Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) one of seven sites in U.S. to present innovative school mental health services model at national conference in Chicago

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Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) is one of seven schools/district sites in the United States selected to present its innovative school mental health services model at the National Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Leadership Forum in October, 2012, in Chicago, Ill.

The leadership conference represents a collaborative effort between the Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP) TA center for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS); the Center for School Mental Health; and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) partnership. These organizations are bringing together national level experts in the areas of school mental health and PBIS, and state and district leaders from exemplar sites that are currently implementing special initiatives, to share innovative practices that are improving mental health services for students. The forum is designed to inform the development of a national school mental health monograph for researchers and policy makers that will support and influence improving mental health systems of care for all students.

MCPS received a $393,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education in fall 2011 that is supporting the implementation of the Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI) into all MCPS elementary, middle and high schools. Grant funding has been used to hire an additional school counselor and two social workers to enhance student services; and create behavioral and prevention programs to better assist disadvantaged students across the district. MCPS will present a summary of these grant activities (to date) including outcome data and innovative practices at the Chicago forum.

The focus of the counseling grant is to bridge the gap from research to practice. The district’s goal is to become a host environment where community mental health agencies can provide evidence- based interventions efficiently and effectively. Carol Ewen, Response to Intervention specialist and grant director, said MCPS is co–training school and agency staff to "create common language and practices" when serving students.

"Agencies develop interventions that support student learning and fit into school cultures, and schools are trained in effective mental health interventions and support intervention work in the classroom," she said. "We are also developing proactive systems to prevent mental health problems before they begin by training teachers to identify early warning signs in students."

MCPS is leading the development of a community advisory board that provides guidance to developing effective practices and identifies how Missoula community agencies and schools can share resources and training.

"Much of our focus is on prevention so kids stay in the classroom and learn. By creating positive school climates for all kids, mental health staff can do a better job working with individual students who might have more challenges," Ewen said.

MBI is a statewide initiative that assists educators, parents and other community members in developing the attitudes, skills and support systems that are necessary to ensure that each student, regardless of his/her ability or disability, leaves public education and enters the community with social and academic competence. MBI is based on the "positive behavior interventions and supports" model, which integrates a range of intervention strategies that are designed to prevent students’ problem behaviors while teaching them "socially appropriate" alternative behaviors. The initiative is supported by the Montana Office of Public Instruction.

For more information, contact Ewen at 728-2400, ext. 1053 or at [email protected].