Student mental health needs continue to rise across the United States and many students and families rely on schools to provide services to meet these needs. Yet, an overwhelming number of available frameworks and approaches to school mental health (SMH) and overlapping terminology surrounding SMH supports like trauma-informed (TI) approaches,…

Schools in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse, and more culturally and linguistically competent school psychologists are needed to ensure all students receive the services they need to succeed. As schools in the United States grow increasingly diverse, effective interventions are essential for meeting the needs of emergent…

Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) experience more significant mental health concerns compared to their cisgender and heterosexual peers, especially within recent years, as a result of the relentless political attacks on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community. Given that youth…

Forcibly displaced youth (FDY) are young people who have resettled in the United States as refugees, asylees, or asylum seekers. FDY access schools almost immediately upon their arrival, which creates an opportunity to address social-emotional needs while providing instruction in the English language and academic content (Fazel et al., 2016; Tyrer…

There are many integrated Multi-tiered Systems of Support (iMTSS), which we refer to as integrated-tiered systems. These systems hold benefits for students with disabilities, as such systems have the potential to facilitate inclusion and focus the collective expertise of educators committed to meeting students' multiple needs. The Comprehensive,…

In this article we propose a model of collaboration for school teams as a guide to the provision of effective, individualized and culturally responsive school-based mental health supports. When school teams embark on this process, they must be ready to provide a continuum of care within a comprehensive plan. Collaboration is essential when working…

This "Equity by Design Research Brief" describes the foundational principles underpinning multitier systems of support, challenging common usage of the approach to label students. Whether imparted explicitly or implicitly, the inclination to identify and treat individuals--as opposed to addressing specific behavioral and learning…

This document provides information to contextualize Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (PBIS) in the classroom for deaf students to better address unique needs and create more effective learning environments. Guided by PBIS core features, "top ten" practices are identified to support and respond to students' social,…

School counselors play an instrumental role in advancing equity and access for students through tiered supports and specifically group counseling. In this article, we propose the need to move away from a deficit-based model of groups focused on student skill gaps. First, we outline a culturally sustaining group approach that focuses on students'…

Currently many schools engage in a systematic process, called a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), that simultaneously accounts for every student's academic progress and instructional needs. A central tenet of an MTSS framework is providing remedial, increasingly intensive, small group instruction to students who are not demonstrating…

Anyone who works in a school setting keenly feels the impact of COVID-19 on youth and families. They can remember the exhaustion and dysfunction that rippled out during the pandemic, and they can still see it today. The School Behavioral Health Academy (SBHA) responded to the youth mental health crisis by creating an online learning management…

Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) teams use data to match student needs with an appropriate Tier 2 intervention. School counselors mobilize quickly to provide evidence-based and culturally affirming interventions. We present a compilation of best practices for delivering culturally affirming, small-group Tier 2 interventions with fidelity.…

The IDEA requires schools to evaluate and provide services to students who have a mental health issue that is deemed an educational disability or a mental health issue that is comorbid with an educational disability. Etscheidt and colleagues (this issue) propose a six component approach to securing school-based mental health services for students…

The integration of behavioral health services in primary care has become increasingly popular in pediatric settings in recent years. While there are various models of integrated behavioral health (IBH), the aim is constant: to increase access to behavioral and mental health care through collaboration between behavioral health providers and…

With approximately $1.2 billion allocated to K-12 education through pandemic funding, West Virginia has the opportunity to utilize those dollars over the next 3 years to benefit its children. This infographic highlights the problems and possible solutions of supporting the mental health needs of West Virginia students.