ABSTRACT
The current climate of managed health care services and the seemingly insurmountable challenge of obtaining third-party payments for services rendered by health care providers within the medical setting have placed pediatric psychologists under ever-increasing pressure to provide time-limited, problem-focused, and evidenced-based psychological services to children. One means of meeting this challenge is to provide psychological services in school-based settings. This chapter will focus on the diverse roles and clinical opportunities that are potentially available to pediatric psychologists wishing to extend their practice to school settings. These roles extend beyond traditional services provided by psychologists within the school setting (i.e., providing mandated assessment and intervention treatment for children with disabilities). We will discuss three novel domains within the school setting, where pediatric psychology has the opportunity to make significant contributions to the mental and academic health of schoolage children. These areas include (1) providing primary mental health care, (2) meeting the psychological and social needs of childrenwith chronicmedical conditions, and (3) developing and implementing evidenced-based research programs in the school setting.
