VISTAS Online is an innovative publication produced for ACA by Dr. Garry R. Walz and Dr. Jeanne C. Bleuer of Counseling Outfitters, LLC. Its purpose is to provide a means of capturing the ideas, information and experiences generated by the annual ACA Conference and selected ACA Division Conferences. Papers on a program or practice that has been validated through research or experience may also be submitted. This digital collection of peer-reviewed articles is authored by counselors, for counselors. VISTAS Online contains the full text of over 900 proprietary counseling articles published from 2004 to 2017.
2016
Counselors and School-Based Mental Health Professionals: Interprofessional Collaboration in Dropout Prevention
J. Ziomek-Daigle
2016
School-based mental health professionals such as counselors, social workers, and psychologists have collaborated on behalf of students for several decades. Most recently, this trio of school-based mental health professionals provides recommendations for students receiving tiered services. Often, students receiving tiered services experience challenges in achieving academic success and are at risk of dropping out of school. Results of a qualitative study examining the practices of counselors implementing a dropout prevention program indicate that school-based mental health professionals contribute to improving graduation rates by collaborating and forming working partnerships with families and community members. As described in this study, the graduation team served as the working partnership and resembles school/family/community collaboration models. Implications for school counselors and other school-based mental health professionals are presented and have the potential to impact K–12 student achievement issues. Future research directions examining the role of the school counselor in dropout prevention are also discussed.