title: Lessons from the research on paraprofessionals for attendant care in children's mental health.
abstract: This article summarizes literature about paraprofessionals who assist children or families in the areas of mental health, education, or early childhood education, and focuses on three main questions: How effective are paraprofessionals?; what are the common and appropriate roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals?; and what qualifications, training, and supervision are needed for paraprofessionals? Implications are inferred for a burgeoning new form of paraprofessional services: attendant care in community based mental health services for children. Lessons from existing literature can help mental health administrators and clinical supervisors at state and local levels to select, train, supervise, and evaluate attendant care workers.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Welfare, University of Kansas, 1545 Lilac Lane, Lawrence, KS 66044, USA. utaw@ku.edu
authors.forename: Uta M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: Christopher G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Petr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000523:psychology*; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers; D006801:Humans; D024382:Professional Role; D014481:United States