UCLA

In the past, many well intentioned initiatives and policy reports focused on expanding mental health services in schools. But schools in most locales never had the resources to scale-up the type of clinical approach usually advocated. And with tightening budgets, the situation is worse today. The challenge at this time is to escape old ways of thinking about mental health in schools. New directions are needed. A promising new direction is to ensure mental health concerns are fully embedded in efforts to transform how schools address barriers to learning and teaching and re-engage disconnected students. Pursuing such a transformation calls for innovative, big picture thinking about revamping available student and learning supports. The aim of the transformation is to respond effectively in-classrooms and schoolwide (and, as appropriate, online) to the overlapping emotional, behavior, and learning problems that interfere with the best teaching practices. The intent is to help all students who are not doing well and enhance equity of opportunity for success at school and beyond.