Analysis of State-Level Guidance Regarding School-Based, Universal Screening for Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Risk

Despite recommendations to extend prevention and early intervention related to behavioral health into school settings, limited research has been directed toward understanding how these recommendations have been translated by states into education policies and initiatives. This macro-level information is important toward understanding the priorities that have influence on the processes and practices occurring in local school settings. The current paper describes the findings of a systematic review of state-level Web sites to identify the extent to which state departments of education have provided specific guidance with regard to the who, what, where, when, and why of universal social, emotional, and/or behavioral screening practices. Although most state Web sites were found to include some mention of universal screening, in nearly half of the cases, either this was limited to a brief definition or the information provided was not necessarily specific to social, emotional, and/or behavioral domains. For those state-produced documents which did reference universal screening for social, emotional, and/or behavioral risk, those documents were found to be largely informational in nature (e.g., describing what universal screening is, how it might be conducted) as opposed to providing specific recommendations or mandates for implementation. Furthermore, documents varied widely with regard to the level of specificity provided, from those briefly mentioning universal screening as an essential component of MTSS to those specifically describing how universal screening for social, emotional, and/or behavioral risk may be conducted. Implications of these findings for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.