The National Center for Rural Mental Health (2019-Present)

The Nation­al Cen­ter for Rur­al School Men­tal Health (NCRSMH) is an Insti­tute of Edu­ca­tion Sci­ences (IES) fund­ed project that includes the states of Mis­souri, Vir­ginia, and Mon­tana and the over­all aim of the study is to iden­ti­fy, pre­vent, and inter­vene in rur­al youth men­tal health con­cerns. Due to the scarci­ty of resources and geo­graph­ic iso­la­tion of rur­al areas, it is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant to address the men­tal health for these youth and their families. 

NCRSMH’s Purpose:

IDENTIFY. PREVENT. INTERVENE

In part­ner­ship with rur­al schools, NCRSMH will devel­op a com­pre­hen­sive set of teacher and stu­dent sur­veys, tools, inter­ven­tions, and pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment mate­ri­als to help iden­ti­fy, pre­vent, and inter­vene in men­tal health con­cerns among students.

In par­tic­u­lar, the NCRSMH project will val­i­date and enhance the Ear­ly Iden­ti­fi­ca­tion Sys­tem (EIS) which includes:

• an online youth men­tal health risk screen­ing tool
• a dash­board sys­tem for schools to review and use the data to select evi­dence-based inter­ven­tions (EBIs) matched to each prob­lem area iden­ti­fied by the screener
• out­come and fideli­ty mon­i­tor­ing tools

Teacher Stress and Coping (2019-Present)

Step: Supporting Teachers in Engaging Parents (2019-Present) 

Sup­port­ing Teach­ers in Engag­ing Par­ents (STEP) is cur­rent­ly sup­port­ed by an ear­ly career research award from the Soci­ety for the Study of School Psy­chol­o­gy (SSSP) and a Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­souri Research Coun­cil grant. STEP is a teacher train­ing cur­ricu­lum and coach­ing mod­el focused on prepar­ing teach­ers to effec­tive­ly engage and col­lab­o­rate with families. 

STEP Purpose:

To devel­op, refine, and test the STEP mod­el using an iter­a­tive process. This will be done via focus groups and inter­views with par­ents, teach­ers, and researchers, fol­lowed by pilot test­ing of the STEP mod­el in ele­men­tary schools.

DISCO: Teacher Classroom Management Training (2018-Present)

ECP: Culturally Responsive Practices (2018-Present)

Explor­ing Cul­tur­al Prac­tices (ECP) is an Insti­tute of Edu­ca­tion Sci­ences (IES) fund­ed, mul­ti­level project study­ing the indi­ca­tors of cul­tur­al­ly respon­sive prac­tices (CRPs) in class­rooms with­in school dis­tricts in Mis­souri and Mary­land. The glob­al objec­tive of this study is to use explorato­ry, the­o­ry-dri­ven data to address edu­ca­tion­al dis­par­i­ties among stu­dents of mar­gin­al­ized cul­tur­al, racial, or eth­nic backgrounds. 

The ECP project aims to con­firm and refine indi­ca­tors of CRPs via:

• focus groups
• teacher and stu­dent surveys
• direct obser­va­tion tools

The over­all goal of the ECP project is to devel­op, refine, and eval­u­ate a the­o­ry of change link­ing these mal­leable indi­ca­tors of CRPs with stu­dent aca­d­e­m­ic and behav­ioral outcomes.

Start: Principle Training and School Climate (2017-Present)

Mental Health Stigma Reduction: Look Around Boone (2016-Present)

The Look Around Boone (LAB) cam­paign is a com­mu­ni­ty-wide par­tic­i­pa­to­ry effort to cre­ate a social mes­sag­ing brand with the goal of reduc­ing stig­ma and increas­ing aware­ness and help-seek­ing for men­tal health-relat­ed con­cerns among Boone Coun­ty youth and fam­i­lies.  Based on a com­mu­ni­ty health assess­ment devel­oped uti­liz­ing the Cen­ters for Dis­ease Con­trol and Prevention’s Mobi­liz­ing for Action through Plan­ning and Part­ner­ships Mod­el, the county’s 2014–2018 com­mu­ni­ty health improve­ment plan iden­ti­fied youth behav­ioral health as a top pri­or­i­ty and the LAB cam­paign emerged as a key strategy. 

The LAB cam­paign con­tent was devel­oped in part­ner­ship with lead­ers from schools, com­mu­ni­ty men­tal health providers, pub­lic health offi­cials, researchers and col­lege stu­dents. Lat­er, as the con­tent was rolled into the com­mu­ni­ty, the LAB mes­sag­ing was pro­mot­ed through school-based pro­grams and com­mu­ni­ty efforts.

School-Based:

• posters
• art con­tests
• coun­sel­ing curricula
• writ­ten com­mu­ni­ca­tions with edu­ca­tors and parents/caregivers

Com­mu­ni­ty Efforts: 

• social media
• movie the­ater previews

STARS: Self-Monitoring Training Program for Students (2015-Present)/SMARTS (2020-Present)

SMARTS

An exten­sion to this study was fund­ed in 2019 fol­low­ing-up on the stu­dents who par­tic­i­pat­ed in the STARS inter­ven­tion who are now in 7^th or 9^th  grades. The pri­ma­ry goal of this exten­sion is to exam­ine the long-term impact of the STARS inter­ven­tion on stu­dent social, emo­tion­al, and behav­ioral func­tion­ing. By con­duct­ing inter­views and behav­ioral obser­va­tions, this goal is fur­thered by exam­in­ing dif­fer­ences in all orig­i­nal study out­comes, for instance, aca­d­e­mics, changes in auton­o­my, and engage­ment. Addi­tion­al­ly, this fol­low-up includes oth­er devel­op­men­tal risk fac­tor ques­tions that are of con­cern as youth grow into ado­les­cent and teens such as vio­lence and aggres­sion, use of alco­hol, tobac­co, and oth­er drugs

Boone County School Mental Health Coalition (2015-Present)

The Boone Coun­ty Schools Men­tal Health Coali­tion (BCSMHC) is a mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary col­lab­o­ra­tive study, fund­ed by the Boone Coun­ty Children’s Ser­vices Fund. It is con­duct­ed among Boone County’s six inde­pen­dent school dis­tricts, sev­er­al pri­vate schools, and the Mis­souri Pre­ven­tion Sci­ence Insti­tute (MPSI) at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mis­souri. Fund­ed by Boone Coun­ty tax, BCSMHC pro­vides a com­pre­hen­sive sys­tem for school-based men­tal health ser­vices includ­ing iden­ti­fi­ca­tion, pre­ven­tion, and intervention. 

BSCMHC’s  overall goal:

The imple­men­ta­tion of a coun­ty-wide assess­ment sys­tem to gath­er data on risk fac­tors that are pre­dic­tive of poor school, men­tal health, and life out­comes, and using these data to guide the imple­men­ta­tion of evi­dence-based pre­ven­tion and inter­ven­tion efforts. In addi­tion to this, BCSMHC pro­vides pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment to school per­son­nel in prac­tices that are shown to improve school cli­mate and stu­dent outcomes.

FACE: Family Access Center of Excellence (2016-Present)