Youth mental health concerns are on the rise and can have serious implications for student well-being and success (Clayborne et al., 2019). Consequently, more educators and mental health professionals are identifying mental health as an important student need (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2021). This report summarizes the key principles…

In Wisconsin, schools strive to create learning environments where all students and staff feel healthy, safe, supported, engaged, and challenged. To realize this vision, districts and schools partner with students, families, and the community to build a comprehensive school mental health system (CSMHS). A CSMHS increases health equity by ensuring…

Research suggests that there are several positive impacts of mental health programming in K-12 educational settings, including improvements in students' overall health, academic and social outcomes. Additionally, comprehensive and effective school mental health systems can lead to a variety of beneficial outcomes for schools and communities,…

This briefing paper explores Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (Part C) programs may consider implementing to meet the social-emotional and mental health needs of infants and toddlers in the context of relationships with their parents and other caregivers.

American public education policy and practice has long focused on what can be done to meet the academic needs of all students during the school day. Today, more families and students are facing challenges outside of school that affect student academic performance in classrooms. Challenges such as homelessness, food security, mental health and…

As the infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH)-informed workforce adapted to the unexpected and challenging events brought on by COVID-19, associations for infant mental health (AIMHs), whose primary role is to support the workforce, stepped up and offered what very few organizations could during the onset of the pandemic: opportunities…

Emergency room (ER) visits for 12- to 17-year-olds suspected of attempting suicide increased 31 percent during the pandemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This trend was especially pronounced for girls, whose ER visits after suspected attempts were 50.6 percent higher in the winter of 2021 than during the…

Community colleges are mission-driven institutions committed to access and community needs. They serve a diverse population: The majority of students are employed, so they have to balance work with school; about one-third are first-generation, so they are navigating an unfamiliar system for the first time in their families; and 15% are single…

Social distancing and school closures forced by the COVID-19 pandemic present extraordinary challenges for education. While the nation is just beginning to understand the impact of the last few months and what the months ahead will mean for students, families, and educators, the depth of students' connectedness to school and the quality of their…

Since the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) launched the Collaborating States Initiative (CSI) to support social and emotional learning (SEL) in 2016, participation has grown dramatically. CASEL initially planned to work with five states. In the past two years, the CSI team and its partners have worked with 25,…

Early childhood professionals do many things to support young families. This is true now more than ever, as researchers continue to discover the long-term benefits of early, healthy, nurturing relationships. This article provides an overview of the development of an advanced practice perinatal depression algorithm created as a step-by-step guide…

Onunaku, Ahlers, and Gilkerson describe Illinois's effort to build infant mental health capacity within the Part C Early Intervention system and Wisconsin's effort to build capacity for infant and early childhood mental health services statewide across all systems that serve children. Because of multiple funding streams, families often experience…

The Illinois Social and Emotional Health of Infants, Toddlers and Their Families Committee hosted the Early Childhood Mental Health Regional Summit 2000 in November of 2000. Building on the momentum of the U.S. Surgeon General's first report on mental health, which underscores the importance of early preventive mental health services, this summit…

This Wiskid special report, the third in a series focusing on areas of child well-being in Wisconsin, focuses on issues related to childrens mental health. The first part of the report features the following articles: (1) Infant Mental Health: From Parenting to Policymaking (Raquel L. Reyes), introducing the concept of infant mental health and…

The report describes a 3-day, two-part (community education and in-home counseling) rural elderly mental health project conducted in Waushara County, Wisconsin, during 1980-81. The first section details activities of the two components and the second section reports the clinician's experiences in the project. As covered in the first section,…