Chapter 3: Exploring Individual School-Based Mental Health Direct Services in PreK-16 Settings

As societal and contextual factors place increasing amounts of pressure on students’ daily lives, it has highlighted the fact that mental health is instrumental to student success in PreK-16 students. This chapter explores school-based mental health services and interventions and their impact on student academics, attendance, and social-emotional success. In exploring the foundations and history, authors describe key features, issues, evidence-based practices, and recommendations for services. Through the context of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, it is necessary to provide aids to students with mental health diagnoses. Though it provides the basis for screenings and can be beneficial in this way, it is also essential to provide support and skills to all students—diagnosis or not—to allow for universal student success, academically and socially. Programming and intervention information is broken down according to grade level ranges to provide more relevant and impactful information.