Depressed, disconnected, and distraught: School-based mental health intervention for rural youth.

Abstract

COVID-19 burdened public school systems with significant increases in depression, anxiety, and stress experienced by rural, school-aged youth. Before the pandemic, many rural school systems faced challenges facilitating mental health care to their student learners. In addition, families and children in rural localities experience barriers, including transportation, a lack of providers, and mental health stigma resulting in difficulty accessing treatment. A rural public school system in Central Virginia addressed these challenges through collaboration with a community behavioral health agency to embed counselors, case managers, and a family peer recovery specialist (PRS) in the schools. This approach aimed to reduce transportation barriers, increase engagement through purposeful connection with caregivers by the PRS, and link youth and families to resources through the case manager. Lessons learned for other rural localities considering embedded mental health services in schools include using stakeholder feedback to inform programming, leveraging community collaboration to address obstacles such as staff recruitment, and engaging parents and caregivers through family peer support. Public Health Significance StatementThis program description article presents the development of embedded behavioral health services in a rural public school system in Central Virginia. The school system and a local public behavioral health agency partnered to embed counseling, case management, and family peer support to address the increase in youth with mental health concerns as manifested in the school setting.