framework based in a CC model is presented and applied to school mental health. The role of school psychologists in leading schools to adopt CC models is discussed, and next steps for changes to training, practice, and research paradigms are presented. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.