Goal

The goal of TeenScreen Schools and Communities is to ensure that all parents are offered the opportunity for their teens to receive a voluntary mental health checkup through school and community based locations. The program’s primary objective is to help identify mental health problems, such as depression, before they develop into more serious conditions.

TeenScreen Schools and Communities Across the Country

TeenScreen Schools and Communities creates partnerships with schools and communities across the nation to implement their own screening programs for youth. The program is designed to be flexible to accommodate the specific needs and resources of each community interested in developing a local program.

Mental health screening can take place in any number of venues, including schools, clinics, foster care settings, juvenile justice facilities—in short, anywhere that a group of teens is present.

The Screening Process: TeenScreen Schools and Communities uses a multi-step process to identify at-risk youth.

1.       Parent Consent and Teen Assent
TeenScreen Schools and Communities is entirely voluntary. Parent consent must be obtained before screening is offered to a teen. Parents receive a letter explaining the nature and process of mental health screening and what will happen if the screening results indicate that their child may benefit from a complete mental health evaluation. After parent consent is obtained, teens are given a description of the program and informed about their rights to confidentiality. A youth must also give written assent to participate in the screening.

2.       Completion of the Screening Questionnaire
Participants complete a 10-minute, pen-and-paper or computerized questionnaire. The questionnaires, which are scientifically tested, cover anxiety, depression, substance and alcohol abuse, and suicidal thoughts and behavior.

3.       Debriefing Interview/ Clinical Interview
Youth who report no mental health problems on the questionnaire are seen briefly by program staff and then dismissed from the screening. If the results of the questionnaire indicate that the youth may have a problem, they proceed to a brief clinical interview with an on-site mental health professional to determine if further evaluation is needed. The screening does not involve diagnosis or treatment and TeenScreen Schools and Communities does not recommend or endorse any kind of treatment for youth who are identified by mental health screening.

4.       Parent Notification, Referral, and Case Management
If the mental health professional decides that a more complete evaluation would be beneficial, the parents are notified and offered assistance with obtaining an appointment with a healthcare provider in the community. Treatment decisions, if any, are always left to parents.

Support for TeenScreen

TeenScreen Schools and Communities was developed by Columbia University’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is included in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices as a scientifically verified intervention in the areas of suicide prevention and early identification of mental illness. It has been researched and evaluated in a variety of settings with diverse youth populations. Further, 35 of the 41 states with suicide prevention plans recommend screening, and seven mention TeenScreen by name.

To date, over thirty national health, mental health and education organizations are on record as supporting voluntary mental health screenings for youth.