PolicyLab is excited to announce the launch of the CHOP Tri-County School Mental Health Consortium (SMHC), a collaboration between Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) researchers from PolicyLab and the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (DCAPBS) and the Chester, Delaware and Montgomery County Intermediate Units (IUs). IUs in Pennsylvania serve as regional education agencies that provide operational and instructional services to school districts and non-public/private schools.

Supported by a four-year grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program, the goal of the project is to build upon existing initiatives to strengthen school- and district-level capacity to implement, evaluate, and sustain school mental health promotion and prevention efforts, otherwise known as Tier 1 and Tier 2 services.  

This project will begin with a survey and focus groups of district and school staff about current school mental health programming and areas of priority. The collected data will then inform which programs the SMHC will focus on for mental health programming, as well as strategies to support implementation.  

Learn more about the CHOP Tri-County School Mental Health Consortium, and watch a short promotional video for the project below.