Project Description:
On October 25, 2012, representatives from the Kansas City Public Schools Office of Student Interventions, Rose Brooks Center, Swope Community Enterprises, Mattie Rhodes Center, Truman Medical Center, and MOCSA came together to form a school-community behavioral health collaborative. These partners are committed to improving coordination and integration of services that are designed to meet the behavior, physical, and mental health needs that affect student achievement. Through this collaboration of community partners, The Kansas City Behavioral Health Network (KCBHN) was formed to improve access to services and resources by students in the Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) in support of the districts goal of improving attendance, decreasing truancy, and improving graduation rates.
Combined, the KCBHN partners will offer a continuum of care that includes physical and dental health services, after-school programs, teacher education, mental health counseling and coping strategies, parent/guardian advocacy, anger management, crisis intervention, and case management. The school-based collaborative will transform the way we meet the needs of our students, by providing a full integration of targeted treatment and services in select schools.
Today, school-based community service agencies are often not coordinating and communicating with one another on how best to meet the needs of the district and its students. Although many community resources are creating positive change in schools and classrooms, it is the goal of the KCBHN collaborative to establish a coordinated education and intervention model that can be implemented throughout the entire district. KCBHN engaged in intensive strategic planning process resulted in a new model of coordinated services that further explored needs, researched evidence-based interventions and models that that work. The partnering agencies adopted a formal structure and protocols to ensure its efficient and effective operation. This plan seeks to ensure that the right model matches the services required in the participating schools. The KCBNH strategic plan demonstrates how the Collaborative will contribute resources and services resulting in positive outcomes for academic success.
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Urban
