Traumatic events are becoming more prevalent in youth, especially considering the increase in disaster exposure, impacting the wellbeing and mental health of youth. Youth in rural communities are more adversely impacted due to a lack of access to available support and services. Interventions geared toward treating traumatic stress are needed for…

School absenteeism among children and adolescents has been associated with a myriad of adverse outcomes. Despite a substantial amount of research on school attendance, our understanding of absenteeism in elementary-aged children with mental health difficulties is limited. The current study used a mixed-method sequential explanatory design to gain…

Schools have the unique opportunity to identify and refer youth at risk for suicide. School-based gatekeeper training programs aim to improve staff's ability to talk to students about mental health concerns and refer them for an assessment. Unfortunately, progress in evaluating the available programs has been limited. In fact, the popular and…

Although the education sector has been referred to as the "de facto" mental health system for children and adolescents, such statements obscure the tremendous heterogeneity of school-based mental health (SMH) initiatives. This study asked how different school contexts and SMH provider types may influence different aspects of SMH service…

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…

Most youth with serious mental health concerns are unable to access needed psychiatric care in a timely manner. The Bridge program was designed to overcome this common barrier to care. This school-based psychiatric program provides initial services within school buildings in coordination with school personnel and provides youth with ongoing…

Baltimore City Public Schools' school-based mental health program sought to reduce barriers to treatment for students by providing on-site mental health care. This study examines differences in treatment attendance, dropout, and pharmacologic referral among students enrolled in the Johns Hopkins affiliated program. Enrolled student records for…

This paper describes a school-based mental health model for identifying, intervening, and referring students who are at risk for, or are exhibiting, mental health problems. This paper describes the County Schools Mental Health Coalition as a model for improving mental health outcomes for youth. The County Schools Mental Health Coalition, referred…