Presenters
- Maribeth L Wicoff, PhD, Psychologist, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Maria E. Golden, PhD, NCSP, Psychologist, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Christine Rivera Gonzales, MA, The Milton Hershey School, Hershey, PA
- Chimereodo Okoroji, PhD, NCSP, Postdoctoral Fellow, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Jennifer A Mautone, PhD, ABPP, Associate Director of Primary Care Behavioral Health Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia & Assistant Professor, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Summary
Children spend the majority of their time in school where academic and many behavioral health needs are addressed. For example, many schools utilize multi-tiered systems of support to deliver behavioral health prevention and intervention programs to students in need. The school system and special education supports can be difficult to navigate. When children are having difficulty in school, families often first seek support from their primary care providers (PCPs). With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, direct interaction with teachers and school staff have become limited. Given these challenges, medical providers are receiving even more requests for school and behavioral health supports (Armitage & Nellums, 2020). These needs have been even greater for underserved and minority populations due to the growing needs for behavioral health supports and the often-limited access to high quality care. Integrated behavioral health consultants (BHCs) who have expertise in special education and training in schools can support pediatricians and families in navigating the nuances and complexities of the school system (Sheridan et al., 2019). Additionally, BHCs can facilitate multi-disciplinary collaboration across systems to best support the child. The presenters will discuss differences in school modalities (e.g., home schooling vs virtual schooling) and what special education supports look like in each modality. Additionally, they will present a variety of behavioral health concerns that impact children and families and what each stake holder (e.g., PCP’s, parents/guardians, educators, and behavioral health providers) can do to support children. Examples will be introduced on ways to successfully collaborate across multiple settings using data-based decisions to support children’s academic and behavioral health needs.
Objectives
- Define differences in school modalities and how this impacts special education services
- Describe differences in common behavioral health topics and how it presents differently in medicine, behavioral health, home, and school
- Identify 3 methods to collaborate across home, school, medicine, behavioral health
