Promoting Mental Health in Schools and Communities

A wave of school shootings in the late 1990s made it clear that schools—and families and communities—had to do more than just react to violent incidents. Comprehensive solutions, with a focus on prevention, were needed to promote positive student mental health and to prevent violence.

HHD assumed operation of the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention in 2002, funded by the Center for Mental Health Services within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) . This Center, in partnership with American Institutes for Research, provides training and technical assistance to hundreds of school districts and their community partners (such as law enforcement and mental health) who receive grants through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative.

Starting in 2008, the National Center also supports six new SAMHSA-funded early childhood grantees in states, territories, or tribes through Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in Children’s Health). This program is designed to promote the wellness of young children, ages birth to 8 years, by addressing all aspects of their development—physical, emotional, social, and behavioral. Participating states and tribes are working to improve the coordination and methods for providing evidence-based services to families with young children.