Mental Health in Schools: Addressing Social Problems

1. Mental Health
in Schools
An Issue and Social Need
regarding the health and
wellbeing of our child &
adolescent students.
By Alexandra Rupp

2. Social Problem Presentation
Mental Health in Schools
Alexandra Rupp
SWRK 525: Social Work Policy and Service
November 17, 2014
Nikola Alenkin, LCSW

3. The Audience for this
presentation
 Public and Private School Personnel
 Elementary, Middle, and High School Teachers and Staff
 School Board Members
 State elected Officials
 Members of the U.S. Federal Government
 U.S. Congress
 U.S. Department of Education
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

4. The Issues
 High student and teacher drop out rates
 Continuing achievement gap
 High number of low performing schools
 Lack of resources, ill-trained and informed educators
 Growing behavioral concerns in the classroom
 Escalation of school violence and mass shooting in the
school environment
 Increase in trauma events experienced by students
 Physical and Sexual abuse, death, violence
 Proliferation of mental health issues in children and
adolescents
 Substance abuse, delinquency, emotional upset,
relationship difficulties
 Rise of risk-producing conditions that can be barriers to
learning

5. The Problem in Focus
Mental Health in schools is being marginalized!
Diverse school and community resources are attempting to address
complex, multifaceted, and overlapping psychosocial and mental health
concerns in highly fragmented and marginalized ways.
Why?
 Schools are not in the mental health or social service business
 Their mandate is to educate-Thus, they tend to view any activity not directly
related to instruction as a secondary responsibility (SMHP, 2014)
 Mental Health Stigma
 People term mental health with mental illness
 Mental health is defined, de facto, as the absence of problems
 There is a lack of emphasis on promoting positive social and emotional
development for all
 This is unfortunate given that the problems experienced by youngsters are
psychosocial (i.e. stem from socio-cultural and economic factors) not
psychopathological and often can be countered through promotion and
prevention
This has led to redundancy, inappropriate competition, and inadequate results.

6. The Facts
 52 million students in the U.S.A (SSWAA, 2013)
 25% of children and adolescents experience depression, anxiety or substance
abuse disorders in a given year (CHHCS, 2013)
 1 in 5 students (ages 9 to 17) are seen as experiencing the signs and
symptoms of a DSM-IV disorder during the course of a year (ACA, 2013)
 2.4 million youths report using illegal drugs within a given year
 50% of students at large urban schools are manifesting significant behavior,
learning, and emotional problems (SMHP, 2014)
 4 out of 5 students don’t receive the mental health services and help they
need! (SMHP, 2014)
 13-20% of children living in the U.S. experience a mental illness and
surveillance over the past two decades has shown the prevalence of these
conditions to be increasing
The Reality of these trends: the mental health problems of most youngsters
are not rooted in internal pathology. Many troubling symptoms would not
develop if environmental circumstances were appropriately different!

7. Risk-Producing Conditions causing
Learning Barriers & Mental Health
Concerns
Neighborhood
 Extreme economic deprivation
 Community disorganization
 Violence, drugs, etc.
 Minority and/or immigrant status
Family
 Chronic Poverty
 Conflict/disruptions/violence
 Substance abuse
 Models problem behavior
 Inadequate provision for quality
child care
School and Peers
 Poor quality school
 Negative encounters with teachers
 Negative encounters with peers
&/or inappropriate peer models
Individual Factors
 Medical Problems
 Neurodevelopmental delay
 Psychophysiological problems
 Difficult temperament & adjustment
problems
 Inadequate nutrition

8. Who is being impacted by the
lack of mental health services?
The Future of our Society,
Child and Adolescent
Students

9. The Bottom Line
In order for students to succeed and schools to
function satisfactorily, mental health concerns must
be addressed!
Mentally healthy children and adolescents develop the ability
to experience a range of emotions in appropriate and
constructive ways: possess positive self-esteem and a respect
for others; and harbor a deep sense of security and trust in
themselves and the world. Mentally healthy children and
adolescents are able to function in developmentally
appropriate ways in the contexts of self, family, peers, school,
and community. Building on a foundation of personal
interaction and support, mentally healthy children and
adolescents develop the ability to initiate and maintain
meaningful relationships and learn to function productively in
the world (National Center for Education in Maternal and Child
Health, 2012)

10. The Mental Health in Schools Act
of 2013
 The Mental Health in Schools Act of 2013 is a bill to amend
the Public Health Service Act, to revise and extend projects
relating to children and violence, to provide access to school-
based comprehensive mental health programs.
 The purpose of this act is to ultimately provide more access
and comprehensive school-based, mental health services and
support.
 It amends the Public Health Service Act to revise a community
children and violence program to assist local communities and
schools in applying a public health approach to mental health
services, including by increasing funds and providing for
comprehensive school mental health programs that are
culturally and linguistically appropriate, as well as trauma-
informed, and age fitting (Mental Health Act, 2013).

11. The Mental Health in Schools Act
of 2013 (cont.)
 Requires a comprehensive school mental health
program funded under this Act to assist children in
dealing with trauma and violence.
 The Act will expand access to mental health services
in schools. It will establish a grant program to support
schools that work with educational and community-
based organizations to expand access to mental
health services for students.
 will also provide assistance to schools to train staff,
volunteers, families, and other members of the
community to recognize the signs of behavioral and
mental health problems in students and how to utilize
their resources for help. (ACA, 2014)

12. Organizations and
Institutions working to address this problem
 Alliance for Children and Families
 American Counseling Association
 American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry
 American Academy of Pediatrics
 American Association for Marriage and Family
Therapy
 American Mental Health Counselors Association
 American Psychiatric Association
 American Psychoanalytic Association
 American Psychological Association
 American School Counselor Association
 American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry
 Child Welfare League of America
 Clinical Social Work Association
 Confederation of Independent Psychoanalytic
Societies
 Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders
 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
 Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy &
Action
 Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
 Mental Health America
 School Social Work Association of America
 National Alliance on Mental Illness
 National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health
 National Association for Children’s Behavioral Health
 National Association of Pupil Services Administrators
(NAPSA)
 National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems
 National Association of School Psychologists
 National Association of Social Workers
 National Association of State Directors of Special
Education
 National Association of State Mental Health Program
Directors
 National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
 National Council for Community Behavioral
Healthcare
 National Disability Rights Network
 National Latino Behavioral Health Association
(NLBHA)
 National PTA
 And Many, many more….
In addition to this list, an outstanding number of
congress men and women, along with other
political officials, support the implementation of
Mental Health Programs in Schools!

13. References
ACA (2013). American Counseling Association. Retrieved November 11, 2014
from http://www.counseling.org.
Center for Mental Health in Schools (2014). School Mental Health Project
(SMHP). Retrieved November 16, 2014 from
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu.
CHHCS (2013). The Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. Retrieved
November 10, 2014 from www.healthinschools.org.
Mental Health in Schools Act of 2013, H.R. 628, 113th Cong. (2013). Retrieved
November 16, 2014 from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hr628ih/
pdf/BILLS-113hr628ih.pdf.
SAMHSA (2013). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Retrieved November 17, 2014 from http://www.samhsa.gov.
SSWAA (2013). School Social Work Association of America. Retrieved
November 9, 2014 from www.sswaa.org.