Further Advancing the Field of School Mental Health

Abstract

School mental health is based on some simple yet cogent observations. First, the mental health system is broken, especially for children and adolescents. Second, while youth spend a large percentage of their time in school, and schools have been referred to as the "defacto" mental health system for children and adolescents schools generally are very under-resourced to promote health wellness and address emotional/ behavioral challenges in students. Third, and based on recognition of these realities, there are considerable benefits to community mental health providers (e.g., clinical and counseling psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed professional counselors, child and adolescent psychiatrists) joining forces with schools, school-employed mental health staff, and educators to build multi-tiered programs and services to improve the school environment, promote student health and wellness, prevent and intervene early on emotional/behavioral problems, and provide intervention for students in need of more intensive services. These "expanded" student mental health services involve community providers augmenting the work of school staff and ensuring access to the full continuum of programs for youth in both special and general education and reflect a shared school, family, community-system agenda. Expanded SMH has been a core construct in our work, and the values of this approach are reflected throughout the first handbook and in the current one. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)