Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Social Work

Department

School of Social Work

First Reader/Committee Chair

Dr. Carolyn McAllister

Abstract

Mental health issues in school-aged children have become a larger issue especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Because children spend a large amount of time in a school setting, it is important to utilize teachers to assist in preventing, recognizing, and supporting mental health issues in their students. This can be difficult however, when many states throughout the United States of America, have little to no requirements for mental health training in both their credential programs and their school districts. This can leave teachers feeling less comfortable and lack an understanding of how to prevent, recognize, and support, student mental health needs. The targeted population of the study was transitional kindergarten-twelfth grade teachers within California. This study utilized a non-random purposive sample of current TK-12th grade teachers within California. Participants were solicited through a partnership with a Southern California school district as well as social media. Results indicated that the majority of teachers did not have access to mental health trainings at their school and that many respondents felt that their school should provide more mental health training and support to aid in their comfortability in prevention, recognition, and support of mental health. The findings from this project aid social workers in the development of establishing a mental health curriculum and set of trainings for school-aged teachers in order to increase support and prevention strategies for students with mental health needs.

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