Interdisciplinary Approach for Addressing the Behavioral Health Needs in Rural and Underserved School Districts of Georgia

Abstract More than seven million children in the United States are affected by different types of behavioral health disorders and challenges, which often manifest early in childhood and affect children across diverse sociodemographic profiles. Unfortunately, stigma, absence of qualified professionals, transportation, lack of childcare, and other barriers to access care have created insurmountable obstacles for children, youth, and their families to addressing behavioral health challenges. Additionally, social workers, teachers, and other service providers in school systems are often not utilizing trauma-responsive curriculum and strategies due to lack of appropriate training. These challenges are exponentially intensified in rural and underserved school districts. Nearly 60 percent of the 3.8 million adolescents ages 12–17 who reported a major depressive episode in 2020 did not receive any treatment; furthermore, over 50 percent of families in the United States who faced food insecurity needed some behavioral health services during the pandemic. School social workers are in a unique position to address these challenges. This article describes the initial implementation of an interdisciplinary School-Based Behavioral Health Professional Pipeline project (involving two groups of students training to be social workers and teachers) attempting to address behavioral challenges in rural and underserved communities.