PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Golberstein, Ezra
AU  - Zainullina, Irina
AU  - Sojourner, Aaron
AU  - Sander, Mark A.
TI  - Effects of School-Based Mental Health Services on Youth Outcomes
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.1222-12703R2
DP  - 2023 Oct 06
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1222-12703R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/10/02/jhr.1222-12703R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/10/02/jhr.1222-12703R2.full
AB  - School-based mental health services (SBMH) may increase students’ access to care, which could yield benefits for mental health status and human capital-related outcomes. This paper uses a difference-in-differences design with 19 years of survey and administrative data to estimate the impacts of SBMH on a range of K-12 student outcomes. SBMH increases average outpatient mental health service use and reduces self-reported suicide attempts. There is weaker evidence that SBMH reduces suspensions and juvenile justice involvement, and no evidence that SBMH affects average attendance, standardized test scores, or self-reported substance use.