The Full Informed Consent: How Child Mental Health and Schools Intersect

Working with schools is a hallmark of child mental health. Schools are important sources of collateral information that supplement parents’ reports about how their children are doing at home. If children are doing well in one space and poorly in another, that finding can help providers pinpoint root causes of distress and determine appropriate interventions. Child mental health providers routinely gather collateral from schools through phone calls to counselors, teachers, and school psychologists. Other sources of collateral information include individualized educational plan (IEP) and 504 plan meetings and reports, as well as assessments completed by teachers. Examples include the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire used to evaluate children’s mental health overall and the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham (SNAP) Questionnaire used to diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).