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Federal governments must set aside money for all public schools. With that money,  the Mental Health in Schools Act must be enacted in all public high schools nationwide, and state governments will oversee this.

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According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, depression affects 1 in 8 adoloscents, which has drastically increased since 2005.
More than one-fifth of teenagers age 13 to 18 experience serious mental illness each year.( buffalo news)

When left untreated, mental health can lead to suicide, and is the seconding leading cause of death for 15 to 25 year olds. (health and human services)

The American Psychiatric Association defines mental disorders as patterns of symptoms that negatively affect a person's behavior, cognition, or emotional balance.

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By passing the Mental Health in Schools Act, federal funding will be provided to train school staff on mental health related issues, to establish  school-based mental health services and to create links between schools and the community mental health system.
This act will be funded through the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

A study in Maryland found significant decreases in depression among high school students who received school mental health treatment, with 89% reporting doing "much better/ better since starting treatment.

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-money problem, estimated to be 200 million dollar grant
-loss of time in class
-is it effective ( find proof that it is)

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Five things schools can do to help pupils’ mental health

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What schools should be doing to deal with the crisis in children’s mental health.

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About one in five children in the United States shows signs of a mental health disorder - anything from ADHD to eating disorders to suicide.

And yet, as we've been reporting this month, many schools aren't prepared to work with these students. Often, there's been too little training in recognizing the problems, the staff who are trained are overworked, and there just isn't enough money.

When there are enough people to handle the job, how should all the different roles fit together?

Many experts point to one model. It's got a bureaucratic name - the "multi-tiered system of supports" - but when you picture it, just imagine an upside-down pyramid, or maybe a funnel. It starts with support for everyone and moves on to more and more specialized help.
The Village
Here, everyone in the school has a part to play. The collective mission is broad: Create a school environment of general well-being, and a climate where mental health isn't stigmatized.

It takes a lot of planning - with big decisions often coming from the top. Just askAmanda Aiken.

She is now the Senior Director of Schools at New Orleans College Prep, a charter school network. But before that she was a principal at one of their schools, Lawrence D. Crocker College Prep.

In that role, she made a point to stand outside her New Orleans school every morning. When the buses drove in, she was at each door. Other staff were stationed at the front and back entrances.

Every student, from preschool to eighth grade, shook at least two hands before they even get inside the building.

Every student, every day?

Sometimes, Aiken conceded, it was a hug rather than a handshake.

"They hear a lot of good-mornings and a lot of how-are-you-doings," says Aiken. "I require that human touch."

Now her successor carries on that tradition.

But Aiken wasn't just being nice. It was strategic.

Many students at Crocker, part of a charter school network, have a higher risk for mental health problems. Most students receive free or reduced-price lunches, and Aiken estimates as many as 70 percent have experienced some form of trauma in the last two years: violence in their neighborhoods, family troubles, the daily stress of living in poverty.

"We need to make sure what we're doing is not retraumatizing," she says. "I see the principal as the leader in setting the tone and the culture of how school will support students and families."

That starts in the morning, but extends far beyond. Crocker is a "trauma-informed" school, which means all staff are trained on how to work with, and identify, students who have gone through trauma.

It also means they have a focus on structure, so students know what to expect. They also have a social-emotional curriculum, yoga after school and a focus on keeping suspension rates low through restorative justice.

"They aren't going to be prepared for college if they're suffering," Aiken says.

As principal, she tried to prevent crises, rather than addressing them as they come up.

"If you have everyone trained and take an 'it takes a village' approach, you can do a lot of preventative measures to reduce the risk significantly," says Aiken.

But, she adds, a healthy school environment isn't enough.

"Teachers are trained to teach. We have all taken a child psychology class, but we're not trained to work with kids with mental health needs," she says.

That's where other professionals come in.
The First Responders
When a student does show signs of trouble, one of the first steps is to talk with them. That conversation will dictate what happens next, but getting students to open up? It's easier said than done.

School social worker Ana Bonilla-Galdamez is a pro at that. Her office at Charles Barrett Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., is a testament to the different strategies she uses to unleash the gift of gab in even the most guarded of students.

There's a lot going on in there. First, there's her bookshelf, with titles like: Growing Good Kids, The Special Education Treatment Planner, Small Group Counseling.

And then there's everything else. She has a lot of board games: Candyland, Operation and her favorite, Uno. She also has art supplies, balls, a dollhouse and a sand box. A Superman doll sits in her chair, because even Superman has a weakness.

These are her tools. They help students open up, and they also help build the skills those kids will need throughout life, like managing emotions.

Although now at an elementary school, Bonilla-Galdamez spent most of her 20-year career at the high school level, working largely in what she describes as "crisis mode."

"We would think, 'Man, if we just had met this kid before,' " she says. A few years ago, a job opened up in the elementary school and she decided to apply.

"I thought, this is my chance to see where this starts," she says.

Early intervention for the child - and education for the parent - is key, she says. That's where the games in her office and the phone calls home come in.

"My job is to dig," she says, "For me to do that, I need to build the trust of the parent and the child."

She tells the story of the time a young mom came in, worried about her kindergarten son. He had been telling her he wanted to die. In her office, Bonilla-Galdamez let the boy choose whatever game he wanted. As he grew comfortable, she asked him about life at home.

"He had witnessed people being killed," she says. "He had witnessed a lot of violence."

What to do next all depends on what that child needs. That kindergartner might have ended up in a small group, working on coping skills or managing his emotions. But, in this case that wasn't the answer: She had also learned that the young boy had run out into traffic when he was upset.

