School Behavioral Health Policy and Research

Prioritizing Youth

The Commission in 2016 launched its Schools and Mental Health Project, exploring opportunities to support the mental health needs of California’s K-12 students. Commissioner and Superintendent of the Sacramento County Office of Education, Dave Gordon, chaired the subcommittee leading that effort.

In November of 2020, the Commission published its School Mental Health Project report, Every Young Heart and Mind: Schools as Centers of Wellness, the result of extensive community engagement and research on comprehensive school mental health systems.

 

Schools and Mental Health Project Recommendations

In its Schools as Centers of Wellness report, the Commission highlighted three broad recommendations:

  1. The State should establish collaborative leadership to enable its agencies, local governments, and local educational entities to develop a statewide strategy for making schools into centers of wellness.
  2. The State should protect against economic fluctuations by making multi-year investments that increase services in schools while also building a strong workforce, data management systems and sustainable school mental health systems.
  3. The State should provide technical assistance to help schools, health agencies, and other community partners to integrate systems better, adopt proven practices, and drive continuous improvement.

The Commission is implementing the second and third recommendations through BHSSA funding and continues to build collaboration across State and local agencies and communities.

 

BHSSA Evaluation

In Fiscal Year 2019-20, the Legislature adopted the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSSA), which made $50 million available for the Commission to implement a grant program supporting partnerships between education and behavioral health. Read more about the Commission’s BHSSA implementation efforts on its project page. 

To evaluate the effectiveness of BHSSA programs, the Commission studies outcomes. Read more about the Commission’s evaluation goals, planning, and workgroup at the BHSSA Evaluation and Evaluation Workgroup page.