Children and Youth Mental Health: The Role of a Collaborative, School-Based Wraparound Support Intervention in Fostering Mental Health

There is an increased recognition that early mental health interventions are needed in response to a growing mental health crisis among children and youth. Schools are promising sites for early intervention because they have existing infrastructure for accessing and engaging with students. Specifically, collaborative initiatives involving community partnerships allow schools to leverage shared resources to deliver mental health support. However, more research is needed to guide the development and implementation of early interventions so that they effectively address the mental health needs of children and youth. Therefore, the present study explored the role of collaborative, school-based mental health services in fostering children and youth’s mental health, through All in for Youth, a wraparound model of support in Edmonton, Canada. Three research questions were addressed: (1) What mental health concerns do children and youth experience? (2) What are the factors that impact the use of collaborative school-based mental health services? (3) Does a collaborative school-based approach to mental health services lead to perceived mental health impacts among children and youth (i.e., emotionally, psychologically, and/or behaviourally)? A multiple methods secondary analysis was conducted to address this research inquiry. Interview and focus group data generated with students (n = 51 students; grades 2 – 9) and parents/caregivers (n = 18) across seven AIFY elementary and junior high schools were analyzed to understand participants’ experiences with collaborative, school-based mental health services. Additionally, school cohort data (n = 7 schools; n = 2,073 students) were analyzed with information on students’ socio-demographic characteristics and use of services across schools. The quantitative findings indicated that overall, n = 885 students (42.7%) accessed any type of mental health service across the seven schools, with close to equivalent service use by gender (50.2% male, 49.5% female, 0.3% genderqueer) and grade level (kindergarten – grade 9; M = 10%, SD = 1.9%, range = 6.3–13%). There was also high service use across diverse student statuses (Indigenous , 24.5%; Refugee, 9.5%; English language learner, 30.1%; specialized learning needs, 18.7%). Participants accessed mental health services in primarily individual or combined individual and group settings (72.9%) and as an informal, short-term client (75.1%). Furthermore, many service users went on to use two or more mental health services (42.2%). The interview and focus group findings revealed high mental health needs among students, which were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to these needs, a supportive school culture, adequate school communication, and a stable and well-resourced mental health workforce promoted access to collaborative, school-based mental health services. Finally, mental health services were described to support children and youth through the experience of having a supportive relationship with a safe and caring adult, developing an improved capacity to cope with school and life, and improved overall family functioning. The findings underscore the importance of developing school-based mental health services that recruit school-community partnerships on the delivery of services and take an ecological, wraparound approach to addressing students’ multi-faceted mental health needs. Study implications and future directions for research are discussed.

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