Program evaluation is in its infancy at the Washington County Mental Health Program; it is only within the last two years that there has been any emphasis placed on evaluation activities. The first chapter in this practicum will identify and provide a context for the recent introduction of the management by objectives approach to process evaluation within the Washington County Mental Health Program as well as present a rationale for such an approach; the second chapter in this practicum is a presentation of results obtained from the first follow-up study to employ management objectives as an evaluation tool; the third chapter explores problems inherent in the nature and design of this type of evaluation procedure as well as program implications concerning the utility of results obtained from the study and recommendations for change in both approach and procedure.

There is an ongoing debate about how to serve the number of students that are affected by mental health problems. Some schools have moved toward implementing whole school programs. The purpose of these programs is to teach adults who directly interact with school age children, such as parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, and caring citizens how to respond to an adolescent that is facing a crisis or a mental health challenge. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of such a program. The goals of this study are to (a) determine the short-term outcomes of this initiative from school staff perspective, and (b) determine new directions for improving the program based on school staff’s recommendations. Survey questionnaires will be used to collect data from staff members. Descriptive statistics will be used to inform recommendations for the next steps in the development of the program. Staff surveyed endorsed the satisfaction of the implementation of the mental health program in their schools.

No description available.