Mental Health Screenings: Practices and Patterns of These and Other Health Screenings in U.S. School Districts

Schools' health screenings can identify students' missed health concerns. Data from the 2016 School Health Policies and Practices Study were used to determine the proportion of U.S. school districts with physical and mental health screening policies and the proportion that arrange off-campus mental health services. We also examined differences between districts with and without mental health screening policies regarding having physical health screening policies, patterns of these policies, and off-campus mental health service arrangements. Eleven percent of districts had no policies on any of the four physical health screenings assessed, and 87% lacked policies on mental health screenings, the latter especially concerning considering the impact of COVID-19. Districts with policies on mental health screenings were significantly more likely to have body mass index (p < 0.01) and oral health (p < 0.001) screening policies, and to arrange for off-campus case management (p < 0.001), family counseling (p < 0.05), group counseling (p < 0.01), self-help (p < 0.05) and intake evaluation (p < 0.05).