Articles

Closed-Loop Referrals Between Schools and Community Providers: Preventing Drop-Off and Proving Continuity
Referrals fail when schools “send a name” and hope families connect. This article sets out a closed-loop referral operating model for school-linked behavioral health: defined handoffs, navigation steps, engagement tracking, and governance routines that reduce drop-off and demonstrate measurable continuity. Read more...
FERPA–HIPAA Data Sharing in School-Linked Behavioral Health: Consent Workflows, Minimum-Necessary Rules, and Audit-Ready Practice
School-linked behavioral health partnerships succeed or fail on information flow. This article sets out practical, FERPA/HIPAA-aligned data-sharing workflows that protect privacy while enabling safe care: consent pathways, minimum-necessary discipline, escalation documentation, and governance that stands up to audits and incident reviews. Read more...
Attendance, Discipline, and Behavioral Health: Designing School Practices That Reduce Exclusion and Improve Continuity
Behavioral health need and school exclusion often reinforce each other, driving dropout risk and repeat crisis. This article explains how to align attendance and discipline practices with school-linked behavioral health supports, using measurable thresholds, alternatives to exclusion, and strong governance. Read more...
Crisis Pathways on Campus: Building a Safe, Fast Escalation Model Without Over-Reliance on Police or ED
School-linked behavioral health partnerships need crisis pathways that are fast, consistent, and legally defensible. This article sets out practical escalation thresholds, mobile crisis integration, and post-crisis continuity so schools avoid “either do nothing or call 911” dynamics. Read more...
Building the Workforce Model for School-Linked Behavioral Health: Roles, Supervision, and Safe Boundaries
Integrated school–community behavioral health succeeds or fails on workforce design. This article explains how to define roles (not just job titles), build supervision and escalation ladders, and prevent unsafe “task drift” while improving access, engagement, and continuity. Read more...
Data Sharing, Consent, and Information Governance at the School–Behavioral Health Interface
School-linked behavioral health models break when staff cannot share the right information at the right time. This article sets out practical consent workflows, FERPA/HIPAA boundary handling, and “minimum necessary” coordination that supports safety, continuity, and defensible oversight. Read more...
Governance, Contracting, and Accountability for School-Linked Behavioral Health Partnerships
Partnerships between schools and behavioral health providers fail when governance, supervision, and reporting are informal. This article sets out practical contracting and operating models—MOUs, workflows, privacy rules, and quality assurance—so school-linked services remain safe, sustainable, and credible to funders and regulators. Read more...
Designing Tiered School–Community Behavioral Health Pathways That Actually Work
School-based supports only work when community services, crisis response, and data governance are designed into the pathway. This article shows how to build referral thresholds, warm handoffs, and safety escalation across districts, providers, and counties—while staying audit-ready for Medicaid, grants, and education oversight. Read more...
Data Sharing, Consent, and Information Governance at the School–Behavioral Health Interface: A Practical Operating Model
Interfaces collapse when information cannot move safely and quickly between schools, families, and clinical teams. This article explains practical consent workflows, governance controls, and day-to-day information handling that supports timely triage, safer decisions, and measurable continuity—without breaching privacy rules. Read more...
Designing School–Community Behavioral Health Interfaces That Actually Work: Referral, Triage, and Continuity
School-based need is rarely the problem—handoff reliability is. This article sets out practical interface design between schools and community behavioral health, including referral standards, triage workflows, governance controls, and operational examples that prevent “warm handoffs” turning into drop-off. Read more...