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DC COMBS
The DC Consortium for Mental Wellness and Behavioral Health in Schools (DC COMBS)
DC COMBS is a learning community and community of practice dedicated to better understanding and advancing student-led, parent-led activities that promote mental wellness and behavioral health. Our community brings together students, parents, and professionals - including teachers, lawyers, mental health clinicians, researchers, policy advocates, policymakers, and funders - who are committed to advancing mental wellness and behavioral health in schools.
Vision
- The Consortium envisions that:
- All youth in DC enjoy robust mental wellness and behavioral health (MW & BH);
- Families are engaged, supported, and heard in ways that enhance their well-being and ability to support their children;
- The professionals who support youth in DC experience strong collaboration, continuous learning, and have appropriate resources to perform their roles;
- Schools are safe and caring places that make learning fun and help students thrive.
Mission
- The Consortium aims to advance improvements and equity in school mental health by:
- Strengthening collaboration across research, practice, and policy spheres
- Creating pathways for community voice to drive action and decisions
- Establish ongoing relationships between consortium and key actors - including District agencies and policymakers, school leaders, staff/teachers, parents/caregivers, and students/youth.
Our Approach
- The Consortium is implementing three pilot groups with new approaches for collaboration, leadership, and system transformation:
Pilot 1 strengthens collaboration among school communities and partners to implement mental wellness and behavioral health best practices through shared decision-making, data, and technical assistance.
Pilot 2 is reshaping how school-based mental health is communicated in DC by co-creating inclusive, community-rooted messaging with students, families, educators, and advocates.
Pilot 3 advances policy change by building a feedback loop between community voices and policymakers, with a focus on advocacy, research, and Medicaid reimbursement for school mental health services.
Our Framework
- A Framework for Building Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems:
The following framework outlines DC COMBS’ approach to the development of Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems. This approach is grounded in decades of national research and local experience.
The framework is organized into two complementary parts:
- Part 1 describes what constitutes a high-quality comprehensive school mental health (CSMH) system by outlining its five core elements and the key enabling activities that operationalize each one.
- Part 2 then explains how these elements develop and function over time, highlighting the core drivers of effectiveness that enable CSMH systems to be implemented, adapted, and sustained within the complex ecosystems of schools and communities.
Please click on the full document below to learn more.