Why Data Matters in School Mental Health

Dr. Elizabeth Connors and Dr. Samantha Reaves discuss the impact that data has in developing a comprehensive school mental health support system.  They address the importance of having system and individual level data to assess the quality of programs and services, and how to utilize that data to make improvements.   This podcast is made possible by our partnership with The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and their generous support. To learn more, visit  https://www.nctsn.org/. Audio mixing by Concentus Media, Inc., Temple, Texas.   Show Notes: Resources:   MCEC Global Training Summit Pre-Summit Professional Development Don’t miss our four pre-summit sessions focusing on Mental Health and Well-being, Monday, July 29, 2024: Promoting Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems for Military-Connected Students, Mental Health Risk Factors and Suicide Prevention for Military Families, Improving School Climate to Promote the Mental Health of Military-Connected Youth, Pioneering Progress: Exploring Promising Practices of the DoDEA Grant Program for Military-Connected School Communities https://www.militarychild.org/event/gts/gts-register/   National Center for School Mental Health https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/   National Center for Safe Supportive Schools https://www.ncs3.org/   School Health and Performance Evaluation System https://theshapesystem.com/   Bio: Elizabeth H. Connors, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor at the Yale Department of Psychiatry. She directs the Yale Program on Implementation Consultation and Research (https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/consultationcenter/research/school-mental-health-implementation-consultation-research/) and is a co-founder of the Yale Measurement-Based Care Collaborative (https://medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/research/programs/clinical_people/mbccollab/). Elizabeth is also a core faculty member with the University of Maryland National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH, https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/) and is a co-developer of The SHAPE System national performance standards and free online quality improvement resources for comprehensive school mental health systems (see https://theshapesystem.com/). Elizabeth conducts research, evaluation, training and consultation with school systems, community organizations and healthcare organizations to promote equitable access to high quality mental health supports.   Elizabeth’s father and brother are US Navy Veterans, and she grew up in the Florida panhandle where many of her friends and community members were active duty, veterans or military-connected.   Dr. Samantha Reaves is an Assistant Professor at the National Center for School Mental Health. She is an experienced school mental health clinician and researcher who often provides technical assistance to school, district, and state leaders around their school mental health quality improvement efforts. Her personal research interests lie at the intersection of mental health and education. She often investigates how school or family factors influence student outcomes in underserved communities.  As a clinical-community psychologist, she believes great prevention work can be done and realizes the importance of strengthening the systems children are nested in to promote wellbeing. She is committed to supporting schools, at multiple levels, to improve policies and procedures around student socioemotional functioning.  In her work at the NCSMH she primarily supports the Partnering for Student Wellness project, the SOR parenting program evaluation, and the National Quality Initiative.