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The Opportunity - School-Based Initiatives
Rady Children's seeks to collaborate with school districts to enhance their efforts to expand access on San Diego school campuses to a continuum of mental health services and support for children and their families. An investment now in the mental health and well-being of children in a comprehensive way has potential to affect long term change as children are the most important resource for future economic growth and societal sustenance. Prevention and early intervention for all children to identify and address mental health needs before symptoms exacerbate into more detrimental and costly concerns is essential.
One in every 5 children faces a behavioral health disorder-and less than 10% receive any kind of medical care for those disorders. Nationally, suicide is the second leading cause of death of youth ages 10 to 24 and San Diego has one of the highest incidence rates in the state of children and teens ending their lives. Kids whose first suicide attempt lands them in a local emergency department face a 15-20% readmission rate in the next month. The massive spike in behavioral health concerns necessitates a deliberate focus on early access, prevention and early intervention. Research reinforces that the time spanning childhood through adolescence is the most critical period in determining and improving lifetime mental and behavioral health outcomes.
Rady Children's is committed to ensuring that every child facing a mental or behavioral health challenge has the opportunity to live to his or her fullest potential, regardless of demographics or socioeconomic status, supported by an experienced team of clinical experts and powered by our system of care for the whole child's wellness. Now more than ever, it is time to reimagine how we partner with schools to promote the whole child wellness needs of students as early as possible, beginning in the elementary and middle school setting. Schools serve as an important anchor in the community, where children spend much of their time. Early intervention has the potential to create long lasting change by fostering supportive and safe environments where children feel that they belong, incorporating wellness modalities and mental health during the formative elementary and middle school-aged years.
Childhood should be a time of growth and positive experiences. However, many children struggle with social, emotional, and mental health challenges that impact their ability to fully participate in and benefit from their academic environment. Frequently in the school environment, such challenges are misinterpreted as disruptive, and students are not connected with needed support and services. Unmet needs may result in longer term social, emotional, or behavioral challenges. Schools are ideally positioned to recognize and address mental health concerns, as teachers are the most hands-on with students. Because they see children often and for long periods of time, they are able to notice changes in behavior or concerns related to other children their age. Across the country, schools are ill-equipped to provide necessary mental health screening and services to students in need. Research has shown that for children who have adverse childhood experiences and/or are at-risk for behavioral, developmental and neuro-developmental disorders, early intervention plays a vital role in mitigating long-term health consequences.
The Proposed Approach
Rady Children's proposes a partnership with Rotary Club to fund the development and dissemination of a "mental health first aid" curriculum for educators, school counselors and administrators, and caregivers that will focus on recognizing signs that children and youth are in mental distress and how to access care within the school setting, Rady Children's health system and the community. Once the curriculum has been developed, Rady Children's behavioral health experts will partner with Rotary to disseminate the training, leveraging Rotary's existing presence on many school campuses through the Interact Club. The number of schools Rady Children's will be able to partner with will increase with philanthropic support. The overarching goal is to identify, prevent, and address mental health issues among young children through a multi-pronged, strengths-based approach to whole child wellbeing.
Rady Children's believes that a multi-layered partnership with schools is critical to leveraging any solution to address the youth mental health crisis at scale and propel positive futures for students. Schools are in direct, regular communication with youth and parents. Teachers and other school personnel have significant influence on the social and emotional skill development of children. Rady Children's aims to work with schools to quickly identify mental health concerns such as anxiety or depression as early as possible and take preventative measures to ensure that the appropriate care and a support network is in place for a student within the school community and at-home.
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