New Website Helps Local Leaders Design School Responder Models

The National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice (NCMHJJ) has launched a new website designed to guide local leaders and other stakeholders through the process of establishing a School Responder Model (SRM). An SRM is a behavioral health response to school infractions that provides an alternative to exclusionary school discipline and justice system referral by addressing the root causes of behavior through community-based service provision. The website

• Explains why the model is necessary;
• Outlines key steps in setting up a successful SRM;
• Provides concrete resources such as sample consent forms, memoranda of understanding, and SRM structure flowcharts, and;
• Offers a tool to gauge progress in an SRM’s implementation.

The site is a peer resource created by four teams of state and local system leaders in Nevada, New York, West Virginia, and Wisconsin that participated in the 2015–16 Policy Academy-Action Network Initiative sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Visit Building a School Responder Model: Guidance From Existing Diversion Initiatives for Youth With Behavioral Health Needs.

The creation of the website was coordinated by the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice and any questions may be directed to ncmhjj@prainc.com.