School Behavioral Health Consultation and Training Service

What is the School Behavioral Health Consultation and Training Service?

Experts in the School Behavioral Health Consultation and Training Service work with school communities to support how they approach student behavioral health. We focus on improving the quality of behavioral health services in spaces where clinical and school-based behavioral health care intersect.

Our purpose is to:

• Increase schools’ use of evidence-based practices that improve student health and academic outcomes.
• Promote interconnected systems of care between school and community settings.
• Improve equity and access to care in a multi-tiered system of support framework in schools and community.

The School Behavioral Health Consultation and Training Service is offered through the Seattle Children’s/University of Washington School Behavioral Health Implementation, Partnership, Advocacy, Consultation and Training Team (School IMPACT Team).

Services We Provide

For schools and community behavioral health agencies: 

• Specialized support for school-based health centers that focuses on clinical consultation and training for licensed clinical personnel working in schools. This includes therapeutic clinical case consultation, psychiatric medication management guidance and training clinical providers on the nuances of school-based work.
• Training and professional development for school and clinical staff working in schools via initiatives like Brief Intervention for School Clinicians and the First Approach Skills Training (FAST) Program, among others.
• Behavioral health case consultation to educational teams on developing strategies for specific students or populations to help with emotional or behavioral challenges that affect participation in school.
• Systems-level consultation and program development with public health entities, community partners and schools to increase interconnected systems of support, create shared language for care and bridge the gap between the clinical and educational worlds.

For students, parents and communities:

• Talks and workshops by behavioral health experts, tailored for children and families, about behavioral health.
• Please note, while we are happy to educate communities about educational services like individual education plans (IEPs) through our talks, our team does not provide individualized case advocacy services.

Who’s on the team?

The Seattle Children’s/University of Washington School Behavioral Health IMPACT Team is a group of mental health clinicians, researchers and educators working across Seattle Children's Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Program and the University of Washington’s School Mental Health Assessment, Research and Training Center (SMART Center).

The program is led by Megan Frye, PhD, MS Ed, an attending licensed psychologist at Seattle Children’s and a nationally certified school psychologist. With training and experience in both clinical and educational settings, our team brings a deep understanding of best practices and the realities and power of integrating behavioral health care in schools and community spaces.