NASBHC's mission is to
improve the health status
of children and youth
by advancing and advocating
for school-based health care

1100 G Street, NW, Suite 735
Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 638-5872
Fax: (202)638-5879
Email: info@nasbhc.org

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School Mental Health Capacity Building Partnership (SMH-CBP)

In May of 2006, NASBHC received a five-year cooperative agreement with the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Division of Adolescent Health (DASH) to build capacity of state and local education agencies to provide effective and sustainable school mental health services to young people. Developed in collaboration with its partner organizations, steering committee, and workgroup members, NASBHC’s School Mental Health Capacity Building Partnership (SMH-CBP) is an initiative designed to disseminate model mental health policies, programs, and services to education agencies in order to improve access to high quality, school-based mental health services.

As part of this initiative, SMH-CBP conducted site visits to four early adopter states, Maryland , Missouri,, Ohio, and Oregon,  to learn about best practices related to school mental health at both the state and local levels. Summaries of lessons learned from discussion groups in each state and state-specific descriptions of programs and activities can be found by clicking on each state.


In addition, the SMH-CBP developed two documents that summarize common themes and strategies that emerged across the four early adopter states. These include

The SMH-CBP has also conducted a national scan to identify organizations and resources available for capacity building. From this scan the following documents were developed:  

NASBHC is currently developing professional development and training resources in the following four core knowledge areas:

1. School Mental Health Overview and Fundamentals
2. Marketing School Mental Health to School Administrators
3. School Mental Health Quality Assessment and Improvement
4. Statewide School Mental Health Planning

These materials were piloted in West Virginia and are currently being revised to disseminate to state and local education agencies and their partners.

For more information and materials related to this project, please contact Laura Hurwitz, LCSW, Director of School Mental Health Programs 202-638-5872, Ext. 205.