Safe Schools/Healthy Students: A Unique Federal Initiative to Promote Safe and Healthy Environments in School Settings Read Comments | Post Your Own Comment Schools are a natural setting for children and youth. Viewed as one of many sectors that are part of a public health approach, schools influence the social and emotional well-being of young people through the environments within the school building, classrooms, playgrounds and the relationships and connectedness within the school community including families, primary caregivers, teachers, administrators, students and others. While all children and youth benefit from positive social and emotional skills, approximately 20% of youth need mental health interventions. Many children who need mental health services do not receive them. Most mental health services that children and youth do receive, are not likely to occur in the specialty mental health sector but in public schools (Rones & Hoagwood, 2000; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999, 2001). Schools have become a de facto mental health system for children. Mental health services and supports linked with schools are contributing to improvements in academic outcomes. Education and mental health are key partners in a comprehensive public health strategy to improve outcomes for the national children and youth. A shift away from children’s individual mental health problems and towards strengthening the mental health of all children requires working collaboratively within school settings. It also requires working with community partners and engaging schools, the child mental health care system, the public health system, and all the other settings and structures that impact children’s well-being. These different settings shape the experiences and environments in which children and youth live, work and play. These experiences and environments, both positive and negative, influence the choices that children make and make healthy decisions more or less possible for children and their families. The Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program (Systems of Care), funded by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and Safe Schools/Healthy Students also funded by CMHS/SAMHSA in close partnership with the US Departments of Education and Justice, address the well-being of children and youth through the development of school and community-based systems that focus on promotion, prevention, early identification and treatment. Gains made by youth in both these programs frequently translate to improvements in academic, behavioral and other educational outcomes. These and other federal children’s programs help to create environments that support all children and families including those with identified problems. In a public health approach, these two important programs, included in the federal and SAMHSA portfolio are valuable interventions that are part of a comprehensive public health approach that benefits all children. Capturing SS/HS Experience through Local Outcomes
Since its inception in 1999, the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative has reached 336 school districts located in rural, urban, and suburban settings in 49 of the 50 states. Local communities participating in the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative indicate that this federal program has changed their community for the better and in many cases, for the long term. Many of the programs and services started under the initiative continue through partnerships begun by this program. Understanding Risk and Protective Factors and the Public Health Approach The SS/HS Initiative draws from research demonstrating that disruptive behaviors in children and adolescents can be traced to early risk factors that can be detrimental to a child’s mental health. Such factors include:
A Child having…
Nearly half of children entering kindergarten in the U.S. experience at least one risk factor and many of these factors can be helped by a health program. Additionally, research and practice show that protective factors in a child, their family, and their community can help boost a child’s chance of healthy social and emotional development. Such factors include:
Research has shown that when interventions are directed at risk and protective factors rather than categorical problem behaviors, it is both feasible and cost-effective to address multiple outcomes using a coordinated set of programs. Based on this research, grantees are supported in the use of a public health approach in their projects that involves four steps:
Building Powerful Partnerships to Support Youth In each SS/HS community, diverse groups come together to share expertise, pool resources, and build joint programs to create safer schools and healthier students through systems change. This collaboration ensures efficiency and effectiveness of programs as well as builds key interagency relationships that are critical to sustaining this type of community-based effort over time. To ensure a comprehensive approach that builds on the strengths of community partners, SS/HS grantees are expected to integrate core elements into their programs, including:
While the 37 SS/HS grantees profiled in the monograph implemented diverse community-specific programs, they all met the following key outcomes:
By requiring communities to carry out evidence-based interventions to address the identified health and safety needs of children and families in their communities and to forge broad-based partnerships, the SS/HS Initiative has judiciously invested federal resources, producing exceptional results in schools and communities across the nation.
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Safe Schools/Healthy Students is a program that is making a difference.
