About CoP

People

Communities of Practice

"are groups of people who share expertise and passion about a topic and interact on an ongoing basis to further their learning ... members typically solve problems, discuss insights and share information ... develop tools and frameworks … and over time, these mutual interactions and relationships build up a shared body of knowledge and a sense of identity". (Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder, 2002)

The D.C. School Behavioral Health Community of Practice (CoP) was launched in September 2019 to expand comprehensive school behavioral health supports in all D.C. public and public charter schools.

The purpose of the D.C. CoP is to engage school professionals and community leaders, alongside clinicians from community-based organizations (CBOs) who jointly conduct school-based activities and services designed to promote healthy development and wellbeing for all students and their families.

The comprehensive school behavioral health system is defined as a strategic collaboration between school personnel, community mental health providers, students and families to create a positive school culture that provides timely access to high-quality, reliable supports for children, youth, and their families. Teams offer a full array of trauma-informed, culturally- responsive, evidence-based tiered interventions to promote wellness, identify challenges early, and offer treatment services when necessary so that all children and youth succeed and thrive.

The D.C. CoP will meet monthly face to face and offer additional learning activities (e.g., webinars, trainings, dialogue) around topics selected by the community members (e.g., trauma-informed practices, crisis response and intervention, social and emotional learning, family engagement and more) to build new knowledge, support implementation of best practices in school behavioral health and solve persistent problems of practice.

The D.C. CoP will be supported by the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools (CHHCS) at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University, the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), the District of Columbia Public Schools, the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and CRP, Inc.

One hundred and nineteen (119) Schools (Cohorts 1 and 2) were invited to participate in the D.C. School Behavioral Health Community of Practice this year.