A New Focus for Schools

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL): One-fifth of students got some type of school-supported mental health services during the year, according to a study billed as the first national look at school system responses to mental health issues. Researchers with the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also found that 87 percent of the nation's public elementary, middle and high schools said they had made mental health services available to all students. Researchers say more schools are paying closer attention to children's mental health and early intervention services. Yet funding for such services is either static or dwindling even as the demand increases. The lack of insurance coverage for mental illness, along with a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists--especially in rural communities and impoverished urban areas--is a big part of the problem, child advocates say.