Bates Samantha M, Anderson-Butcher Dawn, Wolfe Tyler, Ondrus Chris, Delaney Sean, Marschhausen John, McAulay Olivia, Klakos Katie
Community and Youth Collaborative Institute, College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, 101 Bricker Hall, 190 N Oval Mall, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Dublin City School District, 5175 Emerald Pkwy, Dublin, OH 43017, USA.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Sep 13;14(9):813. doi: 10.3390/bs14090813.
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.
学校应对行为健康问题的能力构成了一项新出现的挑战，而劳动力的严重短缺使这一挑战更加严峻。美国各地的学校都在努力招聘有执照的行为健康专业人员，在招聘有教育机构工作经验的从业者时还会遇到额外的障碍。2023年，俄亥俄州哥伦布市郊区的一个学区与俄亥俄州立大学合作，启动了一项“自己培养人才”政策试点。其重点是解决劳动力短缺问题，并利用现有教师/工作人员的经验来满足与学生心理健康和幸福相关的不断增长的需求。更具体地说，该学区利用新冠疫情救济资金，通过承担每位专业人员的社会工作硕士（MSW）学位费用，招募、培训25名教师/工作人员并将他们转变为学校心理健康岗位人员。在此，我们（a）描述学区与大学的合作关系以及指导“自己培养人才”模式实施的过程，（b）提炼关于学区行为健康需求的初步调查结果，（c）探讨该项目参与者学习过程中的促进因素、障碍和成果。一项全学区工作人员调查的结果表明，对个人咨询、危机干预和小组干预有很高的需求。此外，定性访谈显示，有效的课堂策略以及该项目设计中不可或缺的特定学习经历促进了项目参与者的学习。这些促进因素支持了关键的学习成果，包括一般社会工作知识、自我意识和治疗技能，这些都是与学生、家长/家庭、教师/工作人员以及更广泛的学校社区互动的基础。这种创新的政策试点和培训模式展示了大学和当地教育机构如何合作应对行为健康与教育交叉领域的劳动力发展挑战。
