Skip to content
Contact us

Mental Health Screening in Schools: How to Build a Strong Support Team

Embedding Screening Within a Larger System 

As stated in our previous entry, screening is not a standalone effort but rather part of a comprehensive school mental health (SMH) system. The burden of mental health disorders crosses multiple domains with nearly one in five children aged 3-17 experiencing behavioral or mental health issues (Whitney, & Peterson, 2019). Effective programs integrate screening into a broader framework, including: 

  • District and building-based SMH teams 

  • Resource mapping and needs assessments 

  • Mental health parent and student advisory councils 

  • Partnerships with local community-based mental health providers 

  • Targeted professional development, such as training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), treatment planning, and suicide risk assessment 

(Crocker, J., 2025) 

Guiding Questions 

Knowing that our effort to build a strong support team will be embedded within a larger system, let us take a look at some guiding questions to ask your district to test your readiness for a comprehensive team. 

  1. What methods will you employ to conduct resource mapping and needs assessments within your district when assembling your team (consider community health providers, counselors, nurses, etc.) 

  2. Who will provide specific interventions and supports at each tier to address varying student needs, and how will you ensure equitable access to supports across all tiers? 3. How will you ensure ongoing training and support for staff involved in mental health screening and intervention (e.g. professional development, suicide risk assessments, etc)? 

  3. What mechanisms will be in place to facilitate secure and effective data sharing among team members and with external partners? 

  4. What format and frequency will meetings follow to ensure meaningful discussions and decision-making, and who will be responsible for facilitating these meetings? 

These questions aim to guide the district in developing a comprehensive and integrated approach to mental health screening and support, ensuring that all aspects from framework integration to team effectiveness and community collaboration are considered. After your team provides preliminary answers to these questions, we will need to address any follow up questions, and also address the best way to gather the information and data to answer them. Building a strong support team requires an active approach towards establishing tiered systems

of support and identification of which team members will provide these services. While the training, roles and expertise of school-based mental health providers can vary, it is important for educational leaders to be able to find highly qualified practitioners to deliver these services (Frey., et al.). One such way of providing this alignment of school based mental health providers is commonly done through the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS). 

A Tiered System of Supports 

As we begin to assemble a school mental health team, it is important to consider the roles each team member will play when providing services to the students. The three tiered (or multi-tiered) system of support is a common way to align student needs with services and has been adopted by all 50 state education departments (Brindley., et al., 2024). A quality mental health system 

employs a multi-tiered approach to services and interventions. Generally speaking, students will receive support in one or more of these categories. 

  • Tier I (Universal): Promotion and prevention practices for all students, such as mental health literacy and universal screening. 

  • Tier II (Targeted): Support for at-risk students through interventions like group therapy and social skills programs. 

  • Tier III (Intensive): Individualized services for students experiencing significant mental health challenges, including therapy and wraparound care. 

Features of an Effective SMH Team 

To help assist with answering some of the guided questions posed earlier, it would be helpful to consider the different features of an effective school mental health team. An effective school mental health team is essential for implementing and sustaining a comprehensive screening program. Key characteristics include: 

  1. A multidisciplinary team with diverse expertise. 

  2. Streamlined operations to reduce redundancy and maximize efficiency. 3. A structured meeting process to maintain focus and productivity. 

  3. Systems to facilitate secure and effective data sharing. 

  4. Strong relationships with community mental health resources for seamless referrals. (Crocker, J., 2025) 

Now that we have discussed what comprises an effective team and have considered the variables required to build one, we can begin to reflect on creating the buy-in from key stakeholders within the district so that our team can maneuver fluidly within that system. In the next blog, we will take an in-depth look at what we can do to encourage a school environment conducive to school mental health support.

References 

Brindley, L., Bauer, P., Card, A. J., Crocker, J., Ialongo, N., & Tien, A. (2024). Bridging K-12 Student Mental Health Policy to Practice Gaps with a Multi-Component Framework. Administration and policy in mental health, 51(6), 1011–1019. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-024-01396-w 

Crocker, J. (2025). Resources. Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium. https://masmhc.org/resources/ 

Frey AJ, Mitchell BD, Kelly MS, McNally S, Tillett K. School-Based Mental Health Practitioners: A Resource Guide for Educational Leaders. School Mental Health. 2022;14(4):789-801. doi: 10.1007/s12310-022-09530-5. Epub 2022 Oct 13. PMID: 36258897; PMCID: PMC9559124. 

Whitney, D. G., & Peterson, M. D. (2019). US National and State-Level Prevalence of Mental Health Disorders and Disparities of Mental Health Care Use in Children. JAMA pediatrics, 173(4), 389–391. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.5399