On any given day, almost 60 million people (more than one in five Americans) participate in K–12 education (President’s New Freedom Commission, 2003). Moreover, the reach of schools extends far beyond school campuses. Parents and others responsible for children often look to schools to keep children safe and to provide direction about how best to support them, especially in times of crisis. Thus, schools play a critical role in the life of communities that extends well beyond classroom schooling, narrowly defined. Part of this role involves meeting the emotional and behavioral needs of children and their families. Schools are...

Some of the programs listed in this tool kit target the entire school population, whereas others use a screening or referral process to identify students who might benefit. All programs usually require some level of parental consent and student assent for participation, with the details of how that happens varying from school to school. Distributing informational materials to parents, obtaining permission to screen children or to implement a program, and communicating with parents throughout the program, all require considerable resources and staffing and should be taken into account during planning.

For programs targeting a particular subset of students, schools need...

This section of the tool kit provides a comparison of 24 trauma-focused programs developed for use in schools. They compare the programs on dimensions related to the needs of the students and the time and resources required. Each program has an entry in the table along with listings of several types of information. These include:

intended population (type of trauma, age or grade level, and method of selection)

symptoms or issues targeted

format (group, classroom, etc.)

information on prior implementations in schools

evaluation or evidence base to support program use

materials available

training requirements

contact information

The tables are organized...

This section of the tool kit provides a one-page description for each program. After comparing the programs using the tables in Section 3, consult this section for more details on specific programs. You may also choose to share these program descriptions with other key stakeholders, so that they can consider the program before a final decision is made.

Objective: B2T2 is an education program for school employees and the wider community that provides a general overview of signs and symptoms of trauma and mental illnesses in youth and barriers to treatment. It is intended to raise awareness, encourage early intervention...

As the program descriptions show, trauma-recovery programs typically require personnel with special training, either professional mental-health training or training specific to the program. Simply buying and implementing a curriculum or program manual is unlikely to produce positive results unless the implementers receive training and support from the program developers or local experts. Thus, some additional funding is typically required to initiate and sustain such programs.

Funding for mental health programs can come from a number of different sources. According to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (Foster et al., 2005), the top sources of...