As the United States contends with a mental health crisis, schools are implementing universal mental health screenings to identify students needing support. These screenings are part of a systematic process to identify students’ strengths and needs to better inform school based mental health intervention efforts. One of NCSSLE’s Mental Health Service Professional (MHSP2019) grantees, Sodus Central School District in New York State, has successfully implemented a district-wide universal screening process that has helped improve their intervention efforts and better support students.

On this episode of “In Session,” we talk to Hennessey Lustica and Rob Lillis from Sodus Central School District about the district’s universal mental health screening efforts. This conversation is guided by NCSSLE’s Annie Knowles and Brianna Cunniff. To learn more, read Sodus’ Grantee Highlight.

1:10 - Introductions

4:30 - Defining Universal Screening

8:30 - Survey Questions

10:23 - Successful Implementation

22:15 - Lessons learned and challenges

26:36 - Impacts

31:49 - Future Plans

For all questions or feedback, you can email ncssle@air.org. Thanks for listening!

Please note, the contents of this podcast do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the U.S. Department of Education, nor does it imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education.