Official websites use .gov
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
Addressing youth substance use through school services and supports: lessons from the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Mexico
Addressing youth substance use through school services and supports: lessons from the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Mexico
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Allen, Eva H., author
Payton, Maya, author
Clemans-Cope, Lisa, author - Contributor(s):
- Health Policy Center (Urban Institute), issuing body
Urban Institute, issuing body. - Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, July 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Adolescent
Child
Community Resources
Health Equity -- economics
Health Policy
School Mental Health Services -- organization & administration
Social Mobility
Substance-Related Disorders -- prevention & control
District of Columbia
Massachusetts
New Mexico - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Schools play a crucial role in children’s lives, extending beyond solely providing education to support youth’s healthy social and emotional development. The importance of schools became even more apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic; policymakers, educators, parents, and children’s advocates became concerned about not just the loss of learning but the loss of nonacademic supports in schools, such as food assistance and access to health care and social services, for millions of children and their families. With growing behavioral health care needs among school-age children and youth fueled by the pandemic, states, communities, and school districts have increasingly been looking for ways to better support youth’s mental health and well-being (US Department of Education 2021). Though much attention is given to youth mental health, addressing unhealthy substance use is equally important for young people’s healthy social and emotional development and can prevent both short-term harms (such as negative impacts on educational goals or family and peer relationships) and lifelong chronic substance use disorders. Adolescents with substance use disorders also have high rates of co-occurring mental illness, and, as such, one cannot be addressed without the other. This brief examines approaches to address youth substance use in schools that were implemented before the pandemic. Drawing on information from publicly available sources and interviews with key informants in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Mexico (box 1), we find that (1) youth substance use services are mostly siloed from mental health care (2) Medicaid policy does not sufficiently support youth engagement and the provision of substance use prevention and early intervention services, (3) variation in school wellness culture and resources makes implementing universal policies and substance use interventions challenging, and (4) community partnerships and engagement are critical in extending supports and resources to youth within and beyond school walls. In the remainder of this brief, we provide background on the role of schools in addressing substance use and describe key features of school-based behavioral health initiatives in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and New Mexico. We then present key cross-cutting findings and their implications for the education and health care systems, philanthropy, and communities that can inform the design and implementation of school-based substance use initiatives to improve equitable access to and the quality of substance use services for youth.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (23 pages))
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918486687306676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918486687306676