Across the United States, the number of children with mental health conditions has continued to rise. However, access and utilization of mental health services vary greatly. School-based mental health complements comprehensive school counseling and provides an opportunity for K-12 students to receive needed treatment they may not otherwise have…

This qualitative, exploratory, comparative case study examined plant-based innovations in Title I PK12 public-school nutrition programs (PSNPs) in the context of the School Health Index (SHI) and Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) objectives. The study explored the perceptions of PK12 superintendents, school board members, nutrition…

To provide access to timely youth psychiatric care, the Bridge Program: School-Based Psychiatry provides interim, school-based psychiatric services by child psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse case managers at no cost to families. In its first year, Bridge served 394 youths, mostly from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, within 10 days of…

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a content-based workshop on public school special education team members knowledge and perceptions towards the identification of students with mental health challenges. Participants were professional public school employees from a public school district in southeastern Massachusetts.…

School-based mental health services are those delivered by school-employed and community-employed providers in school buildings. With the implementation of provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) that funds school-based health centers, school-based mental health services could become more broadly available in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how a Canadian intervention based on a professional development (PD) model did or did not influence schools' capacities to absorb a Healthy School (HS) approach into their operations. This study is the second part of a research project: previously published results regarding this research…

It is the position of the American Dietetic Association (ADA), School Nutrition Association (SNA), and Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) that comprehensive, integrated nutrition services in schools, kindergarten through grade 12, are an essential component of coordinated school health programs and will improve the nutritional status, health,…

Background: Although models such as the coordinated school health program (CSHP) are widely available to address student health needs, school professionals have been unconvinced that scarce resources should be allocated to improving student health. Concern that attention may be diverted from meeting academic accountability goals is often seen as a…

Evidence-based substance use prevention programs have proliferated in schools and are being adopted by districts in rural settings and internationally. Little attention, however, has been paid to the adaptation process that occurs when these programs are moved to different contexts. In this commentary, the authors draw upon their experience with…

Examines how student health care in a K-8 Title I district functioned overall and how school administrators interacted with on-campus health care providers. Minorities received inadequate care. Administrators did not routinely associate students' health with their school performance and were not adept at assisting providers. (Contains 65…

Describes a comprehensive, day treatment program conducted in public school classrooms for children with serious emotional disorders (SED) and presents data evaluating program efficacy. At the 9-month follow-up, 50.7% of the sample showed overall symptom reduction, and 27.5% scored below clinical cutoff levels, indicating remission of symptoms to…

Special education for students with emotional and behavioral disorders has a substantial history. The most effective programs feature systematic, databased interventions, continuous assessment and monitoring of progress, specifically matched and multicomponent treatment, provision for guided practice of academic and social skills, programming for…

Background: School health education can effectively help reduce the prevalence of health-risk behaviors among students and have a positive influence on students' academic performance. This article describes the characteristics of school health education policies and programs in the United States at the state, district, school, and classroom…

"Hypertension Alert," a 1979-80 blood pressure screening-awareness project of the Yonkers, New York Public Schools, is described. Data is analyzed in tables for ethnic composition, and range of blood pressure readings for the high school, junior high school, and elementary school students tested. (Author/JMK)