BUILDING THE LINK BETWEEN HEALTHCARE AND EDUCATION: A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO ADDRESS THE DISPARITIES IN SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN NEW YORK CITY

The non-treatment and under-treatment of mental illness is a pervasive issue in New York City’s youth (Dixon et al., 2015; Bello et al., 2017). The referral data from the OnTrackNY clinics highlights the significant issue of teachers and school personnel not recognizing symptoms of mental illness in students, and not referring affected students to often lifesaving treatment. A review of the literature explores evidence-based clinical practices for first episode psychosis, barriers to mental health services in schools, underlying teacher, school, sociological factors to the problem, and professional development as an intervention to the problem. A mixed methods study was designed and implemented to investigate New York City school personnel’s knowledge and attitudes toward early detection of student mental health concerns. A training was conducted at a Title one urban public high school in New York City. The findings from this study suggest school personnel’s knowledge and attitude in assisting student with mental health concerns, and their motivation to obtain more related training, can be improved with the study’s intervention. Implications for research include replicating the study with students’ and families’ input, and on a larger scale with multiple sites. Identifying local, state, and federal stakeholders to improve policy in school-based mental health services and resources. Identifying funding streams to implement research studies in finding sustainable solutions to issues in school-based mental health system is an urgent next step. Implications for practice include incorporating this study’s intervention in pre-service teacher, teacher fellowship, and school counseling professional’s trainings; adopting effective professional development approaches such as Train-the-Trainer model at individual school sites; and include specific evaluation procedures, and continuous assessments for improvements. Gaining support from education stakeholders and policy authorities, including Mayor Bill De Blasio, the New York City Department of Education administration, and district leaders in mental health, will also be critical in implementing this intervention on a macro scale in New York City secondary schools