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ERIC Number: ED631403
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 126
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3744-0933-8
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Hello? Is Anybody Listening?: Counterstories of Black Middle School Parents Navigating School-Based Mental Health Services for Middle School Students
Goffney, Kimberly
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, California State University, Long Beach
Despite an increase in mental health needs for Black adolescents (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017; Moyer, 2018; Pettiti et al., 2017;) in the past few years, many middle schools in urban areas have not responded to the mental health demands that Black students require, and many urban school districts do not provide adequate school-based mental health services. School counselors and psychologists offer most of the school-based services provided at urban schools, but are often overburdened with the high demand of a school's caseload (Eklund et al., 2020; Eklund et al., 2017; Puhy et al., 2020; Schilling et al., 2018). With the demand for mental health needs within the schools not being adequately met, Black parents are advocating for their children to be able to access quality school-based mental health services (SBMHS). Throughout the years, their voices have been silenced, and they endure marginalization and discrimination under the education system while advocating for their children (Allen & White-Smith, 2018; Auerbach, 2007; Cooper, 2009; Ebrahimji, 2021). This qualitative study gathered the narratives of five Black parents and legal guardians to understand how anti-blackness figures into the counterstories (a method of telling the stories of marginalized people that are not often told that challenges and exposes the stories of those with racial privilege) of their experiences advocating for SBMHS, their understanding of how SBMHS should be utilized, and how the delivery of SBMHS for Black middle school students can be improved. Findings analyzed participants' experiences through the lens of BlackCrit and anti-blackness (Dumas, 2016; Dumas & Ross, 2016) as participants reflected on their advocacy journey for their children, navigating the dismissal and ignoring of their requests. This study's recommendations for practice include implementing implicit bias training for school staff and regular training for school counselors and school psychologists to give them more mental health strategies when working with Black middle school students. Recommendations for policy include recruiting more Black mental health professionals (i.e., school counselors and school psychologists) for urban schools to reflect the population, as well as passing more federal legislation for funding in schools to provide more SBMHS funding in urban schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A