These three stories profile our work to promote mental health and prevent mental illness within schools, colleges, and communities.

Collaboration: Education, Mental Health, and Law Enforcement Improves Mental Health

Many features of schools and learning can have an impact on the mental health of students and staff, including the environment, the development of social and emotional skills through curriculum, and access to services.

Since 1999, a ground-breaking collaboration between three federal agencies, led by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), with the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, has provided leadership for the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) initiative. This effort has provided major grants ranging from $1–3 million annually to school districts across the United States. From legislation passed in response to the numerous school shootings, a local coalition is now required that includes education, mental health, and law enforcement. SS/HS grantees then implement six program components, from early childhood programs to life skills and a range of evidence-based strategies for youth and their families that promote mental health and prevent violence.

To build the knowledge and capacity of these coalitions of grantees as they implement their programs, SAMHSA has funded HHD’s National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention to provide training and technical assistance to SS/HS grant recipients.

Partnering with the American Institutes for Research and others, HHD Center staff provide a range of creative in-person, phone, and e-mail training and technical assistance activities to more than 85 grantees on how to select and implement evidence-based interventions and sustain their programs beyond the three-year grant funding. HHD staff also provides opportunities for grantees to network and learn from their peers in other sites, as well as with experts through regional conferences and Web-based opportunities.

“Our training and technical assistance services assist grantees in building their capacity so that people on the ‘front lines’ can put their time and energies into programs that we know will make a difference,” says Deborah Haber, director of the Center. “We encourage people to look at lots of possible solutions, including individual behavior change, school climate, and policy change—we help them understand the benefits of applying a public health approach to their work.”

For Matt Ryerson, project director of the SS/HS initiative in Bradley County, Tennessee, the Center’s expertise helped his district be more creative—and ultimately more successful—in addressing its problems: “When our district was trying to figure out the best way to respond to students with very serious needs, we considered lots of options but weren’t sure what was most effective. Should we hire more staff? Create a new, separate program? The Center’s staff challenged us to look at our entire system, rather than thinking about a quick-fix solution. Their knowledge about national trends and about what works armed us with the information we needed to make the best decision. Rather than hiring more staff, we focused on creating a positive school culture with learning support services in place.”

School districts that recently completed their SS/HS initiatives have improved the well-being of children in their community. Many schools saw significant reductions in the number of students who were suspended or truant, or who had completely dropped out. For example, in Brooklyn, New York, student suspensions decreased by 42%. Many schools also saw improvements in learning and academic performance and reductions in fighting or other negative and destructive behaviors. In Cook County, Illinois, for example, gang-related school violence dropped from 81 incidents to fewer than 9 by the second year of the initiative.

Improved linkages and referrals to mental health services were also seen across many schools, including in rural communities like Deschutes County, Oregon, where students were more likely to be identified early and referred to appropriate supports. In Spokane, Washington, 91% of teachers reported that mental health services were made available in a timely manner, an increase from 71%. Developing a link between the school and community mental health agencies was seen as critical to improving students’ access to needed mental health services. For example, Leon County, Florida, created the Community Assessment and Intervention Center to provide a single point of entry into the service system for youth at risk of mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral problems. 

“The services our Center provides focus on helping grantees make the most of this unique opportunity,” says Haber. “We hope that by having access to resources and experts, every grantee can make a long-term impact in improving the mental health and well-being of the students they serve.”