Addressing Mental Health In Schools

Childhood depression, violence, prescription drug abuse, and other signs of youth distress have schools grappling with mental health issues in new ways. As director of the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention at HHD, Deborah Haber and her colleagues help school districts across the country develop effective programs and policies to promote mental health and well-being.

Is mental illness on the rise?

I don’t think so. I think there has been a consistent problem that has been ignored. Data show that 20 percent of youth have a mental health issue—that’s 1 out of 5 kids. The challenge is recognizing the problem early and getting them help. Otherwise, it is not addressed and goes untreated or gets mislabeled—and gets worse. For some kids, the first time they get mental health services is when they land in the juvenile justice system.

How can schools take on mental health with everything else they have to do?

More and more educators acknowledge that unless you attend to mental health, children will be left behind academically, emotionally and socially. One of the most effective ways to do this is for communities to establish partnerships between education, mental health services, law enforcement, and juvenile justice.

Why is a partnership between these sectors important?

Families are under more stress now than ever before because of the current financial crisis. A partnership between education, mental health, law enforcement and juvenile justice helps to create a safety net for those kids who need it most in the community—providing them with the services they need. When all four of these sectors are working together it also eliminates the duplication of services and so it’s a more efficient and effective way to work.

Describe a district that is making a difference.

There are so many. In Hillsboro, Oregon, there is a fabulous truancy prevention program where the district, the truancy officers, the police department, and mental health services worked together with each school to define what truant is, and once they went through this process they developed a program that was strictly implemented. They managed to reduce truancy and tardiness, and increase academic success for a lot of students.

A lot of the changes that need to be made to address the mental health needs of children are systemic and take time. Our job is to help good programs successfully meet their goals and to sustain their successes. And if partnerships have been developed, then the efforts will be sustained even if program funding ends.

What does the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention do?

We work behind the scenes. We’ve helped more than 350 districts across the country create safe and healthy schools. The districts are funded by the federal government to develop comprehensive health programs, and we support them on multiple levels—from designing and implementing programs, to evaluating their success, to planning for sustainability. We provide targeted technical assistance and training, an array of online learning opportunities, and site visits. We have an active website with useful tools and materials. We also conduct teleconferences and host national conferences on important topics, like truancy, juvenile re-entry, or engaging community partners. But the greatest strength of our center lies with our staff. They are seasoned—with expertise and experience working with communities.