The CDC has recently developed a new action guide for mental health and well-being for schools. Please see a brief description below and follow the links for more important information.

CDC recently released a school mental health action guide to support schools in their efforts to promote students’ mental health.

This action guide is a direct response to recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey findings, which show that adolescent mental health has been worsening for more than a decade and that key indicators of poor mental health have reached alarming levels. For instance, in 2021:

• More than 4 in 10 high school students experienced depressive symptoms
• 1 in 10 students attempted suicide during the previous year

We need to listen to what our young people are telling us and take action to reverse these trends. Promoting Mental Health and Well-Being in Schools: An Action Guide for School and District Leaders was created to provide K-12 schools with actionable strategies to help improve the mental health of their students. Schools are at the forefront of this crisis and reach nearly all youth in the U.S., and while mental and behavioral health services are essential for young people who need them, meeting the current need is a challenge. By providing education and early intervention strategies designed to reach large numbers of students, schools can promote positive behavioral and mental health and help reduce the need for services.

The CDC’s goal is to support schools as they work to support their students. The action guide describes six proven in-school strategies to promote and support mental health and well-being. The guide also describes specific approaches to put each strategy into action and examples of evidence-based policies, programs, and practices. Schools can improve their students’ mental health and well-being by putting any of these strategies in place:

• Increase students’ mental health literacy by delivering classroom-based mental health education curricula and implementing peer-led modeling programs.
• Promote mindfulness by delivering classroom-based mindfulness education, dedicating time for students to independently practice mindfulness, and offering small group mindfulness activities.
• Promote social, emotional, and behavioral learning by providing classroom instruction focused on building social skills and emotional development and offering targeted education focused on teaching social skills and emotional development.
• Enhance connectedness between students, staff, and families by providing relationship-building programs.
• Provide psychosocial skills training and cognitive behavioral interventions by engaging students in coping skills training groups and promoting acceptance and commitment to change.
• Support school staff well-being by offering mindfulness-based training programs and providing therapeutic resources.

These strategies can improve the mental health and well-being of students now, and also help ensure that the mental health and well-being of young people does not continue to worsen over the next decade.

I invite you to learn more about implementing these strategies and approaches by visiting the action guide webpages. I also encourage you to share the action guide with your constituents and school and district leaders so that we can reach as many students as possible.

There is nothing more important to the future of our country than the mental health and well-being of our young people. Working together, we can build a brighter future for our students and generations of students to come.

Contact us at [email protected] to find how we can help with your school or district’s mental health needs.