Mental Health

Subtopics

At-Risk Children

Conduct Issues

School-Based Mental Health Services

Substance Use

Suicide Management

Training, Partnership, and Capacity Building

Make schools safer by improving access to mental health services.

Students often come to school with complex physical and mental health concerns or social service needs. Access to mental health services helps to create a positive school climate, prevents worsening of mental health conditions, and leads to better outcomes for students.

Mental health challenges are common among students. According to the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, up to 1 in 5 children living in the United States experience a mental disorder every year. Symptoms often start in early childhood, although some may develop during the teenage years.

By supporting students who are experiencing mental health challenges, schools can help foster a sense of safety and promote better academic and behavioral outcomes. Providing access to mental health services can reduce mental, emotional, and behavioral difficulties with students at risk.

Use the filter below to sort resources available based upon stages of preparedness and subtopic.

Featured Resources

These resources are a starting point for learning about mental health. Use these resources to support the mental health needs of students, educators, and staff. Members of the school community can also download this SchoolSafety.gov issue brief to learn more about mental health and access a sampling of resources and this SchoolSafety.gov issue brief to learn about trauma-informed schools, strategies to create and maintain them, and related resources.

Report

Advancing Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems: Guidance from the Field

Third Party, 2019

This resource synthesizes the knowledge and guidance of over 75 experts and is a foundational document in the field to help guide local, state, and national efforts to strengthen school mental health efforts and to start to understand and bring consensus to the quality domains of school mental health.

Program

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Department of Health and Human Services

This program offers 24/7 call, text and chat access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use, and/or mental health crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. The corresponding webpage provides additional resources and information for strengthening suicide prevention and mental health crisis services.

Webpage

Creating Trauma-Informed Schools

Department of Health and Human Services

This webpage features tools and materials to help educators, school staff, and administrators understand and respond to the specific needs of traumatized children in a school setting.

Report

Social Media and Youth Mental Health - The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory

Department of Health and Human Services, 2023

This advisory describes the current evidence on the impacts of social media on the mental health of children and adolescents. It states that we cannot conclude social media is sufficiently safe for children and adolescents and outlines immediate steps to mitigate the risk of harm to children and adolescents.

Filter Resources

All Mental Health Resources

The federal government identified additional resources that highlight strategies for school safety. Use these resources to learn more about mental health.

Guidance

Supporting Students Experiencing Trauma During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Department of Education, June 2020

For many students, the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding traumatic experiences for diverse reasons, such as potential increased incidents of neglect, abuse, and isolation.

Guidance

Ready, Set, Go, Review: Screening for Behavioral Health Risk in Schools

Department of Health and Human Services, 2019

This guidance is designed to help schools through the process of developing comprehensive screening procedures, as well as provide readily available resources to facilitate the implementation of effective behavioral health screening in schools.

Organization

National Coordinating Committee on School Health and Safety (NCCSHS)

Department of Health and Human Services, October 2018

The National Coordinating Committee on School Health and Safety (NCCSHS) provides guidance to bring together federal agencies and national organizations to support programs in our nation's schools that promote healthy, safe and academically successful students.