Chester County Consortium

The vision of Penn GSE’s Project for Mental Health and Optimal Development and Chester County Intermediate Unit is to create a comprehensive, sustainable, and proactive approach to mental health awareness, mental health literacy, and management across Chester County, both within and beyond the school system. This year, the consortium's mission was to develop and implement strategic plans that comprehensively and proactively address mental health and optimal development goals and programming in the participants' school districts. The Consortium specifically helps school district teams build mental health capacity and implement evidence-based interventions. In its unique environment, it utilizes resources to bridge research and practice, supporting school leaders to be better prepared, informed, and equipped to make strategic decisions around supporting their schools. This is achieved by providing access to experts in the field, structured time to design in-depth and contextualized strategic plans informed by cutting-edge research, alongside mental health experts and other educational leaders, and ongoing support throughout the academic year to ensure successful implementation. Our consortium values the expertise of its members, and our unique model utilizes their knowledge and contextual experiences to develop programming to meet their needs as part of our partnership.