The National Community of Practice on School Mental Health

Visit the website for the National Community of Practice at www.sharedwork.org

A community of practice is a group of people who voluntarily come together because they care deeply about the same issue and they agree to interact routinely to improve practice around that issue.  Issues have many dimensions.  When people begin to work together, they find that there are particular pieces of an issue that strongly coincide with their work, career, and personal goals.  When this happens those individuals with similar interests can form practice groups within the community.  The community and its practice groups work together.  The community keeps the practice groups focused on the larger issue.  The practice groups keep the community focused on all the pieces of the problem. 

The IDEA Partnership and the Center for School Mental Health have helped to build and are providing ongoing support to a National Community of Practice that includes federal agencies, federal technical assistance providers, national organizations and state agencies.  The community includes decision-makers, practitioners and consumers.  It includes representatives from mental health, general education, special education, and family organizations.  This community is growing and is inviting new people to become involved!

The focus of the national community is bridging the differences across education and mental health to support youth.  To pursue that work with our partners in the community, 10 practice groups have been created.  The practice groups are: 

1. Education:  An Essential Component of Systems of Care
2. Connecting School Mental Health and Positive Behavior Supports
3. Learning the Language:  Promoting Effective Ways for Interdisciplinary Collaboration
4. Child Welfare and School Mental Health
5. Family-School-Community Partnerships
6. Improving School Mental Health for Youth with Disabilities
7. Mental Health-Education Training and Workforce
8. Connecting School Mental Health with Juvenile Justice and Dropout Prevention
9. Quality and Evidence-Based Practice
10. Youth Involvement and Leadership

Please see the Community of Practice guide entitled A New Approach to Solving Complex Educational Problems, which provides an overview of the Communities of Practice approach that the IDEA Partnership has developed in the field of special education.

If you would like to become involved with one of the practice groups in the National Community of Practice on School Mental Health, visit the website for the National Community of Practice at www.sharedwork.org or contact Mariola Rosser, of the IDEA Partnership at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, at (703) 519-3800 or by email at mariola.rosser@nasdse.org.