School-Based Mental Health

Challenge

The U.S. Surgeon General and several professional pediatric organizations declared a rare National State of Emergency as children’s mental health statistics reached unprecedented levels. National data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 44 percent of students reported depressive symptoms, 20 percent recently considered suicide, and 9 percent have attempted suicide. The Carolinas have seen similar trends, with youth suicides doubling in the last decade and becoming the second leading cause of death in 10 – 18-year-olds. These alarming spikes affect our children’s physical and emotional well-being, hinder their ability to learn, and set up barriers that can negatively impact their long-term health and educational progress.

Researchers point to the growing use of social media, increased social isolation, academic pressure and limited access to mental health providers as contributing factors. There is increased recognition of the need to support prevention and youth resiliency in community settings. There needs to be a shift from a reactive system to one that can provide individual and population support for overall health and well-being.

Our Objective

Our goal is to ensure that all children are healthy and ready to learn, and that no child is struggling with preventable health or mental health conditions. With limited funds, we fund programs that contribute to building evidence of effectiveness and have potential for scale and sustainability.

Through our grantmaking, we seek to support communities in the development of comprehensive and integrated systems of care for school-age children, emphasizing universal services and supports. This focus includes the promotion of positive social and emotional skills, reduced prevalence of mental health disorders, and improvements in early identification and intervention. We seek to advance our understanding of ​“what works” to build the evidence base for effective program models.

What We Fund

We prioritize innovative models of care that seek to understand root causes and provide mental health and well-being services that emphasize prevention and resiliency in a school-based setting. Schools are a natural place for partners to collaborate, and they already take a preventive, multi-tiered approach for academic performance and behavioral trends. We also support investments that change systems, including policy and regulation reforms supporting models that increase access, screening, early identification and intervention services focusing on vulnerable populations.