School-Community Resource Mapping: A Foundational Practice for the Development of Effective School Mental Health Systems

Mental health programming selection and delivery systems that meet needs and support thriving for students and staff are desirable in all schools. In low-resource contexts, programming-to-need mismatch or limited capacity to support the implementation of needed programming can be especially costly or demoralizing. Evidence-informed guidance for an adaptive and cost-effective decision-making process is limited; however, school-community resource mapping is a promising foundational practice for optimizing mental health programming selection and delivery systems in any schooling context. In this chapter, we will (1) review available tools for conducting school-community resource mapping, (2) synthesize existing evidence and suggest future directions for the improvement and continued study of this practice, and (3) provide guidance for using this practice as the foundation for the installation or optimization of tailored multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) promoting holistic child, youth, and staff well-being in schools.