This article looks at ways schools can address the problem of increased mental health concerns among students in the school setting. Insufficient training of school staff, lack of mental health professionals in schools, inconsistent programming, and teacher mental health concerns make supporting students mental health difficult. Addressing these…

The current agenda for mental health in schools is considered in relation to the concept of mental health and how it has been iterated in schools in the UK. Key contributions from education pioneers are outlined, providing a time line for the first half of the twentieth century particularly informed by psychoanalysis. Mid twentieth century the…

Child mental health is a growing concern for policymakers across the global north. Schools have become a key site for mental health interventions, with new programmes aimed at promoting 'resilience', through which children may maintain or regain mental health during adversity. As one of the first studies to explore the early impact of intensive…

"State Policy Opportunities: Advancing Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems to Support Students" aims to help state leaders understand their role, as well as the urgency, in addressing student mental health needs. The specific recommendations, and the numerous state examples and resources provided, identify policy opportunities for…

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 school-based health centers, school-based mental health services could become more broadly available in…

Many K-12 students face mental health challenges that affect them academically, socially, and emotionally. These challenges include anxiety, depression, trauma, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. While research on mental health models in school settings exits, specific attention has not been given to the role of school counselors in…

Pastoral care in education aims to promote the holistic development of all pupils whilst supporting those who experience challenging personal circumstances. Significant developments have been made in this field in recent years, including increased focus in Initial Teacher Education, yet major challenges remain to be addressed nationally and…

Globally, the number of children and adults being diagnosed with a mental health condition is rising (Bor et al., 2014), leading to mental illness being described as a global burden (Vos et al., 2015). Governments around the world have been developing visions, policies and practices to reduce mental ill health through preventive measures and…

There is substantial research evidence for the effectiveness of school mental health strategies across problem areas, developmental levels, and the prevention-intervention spectrum. At the same time, it is clear that the education and mental health fields continue to struggle to apply this evidence at any level of scale. This commentary reflects…

This Data Point uses data from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) School Questionnaire. NTPS is a nationally representative sample survey of public K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This Data Point compares levels of mental health staffing in schools in which more than half…

In this article I discuss two different approaches to mental health in schools. What I have described as an adaptive model focuses on a 'wellbeing' policy involving training teachers to spot the 'early signs' of mental health problems and to take action themselves or make an appropriate referral. The alternative is the 'whole-school approach'…

This brief studies an intervention that placed mental health clinicians in Minnesota schools. This analysis focuses on the implementation of the school-based mental health (SBMH) program in K-12 public schools in Hennepin County, Minnesota, which includes the city of Minneapolis and its suburbs. The analysis uses administrative data and survey…

The rates of mental health concerns among school-aged youth are increasing and the growing rates of students considering or planning for suicide is alarming. Although school counselors are often the only professionals with the training to support students' mental health needs in schools, they are often inaccessible to students to receive long-term…

Despite innovations in the screening and early identification of students who may benefit from school mental health services, many schools struggle to link screening to intervention decisions, particularly at the Tier 2 level. Universal complete mental health screening, which measures strengths along with risk factors, is a strength-based approach…

Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS™) is a tested strategy for improving communication and climate in hospitals. It is a promising but untested tool among school-based mental health teams. We examined the psychometric properties of the TeamSTEPPS Teamwork Perceptions Questionnaire (T-TPQ) and Teamwork…