Session Overview: 

Schools are increasingly interested and engaged in universal mental health screening for students to inform early detection and intervention to promote student well-being. However, given the increase in child and adolescent mental health needs increasing over recent decades, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, social media, racial violence and other recent events, schools are understandably concerned about how they will practically and ethically meet the mental health needs of students if they conduct universal screening. This field example comes from Dr. Natasha Scott who talks about how the Cumberland County School System in North Carolina implemented screening into their school district.

View the full learning session on this topic here. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Increase understanding of how to prepare for and conduct mental health screening efforts in schools that protect against identifying more need than schools can address.
2. Increase familiarity with strategies to address student mental health needs for those who screen in for potentially needing supports.  
3. Promote cross-state networking and shared learning about how to address student mental health needs after screening in schools.