Principals as Champions of Collaboration for Vulnerable Children and Youth - A Case Study of Community Schools

Oct 15, 2026

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Children and youth with mental disorders require support from multiple service providers, making intersectoral collaboration essential. Community schools can function as accessible hubs with broad partnerships that create conditions for such collaboration. A qualitative multicase study of three Manitoba community schools captured key stakeholder perspectives and showed principals’ leadership as central to building a collaboration culture and strengthening partnerships. Support at senior policy levels was limited.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Mental disorders and prevalence in Canadian children and youth

Access to mental health services and school implications

Mental health disparities for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit youth

Collaboration gaps among service providers

Principals as Champions of Collaboration for Vulnerable Children and Youth: A Case Study of Community Schools Nadine Bartlett University of Manitoba Abstract Children and youth with mental disorders require support from multiple service providers, and therefore intersectoral collaboration is required. Community schools, as accessible hubs, with broad-based partnerships, may provide the conditions that foster much needed intersectoral collaboration for this population of students. In order to examine the degree of collaboration in community schools, a qualitative, multicase study of three community schools in the province of Manitoba, Canada was conducted, and the perspectives of key stakeholders in community schools were obtained. Findings indicate that the leadership of the school principal was essential in creating a culture of collaboration and in fostering intersectoral partnerships, which enhanced service provision. However, senior administrative and policy level support from school divisions, and the provincial government for the provision of intersectoral support in community schools was described as limited. The future of community schools was characterized as untenable given their dependency upon the leadership of the school principal for the provision of intersectoral support, in the absence of policies, procedures, and resources that legitimize an intersectoral leadership role. Future research may involve identifying a community school as a pilot site for the formal integration of support with joint funding and staffing from government departments including, but not limited to, health, mental health, and child welfare under the formally designated leadership of the principal of the community school. Keywords: community schools, principals, intersectoral collaboration, mental health Introduction An estimated 800,000 Canadian children and youth experience significant mental disorders (Waddell, Offord, Shepherd, Hua, & McEwan, 2002; Waddell, Shepherd, Chen, & Boyle, 2013) . Mental disorders are described as one of the greatest threats to children’s health (Currie & Rossin-Slater, 2015) and until recently, the mental health of children and youth has not received the attention that it requires. Recognizing this need, the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) conducted a comprehensive study of the mental health of Manitoba’s children, which provides baseline data about the diagnosed prevalence of mental disorders in children and youth in the Canadian province. When comparing the diagnostic prevalence of any mental disorder over two-time periods, 2005/06-2008/09 and 2009/10-2012/13, children aged 6-12 showed an increase from 9.4% to 10.8%, while adolescents aged 13-19 showed an increase from 15.3% to 17.0%(Chartier et al., 2016). The authors acknowledge that the reported prevalence rates probably are underestimations, as they only include mental disorders diagnosed by a physician. Other epidemiological studies in the United States have suggested that the rate for some mental disorders in children and youth may actually be as high as 30%(Merikangas et al., 2010). While prevalence rates may be imprecise, these findings confirm the trend that mental disorders in children and youth are at a worrisome level and that they likely are increasing (Chartier et al., 2016) . Access to the timely receipt of mental health services is a further challenge experienced by children and youth with mental disorders. According to a recent study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (2015), visits to emergency departments for mental disorders among children and youth increased 45% between 2006–2007 and 2013–2014. These findings confirm previous research, which suggests that repeated visits to an emergency department for a mental health disorder is an indicator of gaps in the availability of mental health support at the local level (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2011) . Limited mental health support for

FAQs

Why is intersectoral collaboration important for children and youth with mental disorders?

Because support must come from multiple service providers, collaboration across sectors is required to coordinate services effectively.

How does the principal’s leadership affect collaboration in community schools?

The study found that principal leadership was essential for creating a culture of collaboration and fostering intersectoral partnerships that improved service provision.

What limitations were reported regarding intersectoral support for community schools?

Senior administrative and policy-level support from school divisions and provincial government support for intersectoral assistance were described as limited.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Muffet