The Use of StepOne for Parents in Public Schools

Summary

Mental health, parenting and family services are necessary for youth at-risk.  Schools are the first place that many parents go for help. Schools are the initial point of contact because of issues surrounding access to mental health, family and parenting services. StepOne For Parents is an online computer program that provides parents with the ability to help screen their child for mental disorders and well as the risk of violent, suicidal and self-harming behavior. StepOne For Parents places the initial responsibility for effective identification on parents rather than schools. StepOne For Parents can be used by schools to help parents screen children and provide a meaningful basis to initiate a school-based evaluation or make a referral to appropriate community medical, mental health, family or parenting services. Parents are likely to seek more appropriate mental health, family and parenting services instead of school services if they use StepOne. The StepOne report can be used to communicate a more realistic expectation of what schools can and should provide in terms of educational services. It can also connect parents with additional community services through automatic referral process.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, we know that approximately 20% of adolescents will experience significant mental, emotional, substance abuse and behavioral problems that will impair school, family and social functioning. Many parents naturally approach schools when their child skips school, their grades drop or they are suspended. Schools are often the first point of contact. Parents may request guidance, help or an evaluation believing that their child requires special education or a school based intervention. A significant number of the requests for support, evaluation and special education services will in fact be the result of behavioral, family and mental health problems that require parent education, family services, medication, counseling or therapy. These are not services that schools are equipped or funded to provide. School based screening and intervention is expensive and takes time, personnel and resources. Home-based screening take little time, no personnel and no resources from schools.

Mental health, parenting and family services are necessary for youth at-risk, but schools are the first place that many parents go for help. These parents are often in crisis and expect school staff to listen to them and take action based on their description of their child’s behavior. This can be very difficult because parental descriptions of their child's behavior are not sufficiently comprehensive for school staff to form a valid opinion. School guidance counselors are not usually trained to perform clinical screenings and they have little time given their responsibility to school related concerns.

Conflicts and disappointment can result when school staff do not agree with a parent’s assessment of their child or when they disagree with what parents believe a school should do. While parents may not know what their child needs they can be quick to dispute what schools actually have to offer. Many parents are reluctant to seek parenting, mental health and family services. In most cases parents do not understand the underlying cause of their child's behavior. There are many reasons. Parents may be in denial or they may not recognize the real issues or problems. This is perfectly normal and common.

In an ideal world, family problems, including behavioral, substance abuse and emotional problems should be evaluated by mental health professionals. Without comprehensive screening it can be difficult for school staff and guidance counselors to recommend that parents seek these non-school related services. It is a very difficult situation for a school counselor to ask a parent to see a mental health professional, especially when that recommendation is based entirely on a brief conversation with a parent.

A lot of parents don't want to hear that their child may have mental health problems from a school counselor, teacher or administrator. They certainly do not want to be told that their family, marriage or parenting may be dysfunctional. This is where StepOne for Parents is designed to help. With this tool, a counselor has the option to refer parents to StepOne for Parents. StepOne for Parents is designed to involve, educate and empower parents to seek necessary and appropriate help - not just special education services. After completing the online questionnaire, parents can discuss the results with a school counselor if they choose, or they can seek more appropriate services as recommend by StepOne. In this way parents are likely to seek more appropriate mental health, family and parenting services instead of school services if they use StepOne.

There are additional benefits of using StepOne for Parents.

• Some mental health professionals argue that schools incur an implicit obligation and potential liability when they conduct a clinical mental health evaluation. StepOne removes that obligation and liability.

• When a school screens a child for mental health problems, this places that school in a "role-expectation" where parents tend to expect schools to provide follow-up services. The basis of this role expectation is potentially reasonable and is often driven by a desire for an expedient solution or desire to avoid the stigma of seeking mental health services.

• Parents are also prone to dispute staff recommendations when schools claim that services are not available. They may also disagree if recommendations by a school cost money, are inconvenient and require parents to face an unpleasant reality. Some parents simply want schools to deal with their children.

Referring parents to StepOne can help eliminate problems, disputes and conflicts between parents and schools. More important, StepOne for Parents can help parents find the help they actually need. StepOne for Parents places the responsibility initially on parents and not schools. The StepOne report is designed to give parents a more realistic expectation of what schools can provide as well as an awareness of appropriate services for their child and family. It can also give schools a reliable and valid basis to interact more productively with parents.

Schools should be free to focus their resources on education, school based programs and problems that qualify for special education services. StepOne For Parents can be used by schools to screen children and provide a meaningful basis to initiate a school-based evaluation or make a referral for appropriate mental health, family or parent education services.

Corrected: December 30, 2007