Equitable practices in school mental health

Abstract

Given the prevalence and negative outcomes associated with untreated mental health concerns, there is an urgent need for schools to enhance their capacity to prevent, identify, and address these needs. This is particularly important for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, who are more likely to be underserved and face barriers to mental health treatment. Current methods of addressing mental health at school are reactive and insufficient, failing to address the needs of all students. Without an explicit focus on dismantling systemic racism and inequity within schools, our society will continue to underserve those already disenfranchised. As such, this paper outlines the challenges as well as the importance of incorporating culture into a conceptualization of universal mental health in schools. We include state‐, district‐, and school‐level solutions in this conceptualization. Specifically, we propose sample solutions to the implementation of equity‐focused, comprehensive mental health practices within a multitiered system of support, focusing predominantly on universal (i.e., tier 1 level) practices.

Securing School-Based Mental Health Services Through a Six-Step IEP Approach

“…Mental health symptoms can be expressed differently for CLD students, making traditional tools questionable for determining SBMHS (DeBoer et al, 2022). In observation, students might conform to behaviors and values consistent with the majority culture rather than demonstrating sensitivity to students’ unique cultures (Fong et al, 2016).…”

Multi-tiered systems of support for school attendance and its problems: An unlearning perspective for areas of high chronic absenteeism

“…Malone et al (2021) also emphasized the importance of cultural relevance for Tier 2 systems with respect to language, goals, program content, and local community context; other recommendations included helping students navigate hostile racial school climates and promote racial identity development as well as engaging stakeholders who reflect the values and culture of students in various interventions. Others have discussed the need for enhanced equity in Tier 2 interventions involving special education as well as access to culturally responsive interventions (DeBoer et al, 2022;Raviv et al, 2022). Tier 2 approaches for these areas must also fully incorporate trauma-informed practices given elevated rates of adverse child experiences that impact school attendance (Stempel et al, 2017).…”