Supporting Student Wellbeing
Mental disorders are the most common and disabling medical conditions impacting children. Up to one out of every five children has a diagnosable mental disorder. Local schools can be the first line of defense in identifying and responding to children’s mental health needs early before they become severe and disabling.
Comprehensive school mental health services that include a range of prevention, early intervention and intensive services and support can improve children’s mental health outcomes and increase their academic success.
The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) through its Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) component, mandates that the State and counties work together to prevent interrupted learning and early exit from school due to mental health needs. These partnerships support awareness and outreach to identify early signs of mental health challenges, reduce stigma and discrimination, and increase access to care.
In parallel, the Mental Health Student Services Act (MHSSA) seeks to provide comprehensive school-based mental health services to students and families by strengthening and building partnerships between county mental health or behavioral health departments and local education entities.
The Commission awards and administers grants to county mental health or behavioral health departments to fund these partnerships. Grants are used to provide support services that include, at a minimum, services that are provided on school campuses, to the extent practicable, suicide prevention, drop-out prevention, placement assistance, continuum-of-care for students in need of ongoing services, and outreach to high-risk youth, including foster youth, LGBTQ+ youth, and youth who have been expelled or suspended from school.
History
From the Schools and Mental Health Project to the MHSSA
The Commission in 2016 launched its Schools and Mental Health Project to explore opportunities to support the mental health needs of California’s K-12 students. Dave Gordon, Commissioner and Superintendent of the Sacramento County Office of Education, chaired the subcommittee leading that effort.
Early on, the Commission heard from community partners about the need to bring education and behavioral health agencies together to serve the mental health needs of students. As a result, the Commission began allocating grants for school-county partnerships in 2018, made possible by SB 82, a bill aimed at expanding mental health triage services throughout the state.
In November of 2020, the Commission published its School Mental Health Project report, Every Young Heart and Mind: Schools as Centers of Wellness, the result of extensive community engagement and research on comprehensive school mental health systems.
In Fiscal Year 2019-20, the Legislature adopted the MHSSA, which made $50 million available for the Commission to implement a grant program to support partnerships between education and behavioral health. MHSSA grants have been awarded in several phases as funding has been made available to expand the program.
Schools and Mental Health Project Recommendations
In its Schools as Centers of Wellness report, the Commission highlighted three broad recommendations:
- The State should establish collaborative leadership to enable its agencies, local governments, and local educational entities to develop a statewide strategy for making schools into centers of wellness.
- The State should protect against economic fluctuations by making multi-year investments that increase services in schools while also building a strong workforce, data management systems and sustainable school mental health systems.
- The State should provide technical assistance to help schools, health agencies, and other community partners to integrate systems better, adopt proven practices, and drive continuous improvement.
The Commission is implementing the second and third recommendations through MHSSA funding and continues to build collaboration across State and local agencies and communities.
Next Steps
The MHSSA is part of a broader investment in California’s children and youth behavioral health system. The Commission also has made key investments in youth drop-in centers, early psychosis programs, and opportunities to elevate youth voice to shape the design and delivery of mental health services and supports. The Commission works with other state agencies and participates in the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative to strengthen and align school mental health efforts across the State.
To ensure that the State is effective in establishing schools as centers of wellness, the Commission is :
- Holding quarterly collaboration meetings with MHSSA grant partners
- Designing an evaluation of MHSSA in partnership with WestEd
- Supporting statewide and local school mental health technical assistance
School Mental Health
Resources