Mental Health in Schools: A Federal Initiative

Adelman, Howard; Taylor, Linda; Weist, Mark D.; Adelsheim, Steve; Freeman, Beth; Kapp, Lucy; Lahti, Michel; Mawn, D.G.

doi:10.1207/s15326918cs0202_3

Cited by 48 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A growing emphasis has been on the many benefits of moving community mental health staff into the schools, augmenting the work of school-employed staff to provide improved accessibility to mental health supports for youth and families, as well as enhancing the depth of services provided (Weist, 1997). Progress in the development of these expanded SMH services has been facilitated by a number of state and federal initiatives including support for national centers to promote this expanded model (Adelman et al, 1999), and leadership shown by jurisdictions in doing the same (Weist, Paternite, Wheatley-Rowe, & Gall, 2009). Progress was also facilitated by early studies documenting the benefits of SMH including improved access to care (Catron, Harris, & Weiss, 1998), increased ability to implement prevention (Elias, Gager, & Leon, 1997), enhanced early identification/intervention (Weist et al, 1999), and reduced stigma of services (Nabors & Reynolds, 2000).…”

Section: Systems Foundationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Multitiered Systems of Support for Students With “Internalizing” Emotional/Behavioral Problems

Weist

Eber²,

Horner

et al. 2018

Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions

Self Cite

112

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As multitiered systems of support (MTSS) for improving student emotional/behavioral (EB) functioning are being scaled up nationally (Horner et al., 2014), there is a critical need to define how these approaches meet the needs of students presenting internalizing EB problems such as depression, anxiety, and trauma-related concerns. Contributing to the improvement of MTSS is the systematic joining of positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and school mental health (SMH) services. A recently defined interconnected systems framework (ISF; Barrett, Eber, & Weist, 2013) provides explicit guidance on doing this work, and a national workgroup for ISF is exploring its implementation in sites around the country. The theme of improving prevention and intervention for youth with internalizing issues is a significant emphasis in this effort. However, many schools and collaborating partners from the mental health and other youth-serving systems struggle to develop multitiered programs for youth with internalizing challenges. The underlying tenets and approaches for addressing internalizing problem behavior differ from those that focus on improving more distinct externalizing behaviors such as noncompliance, disruptiveness, rule violation, aggression, attention problems, and acting out. The overall goal of this article is to build from important prior reviews (e.g., McIntosh, Ty, & Miller, 2014) and lessons being learned as the ISF is implemented in sites across the country to improve multitiered promotion/prevention, early intervention, and intervention for students presenting internalizing problems. Within MTSS efforts, school staff and community collaborators (as in the ISF) continue to struggle to implement programs for youth with internalizing problems. Objectives of this article are to review background factors limiting attention to internalizing issues within MTSS and to present recommendations for moving the field forward in improving practice, research, and policy on these issues, with particular attention paid to the ISF and its critical role in this agenda. There are three sections to the article.

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Section: Systems Foundationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Multitiered Systems of Support for Students With “Internalizing” Emotional/Behavioral Problems

Weist

Eber²,

Horner

et al. 2018

Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions

Self Cite

112

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Advocates of school health centers have frequently hailed the potential preventive function that school health centers can offer [5,7,16,17,19]. Results also showed that the majority of individuals (58%) reported problems causing impairment lasting six months or more and that the majority of individuals (88%) visiting the school health centers to discuss difficulties were not receiving treatment of any kind for difficulties judged as causing impairment.…”

Section: Identifying Difficultiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the majority of school programs have advocated for a range of services that include early intervention and prevention programs [15][16][17], most studies evaluating the benefits of these programs have emphasized the efficacy of the services they offer [15,16,18,19], rather than assessing the extent to which school health centers facilitate the early detection and prevention of illness.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining School Health Center Utilization as a Function of Mood Disturbance and Mental Health Difficulties

Santor

Poulin

LeBlanc

et al. 2006

Journal of Adolescent Health

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“…As confirmed by a recent meta-analysis, it is increasingly recognized that schools are the most common venue for U.S. youth to access mental health care (Duong et al, 2021 ). In 1995, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded centers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM; see Adelman et al, 1999 ) to provide guidance and accountability to states and local communities as they expanded SMH supports and services. These centers have worked for over two decades to contribute to, gather, translate, and disseminate knowledge to SMH implementers across the nation.…”

Section: Advancing Smh Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Propelling the Global Advancement of School Mental Health

Weist

Hoover

Daly

et al. 2023

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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Rates of mental health problems and disorders in children and youth have been increasing for at least three decades, and these have escalated due to the pandemic and multiple other societal stressors. It is increasingly recognized that students and families frequently struggle to receive needed care through traditional locations such as specialty mental health centers. Upstream mental health promotion and prevention strategies are gaining support as a public health approach to supporting overall population well-being, better utilizing a limited specialty workforce, and reducing illness. Based on these recognitions, there has been a progressive and escalating movement toward the delivery of mental health support to children and youth “where they are,” with a prominent and more ecologically valid environment being schools. This paper will provide a brief review of the escalating mental health needs of children and youth, advantages of school mental health (SMH) programs in better meeting these needs, example model SMH programs from the United States and Canada, and national and international SMH centers/networks. We conclude with strategies for further propelling the global advancement of the SMH field through interconnected practice, policy, and research.

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Mental Health in Schools: A Federal Initiative

Cited by 48 publications

References 14 publications

Improving Multitiered Systems of Support for Students With “Internalizing” Emotional/Behavioral Problems

Improving Multitiered Systems of Support for Students With “Internalizing” Emotional/Behavioral Problems

Examining School Health Center Utilization as a Function of Mood Disturbance and Mental Health Difficulties

Propelling the Global Advancement of School Mental Health

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