School Mental Health

Child Trends’ school mental health work identifies and supports policies, programs, and practices that bolster students’ mental and emotional well-being. This work is grounded in the public health approach, which is a tiered approach that emphasizes the promotion of mental well-being and the prevention of mental illness.  Our work aims to improve coordinated mental health services at schools; expand the availability of school-based mental health services in all 50 states; improve school-based mental health services; increase lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) youth’s access to social and psychological services and improve their experiences with these services; and identify evidence-based solutions to address COVID-19-related mental health emergencies in youth.