For Teachers & Counselors

A student struggling with academic or social function may be experiencing emotional, environmental, or learning difficulties. In such circumstances, there may be need for capable diagnostic and treatment services. It would be best for these students if, upon identification of need, there were a responsive system of care, where school personnel could articulate the need and then trust that services would be engaged. We know, however, from your detailed and enthusiastic input that school personnel are beset with challenges to helping students, and their families, access services. This project, while not able to address all challenges to access, is intended to make it easier for you to be effective at connecting children and families to relevant services. The resource guide is intended to give you a head start in your efforts. In it you will find:

A section that describes an optimal approach to diagnosis, treatment planning, and assessing quality of treatment provided;
A section that reviews principles for engaging and developing consensus with parents pertaining to need for referral;
A catalogue of services available in the community;
A description of services available through State Agencies, and criteria for eligibility for these services.

We would like this resource guide to be a living document; we ask you to convey feedback to us about services and resources we’ve not yet listed, as well as resources we’ve listed that are no longer active.

We intend to invite and support initiatives that increase linkages between school personnel and community-based service providers, and we invite you to communicate with us about opportunities for doing so.

Resources for Teachers & Parents

We've assembled this resource guide to give you a head start in your search for services.

Helping Children Who Need It Most

Mental health problems can seriously impair children's ability to be successful at school and in their relationships with their peers.

We hope to assist teachers in understanding the unique needs of the children in their classroom who suffer from mental illness. With so many demands on teachers today, our goal is to collaborate with schools to help ease the pressure on teachers and to make it easier to learn about childhood mental illness.

Since children spend so much of their time in school, it is important that teachers, administrators and parents work together to achieve a shared understanding of children’s needs. Since the schools provide the expertise in education, we would like to share information with teachers and staff about the most common conditions, current trends in treatment, medications, and, most importantly, tips to help students find success in the classroom