Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success (OMHNSS)
Vision, Mission, and Action Agenda
Vision
Every child in Ohio – including those at emotional or behavioral
risk and those with mental health problems – will have the opportunity
and the support needed to be successful in school.
Mission
The mission of the Network is to help Ohio’s school, community-based agencies, and families work together to achieve improved educational and developmental outcomes for all children – especially those at emotional or behavioral risk and those with mental health problems. To accomplish this mission the Network will:
* Promote awareness of the mental health needs of students attending Ohio’s schools and the critical links between mental health and school/academic success.
* Promote the adoption and implementation of policies (at all levels) that encourage effective practices to improve the mental health and school success of Ohio’s students.
* Help to build capacity within mental health and education systems for enhanced collaboration and effective school mental health programs and services.
* Build and sustain strong regional action networks to promote mental health—education—family collaborations, with broad stakeholder representation.
Action Agenda
1. The Network works, through a variety of initiatives, to reduce stigma for children and families who need mental health services, to tell the story about the gap between students’ mental health needs and the resources available to meet those needs, and to heighten awareness of the critical links between mental health and school success.
2. The Network partners with regional action networks to enhance within region and statewide collaborative commitment to the Network mission and implementation of the action agenda, actively soliciting and appreciating broad stakeholder input, especially students and families.
3. The Network encourages and supports provision of technical assistance to mental health agencies and schools to improve and expand school mental health services and to promote adoption of effective practices addressing mental health and academic outcomes for students.
4. The Network engages is targeted special projects, as determined by the membership and sponsoring organizations, to enhance awareness of and effective programs to address the mental health and school success of students.
5. The Network serves as a resource to identify and disseminate information about training opportunities, external sources of financial support for school mental health initiatives, and other news pertinent to promotion of the mental health and school success of students.
6. The Network assists college and university-based professional preparation programs in behavioral health and in education in developing inter-professional strategies and practices for addressing the mental health and school success of Ohio’s children. The network promotes and seeks the involvement of families and other non-professionals in these efforts.
In existence since 2001, the Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success (OMHNSS) consists of action networks spearheaded by affiliate organizations in six regions of Ohio. Currently, the Network is funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH) and the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).