Quality Assessment and Improvement (QAI) in School Mental Health

QAI is critical to the success of any school mental health program. QAI is a continuous process of striving for improved performance which involves identifying a problem, testing solutions, and monitoring solutions on an ongoing, system-level basis. QAI both helps to ensure high quality SMH programs and services as well as overcome barriers to care. 

While there are numerous challenges to providing mental health care in general (e.g., gaps between evidence-based guidelines and current clinical practice, access to services, and continuity and efficiency of care), there are also barriers to providing services in a school setting. These include: stigma, limited staff and resources, silos and turf, bureaucracy, changes in leadership, and compelling needs at all levels. 

QAI also allows you to document the impact of services. Documenting impact not only helps school mental health providers to understand and improve their preventive and treatment efforts, it provides funders and community stakeholders with valuable information about the effectiveness of the program.  

Delivering high quality services is essential to advancing mental health in schools. Consistent with the principles of school mental health, developed by the Center for School Mental Health, high quality SMH programs:

• Emphasize access
• Are tailored  to local needs and strengths
• Emphasize empirical support
• Have active involvement of diverse stakeholders, including youth and family members
• Offer a full continuum from promotion to treatment
• Have committed and energetic staff
• Are developmentally and culturally competent
• Are coordinated within the school and connected in the community