"The threat was imminent, so I referred him to emergency services," says Bonilla-Galdamez. "Our environment isn't suited to clinical interventions."

At that point, Bonilla-Galdamez continued working with the family, but she also helped them connect to more specialized help, and the kindergartner moved on to the third level for more support.
Clinical Care
At this level, a doctor or therapist may get involved for the first time. Often, school plays a vital role in connecting the student to a clinic.

Vital, but not necessarily easy. When school psychologists Monique Leopold and Danielle Palmer refer students to a mental health clinic, they know that a lot of the time, the appointment never happens.

The two women have a handful of high-quality programs that they rely on for referrals near their schools - a network of public charter schools in the nation's capital called DC Prep. Sometimes though, families can't get an appointment for months. And when they do, with so many living in poverty, getting there is one more complication in already chaotic lives.

"It's not that [those families] don't love their kids, it's that they don't have the capacity," says Palmer.

And even when the students do get professional treatment or medication, sometimes prescriptions lapse before the child could be seen again.

"Triggers are brought from the community into school," says Leopold, "They go to school without what they need."

To try and meet those needs, DC Prep started a partnership with Children's National Health System. Now, a psychiatrist visits the schools once or twice each month.

"I told a family this morning, 'Listen, we have a doctor here,' " Leopold says, "and the mom's eyes lit up."

Lisa Cullins, one of those psychiatrists who visits, says school is a logical place for students to get clinical mental health care.

"At school, they're going to be there anyway. It's something they do everyday," she says. The partnership isn't just easy on families. It's also easier on her.

"To know our patients, we have to know their school setting," she says. "When I walk in, I have a comprehensive packet of information on how the child has been doing since the beginning of the year."

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Here's How Schools Can Support Students' Mental Health

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About one in five children in the United States shows signs of a mental health disorder - anything from ADHD to eating disorders to suicide. And yet, as we've been reporting this month, many schools aren't prepared to work with these students.

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The mental health system in America is in terrible shape, and unless something is done to fix the problem it's going to get a lot worse. School shootings, gunmen in malls, "suicide by cop" and other violent acts continue to dominate the headlines and the news cycle, with no end in sight.

The problems are many, with a severe shortage of mental health care professionals and inpatient facilities, combined with the continual decline of insurance reimbursement rates and increasing bureaucratic hurdles, leading more than half of psychiatric providers to stop accepting insurance.

This creates an even greater lack of resources - especially for those patients in socioeconomic groups who are not able to pay out of pocket. These patients typically see non-psychiatric physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other extended care providers, who handle more than 90 percent of psychiatric care in the U.S., yet only receive six to 12 weeks of training in psychiatry over their entire medical school and training careers.

All this leads to misdiagnosis and underdiagnoses of mental health conditions. For example, studies have estimated that only 20 percent of patients with bipolar disorder are correctly diagnosed. In a third of bipolar patients, it takes an average of 10 years to get the correct diagnosis.

The focus for every provider needs to be on diagnostic accuracy, and this will only come by increased training in mental health care within the entire medical establishment. Training through MOOCs (massive open online courses) is becoming more widely accepted as a means of continuing medical education. These online courses give physicians access to the best teachers in the country.

A similar and very simple solution is more online medical education resources that provide timely, unbiased, evidence-based medical education and information from renowned medical experts, researchers and clinicians in the field available on-the-go on all digital devices.

We need to make sure there is more emphasis on the detection and treatment of psychiatric illnesses in the early stages. The sooner a patient receives the correct diagnosis, and the quicker treatment is initiated, the better the outcome. Screening for common psychiatric illnesses like mood and anxiety disorders in primary care practices should be part of the initial differential diagnosis, along with other medical illnesses, rather than an afterthought like it currently is for patients who do not respond to medical treatments or in whom the myriad of unnecessary tests are negative.

Too many patients are bounced around the system until they receive a proper diagnosis. Educating non-psychiatric providers to be extra vigilant in patients who suffer from depression, anxiety or substance abuse, or who have red flags for certain conditions is one such way to ensure a proper diagnosis the first time. These simple messages presented to every clinician can markedly improve diagnostic accuracy.

We need to reprioritize the payment structure of the new insurance policies. Reimbursement for psychiatric care should be commensurate with higher reimbursements for providing evidence based care. There should be no expectation that dwindling payments will produce better results.

We need to reorganize and strengthen the infrastructure of the mental health field. We need more inpatient psychiatric beds so that the mentally ill are not housed in jails or the streets. The government needs to stop subsidizing organizations and advocacy groups that "help" the mentally ill refuse treatment. The standard for inpatient commitment should be broader than the "imminent danger to self and others" standard. Involuntary outpatient commitment laws need to be adopted nationwide.

Mental health is the key to our overall health. As a society, we are more aware than ever that staying mentally fit is just as important as maintaining our physical health. Yet, overall, the mental health care field has been neglected, which is unacceptable. The costs involved in maintaining the resources needed to support an adequate system are insignificant when compared to the dividends that will be returned to us in productivity, safety, and a better quality of life.

Dr. Prakash Masand is a former consulting professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center and is CEO of Global Medical Education.

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The mental health system in America is in terrible shape, and unless something is done to fix the problem it's going to get a lot worse. School shootings, gunmen in malls, "suicide by cop" and other violent acts continue to dominate the headlines and the news cycle, with no end in sight.