School-based mental health services in the United States: History, current models and needs (original) (raw)
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School-based mental health services: The foundation of systems of care for children's mental health
Psychology in the Schools, 1999
Systems of care for children's mental health have gained increasing attention and significance over the last decade. The ultimate goal of these systems of care is to fully integrate children and families served into the fabric of their community and culture. In this paper, we will outline the factors which have influenced the development of this approach to children's mental health and how school-based mental health services provide the foundation for the actualization of these interagency systems.
School-Based Mental Health Services
Pediatrics, 2004
More than 20% of children and adolescents have mental health problems. Health care professionals for children and adolescents must educate key stakeholders about the extent of these problems and work together with them to increase access to mental health resources. School-based programs offer the promise of improving access to diagnosis of and treatment for the mental health problems of children and adolescents. Pediatric health care professionals, educators, and mental health specialists should work in collaboration to develop and implement effective school-based mental health services.
2015
By all indicators, the need for mental health services has been more not less. Not everybody is in agreement that schools should be doing this. The long and short of it is there is some confusion about what constitutes mental health.VU.S. Department of Education official, 2006 Provision of health care in schools is a logical component of an advanced industrial society; however, health care providers have struggled to make universal school health and mental health a reality. Despite the President_s New Freedom Commission Report that stressed the need for school-based mental health in the context of a wider public health agenda, school mental health services and supports continue to be frag-mented.1 Instead of riding a wave of new resources, knowledge, and a quality focus, the school-based mental health movement struggles to answer basic questions about identity. Is school mental health the provision of services similar to those found in a community mental health center? Is it psychos...
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau's Initiative for Mental Health in Schools
PsycEXTRA Dataset
When the Maternal and Child Health Bureau implemented an initiative in 1995 to support mental health for school-age children and youth by strengthening the capacity of school-linked health programs to address psychosocial issues and mental health problems, two national centers and five state projects were developed. The work of projects in Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, and South Carolina and the centers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Maryland at Baltimore are outlined. Outlined are complimentary activities of the projects and national centers. For example, the University of Maryland center has created a major annual national conference dedicated to advancing school mental health. The center at UCLA collaborated with other organizations on regional and national invitational meetings designed to advance strategic objectives. Other complementary activities are seen with needs assessment and resource mapping. The Baltimore center focuses on clarifying the mental health needs of students and maps the services schools provide for meeting needs. The center at UCLA focuses on clarifying policy considerations that have resulted in fragmented and marginalized approaches to mental health in schools. The document concludes with a discussion of ways to enhance the continuing development of initiatives to foster widespread adoption in of mental health programs in schools. (Contains 35 references and one appendix.) (Author/JDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
School-Based Mental Health Services: A Research Review
Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2000
This paper provides a synthetic review of research on school-based mental health services. Schools play an increasingly important role in providing mental health services to children, yet most school-based programs being provided have no evidence to support their impact. A computerized search of references published between 1985 and 1999 was used to identify studies of school-based mental health services for children. Study inclusion was determined by (i) use of randomized, quasi-experimental, or multiple baseline research design; (ii) inclusion of a control group; (iii) use of standardized outcome measures; and (iv) baseline and postintervention outcome assessment. The application of these criteria yielded a final sample of 47 studies on which this review is based. Results suggest that there are a strong group of school-based mental health programs that have evidence of impact across a range of emotional and behavioral problems. However, there were no programs that specifically targeted particular clinical syndromes. Important features of the implementation process that increase the probability of service sustainability and maintenance were identified. These include (i) consistent program implementation; (ii) inclusion of parents, teachers, or peers; (iii) use of multiple modalities; (iv) integration of program content into general classroom curriculum; and (v) developmentally appropriate program components. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.
Challenges and opportunities in expanded school mental health
Clinical Psychology Review, 1999
IN MANY COMMUNITIES, mental health services in schools have been limited to youth referred for or already in special education, along with academic advisement and minimal counseling services for other youth (Duchnowski, 1994; Short & Talley, 1997). However, in more and more schools throughout the country, comprehensive mental health programs are being developed. These expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs augment services traditionally offered in schools to provide a broad array of services, including evaluation, treatment, consultation, and prevention, available to all youth, in special and regular education (Weist, 1997). As a testament to the rapid growth of ESMH programs, in October of 1995 the Office of Adolescent Health of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration funded two national centers to provide support and technical assistance to this national movement. The Center for School Mental Health Assistance (CSMHA) operates out of our Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland, and the Center for Mental Health in Schools operates out of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The Office of Adolescent Health of MCHB is also funding projects in five states (Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, and South Carolina) to enhance infrastructure for comprehensive mental health services in schools. Why are ESMH programs beginning to proliferate throughout the United States? There are a number of answers to this question. First, in spite of improvements in the children's mental health service delivery system (e.g., those related to the Child and Adolescent Service System Program [CASSP]), the gap between children who need, and those who receive appropriate mental health services is still very large (Day & Roberts, 1991). At a gross level, approximately one in four youth will present needs for mental health services at some point in their lives, but less than one third of these youth will receive appropriate services (
School-Based Mental Health Services: Definitions and Models of Effective Practice
Journal of Applied School Psychology, 2017
School-based mental health services are those delivered by school-employed and community-employed providers in school buildings. With the implementation of provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) that funds schoolbased health centers, school-based mental health services could become more broadly available in communities throughout the United States. Playing a pivotal role in promoting models for school-based services that maximize benefits to children and adolescents while making efficient use of communities' mental health resources are school psychologists. School psychologists, who recognize and respect the separated development of school and community mental health professions, can foster school-agency partnerships to coordinate children's mental health services that are comprehensive, child centered, family focused, and culturally competent. In this article, we provide three case examples using the Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (B. K. Nastasi, R. B. Moore, & K. M. Varjas, 2004) as exemplars for the implementation of community partnerships providing comprehensive culturally and contextually relevant school-based mental health services.
Utilization of Mental Health Services in School-Based Health Centers
The Journal of school health, 2017
We summarize utilization patterns for mental health services in school-based health centers. Administrative data on school-based health center visits in New Haven, Connecticut were examined for the 2007-2009 school years. Relative frequencies of mental health visits by age were calculated as a percentage of all visits and were stratified by sex, ethnicity/race, and insurance status. Mental health visits accounted for the highest proportion of visits (31.8%). The proportion of mental health visits was highest at 8 years (42.8%) and at 13 years (39.0%). The proportion of mental health visits among boys (38.4%) was higher than among girls (26.7%). Hispanic students had a lower proportion of mental health visits than black students (23.5% vs 35.8%) in all but 2 age groups. Students in the white/other ethnicity category had higher proportions of mental health visits than Hispanic and black students between ages 12 and 15. Students with no health insurance (22.5%) had lower proportions of...