Grow Your Own School Mental Health Specialists: A Policy Pilot to Address Behavioral Health Workforce Shortages in Schools

Author:

Bates Samantha M.1ORCID,Anderson-Butcher Dawn1,Wolfe Tyler2,Ondrus Chris2,Delaney Sean1,Marschhausen John23,McAulay Olivia1,Klakos Katie1

Affiliation:

1. Community and Youth Collaborative Institute, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 101 Bricker Hall, 190 N Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

2. Dublin City School District, 5175 Emerald Pkwy, Dublin, OH 43017, USA

3. College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, 127 Arps Hall, 1945 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

Abstract

The capacity of schools to address behavioral health concerns presents an emerging challenge, exacerbated by major shortages in the workforce. Schools across the U.S. are struggling to hire licensed behavioral health professionals, with additional barriers encountered when seeking to hire practitioners with experience in educational settings. In 2023, a school district in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, partnered with The Ohio State University to launch a “grow your own” policy pilot. The priorities focused on addressing workforce shortages and leveraging the experiences of current teachers/staff to support growing needs related to student mental health and well-being. More specifically, the district utilized COVID-19 relief funds to recruit, train, and transition 25 teachers/staff into school mental health positions by underwriting the costs of each professional’s Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. Here, we (a) describe the district–university partnership and the processes guiding the implementation of the “grow your own” model, (b) distill preliminary findings about district needs regarding behavioral health, and (c) explore facilitators, barriers, and outcomes associated with learning among participants in the program. The findings from a district-wide staff survey indicated a high level of need for individual counseling, crisis intervention, and small group interventions. Additionally, qualitative interviews revealed that learning among the program’s participants was facilitated by effective classroom strategies and specific learning experiences integral to the program’s design. These facilitators supported key learning outcomes, including general social work knowledge, self-awareness, and therapeutic skills that are foundational for engaging with students, parents/families, teachers/staff, and the broader school community. This innovative policy pilot and training model demonstrate how universities and local educational agencies can partner to address workforce development challenges at the intersection of behavioral health and education.

Funder

Dublin City Schools

Publisher

MDPI AG

Reference38 articles.

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3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2024, July 01). Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2009–2019, Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBSDataSummaryTrendsReport2019-508.pdf.

4. National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (2024, July 01). Behavioral Health Workforce, 2023, Available online: https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bureau-health-workforce/Behavioral-Health-Workforce-Brief-2023.pdf.

5. Examining Grow Your Own Programs Across the Teacher Development Continuum: Mining Research on Teachers of Color and Nontraditional Educator Pipelines;Gist;J. Teach. Educ.,2019

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