Schools provide a variety of mental health supports for at-risk students who struggle with mental health issues. Results of various student surveys indicate that a high percentage of K-12 students have evidence of significant mental health difficulties including anxiety, mood disorders and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms often are too severe for student support counseling services, and many districts have incorporated on-site, co-located diagnostic and treatment services provided by community mental health clinic personnel. Districts face the challenge of determining the best use of their financial allocations (e.g.,hiring a school counselor or social worker versus helping to subsidize several community mental health practitioners).
 
This consultation, provided to the Minnetonka, Minnesota school district, outlines how districts can utilize data-driven decisions in order to successfully meet the needs of vulnerable students.

Download or read the presentation, "Evaluation of Student and Family Well-Being in the Minnetonka School District." (172 pages)

COVID-19 has added a whole new dimension of challenges in addressing students’ mental health needs. In my latest article, I explore and outline some of these challenges and recommend a detailed expansion of Tier 1 services for students and staff, including a focus on lifestyle, self-mastery, mindfulness, and the cultivation of resilience. 

The 10-page paper, "Optimizing the Effectiveness of Mental Health Support Staff in Your District" covers many relevant angles of the situation facing educators, counselors, and mental health professionals. I discuss the following and other concerns:

• The roles of mental health support staff
• The pyramid (Multi-Tiered System of Support or MTSS) model
• Students' self-reported mental health disorders 
• Efficiency of service provision
• Elements of a school district mental health plan

I hope you find this information valuable to your school and school district. As always, I welcome your feedback!

H.L. Mencken famously said, “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”  

This is especially true in discussions about COVID-19 and school openings. The best overview of this issue that I have found is Michael Osterholm’s Weekly COVID-19 podcasts from the University of Minnesota Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP): https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/podcasts-webinars
Episodes 16 and 17 provide an in-depth analysis of this complex topic.  

I would highly recommend these podcasts to anyone who is seeking a thoughtful and thorough overview of the topic.

I am happy to announce the publication of the second edition of my book, “The Teacher’s Guide to Student Mental Health.” I have added a large amount of material directed towards both educators and mental health professionals.

​The new edition is now titled, “Student Mental Health: A Guide For Teachers, School and District Leaders, School Psychologists and Nurses, Social Workers, Counselors, and Parents.”

The book provides practical information, and outlines the nature of mental health disorders experienced by students. Student Mental Health: A Guide illustrates how these disorders manifest in the classroom, and describes what schools can do to successfully work with these students and their families.

My goal is to raise awareness regarding student mental health issues, and in so doing, to help these students become successful in school.

School districts often have medical plans, e.g., protocols for addressing chronic medical illnesses such as diabetes, asthma or infectious disease. They tend to not have mental health plans for working with students who have mood disorders, anxiety disorders, ADHD, etc.

Given the nature and extent of mental health disorders experienced by students, and the effect that these have on their education, a mental health plan makes sense.  

In this article, Creating a School District Mental Health Plan That Meets the Needs of Students Who Have Psychiatric Disorders, I lay out the essentials for creating a school district mental health plan, including roles and responsibilities, crisis intervention, educational planning, and other important considerations.

(Link: http://www.williamdikel.com/creating-a-school-district-mental-health-plan-that-meets-the-needs-of-students-who-have-psychiatric-disorders.html)

I am pleased to announce that the second edition of my book, “The Teacher’s Guide to Student Mental Health,” will be published soon by W.W. Norton. As feedback from a variety of school professionals was overwhelmingly in favor of expanding the audience to other professionals, the book will have the new title, “Student Mental Health,” with additional title material indicating that is a guide for teachers, school and district leaders, school psychologists, social workers. counselors, parents and clinicians. 

The book will have a significant amount of new information on topics, including:

• evidence-based educational interventions for students who have emotional and/or behavioral problems
  
• mental health related services on IEPs, drug use and special education
  
• creating district mental health plans
  
• how to handle mental health information in school files
  
• implications of payer of last resort requirements and of the criteria for the emotional disorder category of special education
  
• and much more. 
  

The book’s purpose is to explain, in lay terms, the essential information regarding the educational needs of students who have mental health disorders. The goal is to make schools a supportive environment and to improve educational outcomes for this vulnerable population of students.

Once again, America is confronted with yet another horrific school shooting, and news media is filled with articles 
about mental illness, violence, and what schools need to do.

My article, “School Shootings and Student Mental Health: What Lies Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg” puts the issue in perspective, and outlines practical steps that school districts can take to prevent violence while effectively addressing vulnerable students’ mental health needs.