November
2005
National
School Mental Health Survey
November’s
Article of the Month is from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is a report on the national survey of
school mental health services and can be accessed at http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/sma05-4068/.
The report, titled School Mental Health Services in the United States,
2002–2003, contains a wealth of information about mental health supports
and services in schools across the nation. The following news release on
November 23, 2005 highlights some of the information:
SAMHSA RELEASES FIRST NATIONAL SURVEY OF SCHOOL
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
One-fifth of students
receive some type of school-supported mental health services during the school
year, according to a new national survey released today by the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Elementary, middle, and
high schools all cite social, interpersonal, or family problems as the most
frequent mental health problems for students.
Mental health problems are
broadly defined in the new publication, School Mental Health Services in the
United States, 2002-2003, covering a spectrum of concerns, from relatively
mild, commonly seem problems such as difficulty adjusting to a new school, to
more significant behavior problems such as bullying, to serious psychiatric and
developmental disorders. Mental health services were defined as those services
and supports delivered to individual students who have been referred and
identified as having psychosocial or mental health problems.
"Taking action to
address childhood mental health problems now can save lives, especially when
school personnel work with parents to identify children and intervene
appropriately before they develop significant problems," said SAMHSA
Administrator Charles Curie. "This new survey shows schools are responding
to the mental health needs of their students and provides new information on
how these services are organized, staffed, funded and coordinated."
Topics explored in the
survey report include types of mental health problems encountered in school
settings; types of mental health services that schools are delivering; numbers
and qualifications of school staff providing mental health services; types of
arrangements for delivering mental health services in schools, including
collaboration with community-based providers; and major sources of funding for
school MH services.
Findings include:
Virtually all schools reported having at least one staff member whose
responsibilities included providing mental health services to students. The
most common types of school mental health providers were school counselors,
followed by nurses, school psychologists, and social workers. School nurses
spent approximately a third of their time providing mental health services.
The report provides the
first national survey of mental health services in a representative sample of
the approximately 83,000 public elementary, middle, and high schools and their
associated school districts in the