Although it is known some youth access mental health services more readily than others, most service use studies used variable-centric approaches that produced heterogeneous groups and results that require parents and educators to understand diagnostic categories. Person-centered approaches group youth with similar patterns of behavioral and…

Background: This article discusses the importance of screening students in schools for emotional/behavioral problems. Methods: Elements relevant to planning and implementing effective mental health screening in schools are considered. Screening in schools is linked to a broader national agenda to improve the mental health of children and…

Expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs, the focus of this special issue, provide comprehensive mental health care to youth in general and special education through partnerships between schools and community mental health agencies and programs. As these programs progressively develop in the United States, there is a critical need to build…

For expanded school mental health programs to feature improved access, increased productivity, and improved behavioral outcomes, researchers, school-based mental health service providers, and educators must collaborate to move them beyond limiting constructs and approaches. The paper reviews these issues and offers an example of an ideal approach…

Describes an expanded school mental health framework and its goal of improving the mental health status of children and adolescents through collaboration. Addresses current challenges including building advocacy, improving funding, increasing capacity, enhancing quality, and using and expanding the evidence base for mental health in schools. (SD)

Psychosocial differences between 56 adolescent urban school-based clinic users and 108 nonusers were examined, considering the influence of gender. While a number of gender differences were noted, differences between clinic users and nonusers were limited. Nonusers were rated as more socially withdrawn by their peers. (SLD)

Describes the expanded school mental health (ESMH) programs that have developed over the past decade. These programs augment existing services provided by schools and help assure that a comprehensive range of services (assessment, prevention, case management, and treatment) are available to youth in special and regular education. Shares…

This article assesses the relation between health risk behaviors and varying levels of exposure to violence in an effort to inform assessment and intervention efforts of a school-based mental health program serving inner-city youth. Health risk behaviors such as involvement in violence, risky sexual behavior, and substance use are clearly…