Implementation of Mental Health Programs in Schools: A Change Agent's Guide(Applying Psychology in the Schools Series)

Many excellent mental health programs are proven to meet various needs in children, and schools are an ideal place to implement such programs. Yet school psychologists often face challenges when implementing them. They have to secure support from people in authority as well as key stakeholders, provide effective training and supervision, ensure that organizational structures support the implementation, and make appropriate adaptations to suit the specific context while also maintaining fidelity to core program components.
In this book, Susan G. Forman explains how to successfully implement mental health programs in schools. She summarizes the research on implementation science and, most important, translates it into practice for schools. Change agents will find practical, research-based guidance for every aspect of implementation.

Table of Contents:

Series Foreword
Acknowledgments

Introduction

I. Foundations

1. Definitions, Key Components, and Stages of Implementation
2. Implementation History and Theory
3. Implementation Evaluation and Research
4. Leadership for Implementation and Change

II. Selecting and Implementing Interventions

1. Selecting Interventions: Intervention Characteristics and Implementation
2. Developing Stakeholder Support
3. Providing Effective Training and Technical Assistance
4. Organizational Characteristics and Structures That Support Implementation
5. Suprasystems: The Community, the State, and the Federal Government

III. Fidelity and Adaptation

1. Fidelity and Adaptation/Reinvention
2. Adaptation of Evidence-Based Interventions for Diverse Populations

IV. Looking Forward

1. Sustaining and Scaling-Up Evidence-Based Programs
2. Conclusion

References

Index

About the Author

Susan G. Forman, PhD, is a university professor, chair of the Department of Applied Psychology, and director of the School Psychology Program in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Prior to coming to Rutgers, she was a professor of psychology at the University of South Carolina. She has also served as vice president for undergraduate education at Rutgers and as associate provost at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Forman's research and scholarship focus on factors that influence intervention implementation and the effectiveness of behavioral and cognitive amp ndash behavioral interventions in educational settings.

Dr. Forman has authored more than 8 publications on these issues and has served on the editorial boards of many psychology and education journals, including School Psychology Review and the Journal of School Psychology.

Her work has been supported by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the National Science Foundation, as well as a number of corporate and family foundations.

She has served on the executive boards of APA Division (School Psychology) and the National Association of School Psychologists and has also served as chair of the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs.

Dr. Forman is a fellow of APA and has been elected to membership in the Society for the Study of School Psychology on the basis of her scientific contributions to the field.