Counselors and School-Based Mental Health Professionals: Interprofessional Collaboration in Dropout Prevention

School-based mental health professionals such as counselors, social workers, and psychologists have collaborated on behalf of students for several decades. Most recently, this trio of school-based mental health professionals provides recommendations for students receiving tiered services. Often, students receiving tiered services experience challenges in achieving academic success and are at risk of dropping out of school. Results of a qualitative study examining the practices of counselors implementing a dropout prevention program indicate that school-based mental health professionals contribute to improving graduation rates by collaborating and forming working partnerships with families and community members. As described in this study, the graduation team served as the working partnership and resembles school/family/community collaboration models. Implications for school counselors and other school-based mental health professionals are presented and have the potential to impact K–12 student achievement issues. Future research directions examining the role of the school counselor in dropout prevention are also discussed.