Rural youth face unique mental health challenges compared to their urban peers, including limited access to mental healthcare. School-based health centers (SBHCs) are uniquely positioned to make youth mental health services accessible and to address common access-to-care barriers that these youth and their families face.
The KU School of Medicine-Wichita Department of Pediatrics operates two rural SBHCs with an interprofessional team of medical and mental health providers, and with the support of KSKidsMAP – a Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) program in Kansas. PMHCA programs can support SBHCs in providing evidence-based screening, assessment, and interventions for behavioral and mental health concerns.
This session will explore the role of SBHCs in expanding access to mental health care, opportunities for PMHCA programs like KSKidsMAP to support these clinics, and lessons learned through KSKidsMAP's expansion initiative with local rural SBHCs.
