Mental health, schools, and families working together: toward a shared agenda in Missouri

A Report of findings from the 2003 Missouri Focus Groups Discussions

Executive summary: introduction

In response to the critical needs of children in the State of Missouri, Governor Holden has identified healthy children succeeding in school as his top priority. In response, the Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) strategic plan identifies two objectives related to improving a school-linked mental health agenda: (1) to formalize a System of Care structure across the state, and (2) to address school-based prevention efforts. Similarly, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has identified several objectives to increase student success, including (1) to increase the percentage of students achieving the Show-Me Standards at targeted performance levels in the Missouri Assessment Program, and (2) to decrease the state's annual dropout rate. From a national perspective, both the DMH and DESE objectives complement the concepts and approaches articulated in the document Mental Health, Schools and Families Working Together for All Children and Youth: A Shared Agenda (2001). Produced by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Policy Partnership for Implementing IDEA at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, this concept paper outlines the need for a mental health agenda and an education agenda to be combined to create a joint or "shared" agenda that integrates programs and services and involves families at every level. Missouri was one of six states in the nation to receive a Shared Agenda seed grant, which provided DMH and DESE with the opportunity to engage stakeholders in a series of critical discussions as a first step to the creation of a shared agenda.

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to the parents, mental health providers and local educators that participated in the Missouri focus groups for their honest and forthright opinions and thoughts on the concept paper titled Mental Health, Schools and Families Working Together for All Children and Youth: Toward a Shared Agenda.

Additional thanks to the members of the planning committee, whose efforts were critical to the success of the project. Committee members included:

Dolores Armstrong
Diana Biere
Robyn Boustead
Connie Cahalan
Donna Evert
Rhonda Flynn
Melodie Friedebach
John Harper
C. J. Hubbard
Janet Jacoby
James Koller
Eric Lowder
Ed Morris
Mark Shields
Karen Weston
Charles Williams

A special thanks to Bill Elder, Ph.D., and Barbara Williamson, Ph.D., of the University of Missouri for the time devoted to ensuring the integrity of both the management and analysis of the focus group discussions.

This report was prepared by James R. Koller, Ph.D., Karen J. Weston, Ph.D., Julie Hill, M.Ed., and Brie Cable, B.A., of the Center for the Advancement of Mental Health Practices in Schools at the University of Missouri.

The publication of the report and costs associated with the Shared Agenda Project were supported by a grant to the Missouri Department of Mental Health from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE).

Updated 11/30/07