About This Lesson
Across the United States, children’s mental health outcomes are trending in troublesome directions. As mandatory reporters of child maltreatment, concerns about mental health prompt many educators’ reports to child protective services agencies. But mandatory reporting rarely addresses root causes and serious needs. Indeed, students’ and caregivers’ struggles with mental health rarely put children in imminent harm.
This research and action brief with the George Washington University Center for Health and Health Care in Schools explores an escalating preventive approach to protect students’ emotional well-being and reviews examples from the Saint Paul Federation of Educators as well as Montgomery County (Md.) Public Schools.
