The goal of this network grant is to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of the mental health capacity of schools. The network will focus on schools as a social context for the development of children's mental health by understanding the community and economic resources that influence school functioning and the implications of school functioning for promoting the mental health of children. Through readings and focused discussions, a select group of interdisciplinary scholars will examine schools from the perspective of recent advances in pedagogy and school reform, organizational theory, and econometrics and fiscal policy to understand the factors intrinsic to schools, and extrinsic community characteristics, that influence schools' capacity to foster children's socialization and mental health.
The specific aims are to develop collaborative research programs that would lead to a Developmental Network Grant (R24) in addition to specific research grant (R01) proposals with the goal to identify: 1) principles of educational reform that can change the way mental health needs of children are understood and addressed; 2) organizational factors that impact effective school practice, staff well-being, and children's mental health; and 3) models for fiscal policy that influence the mental health capacity of schools.
