Barriers to Learning The Case for Integrated Mental Health Services in Schools

A key concern for educators, administrators, professional support services personnel, parents and policy makers are barriers to learning, particularly student mental health. Statistics reveal that up to 20 percent of children and youth have mental health issues and up to 80 percent do not receive proper intervention. Barriers to Learning enables readers to gain valuable insight into the challenges presented in classrooms today. This book presents a unique classification and review of various mental health and learning issues. The authors link current education and child and youth mental health reforms to make the case for improving services to address barriers to learning. This book includes a unique School-based Integrated Student Support Model (SISSM), which, within the context of exceptional school leadership and instruction, provides a framework for timely and evidence-based integrated and collaborative services to reduce, manage, and prevent barriers to learning for all students.

Debra S. Lean has more than twenty years of experience in children's mental health and school psychology. She is the chief psychologist at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and advises for the board's primary level autism spectrum disorder class. Vincent A. Colucci has more than thirty years of professional social work experience in the fields of mental health and education. His current responsibilities at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board include working with students in regular, special, and alternative programs at the elementary and high school levels.