Not every student walks into the classroom on equal footing. Some arrive carrying invisible burdens like grief, trauma, poverty, chronic stress, or unmet mental health needs. These are examples of at-risk students who need targeted support.
Unaddressed, the challenges at-risk students face can disrupt learning and compound over time, leading to absenteeism, disengagement, disciplinary action, and even dropout.
Across the country, districts are looking for ways to integrate support for mental health in schools through evidence-based practice implementation to build better systems of support that prioritize mental health in schools as foundational to learning rather than separate from it.
Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions in Denver Public Schools
In Denver Public Schools (DPS), supporting at-risk students is now central to how the district operates. With rising mental health concerns among youth, especially in the wake and aftermath of the pandemic, DPS is a national example of how evidence-based practice implementation can transform student outcomes through the care and support of mental health in schools.
A promising rollout of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) across 34 campuses in partnership with Centus Counseling is a school-based approach to helping students process trauma, build emotional regulation skills, and stay connected to learning. But the district's efforts don't stop there:
- Free Therapy: Through initiatives like "I Matter," students can access six free therapy sessions (virtual or in person) with follow-up support coordinated by school staff.
- Crisis Response: The newly launched Therapeutic Response and Urgent Stabilization Team (TRUST) provides 24-hour crisis response teams, offering stabilization and personalized care plans for students in acute distress.
- Social-Emotional Learning: Every DPS school dedicates at least 20 minutes per day to social-emotional learning.
These initiatives reduce anxiety, depression, and school disengagement by meeting at-risk students where they are. With licensed mental health professionals working across the district, DPS has the infrastructure to support mental health in schools and intervene early and often. It's a model of how to center mental health in schools and how to do so in a way that supports real, lasting change for at-risk students.
To further bolster trauma-informed practices, Denver Public Schools could integrate The Carey Group’s Supervisor’s BriefCASE: Trauma & Resilience set. This resource equips supervisors with structured, evidence-based tools to support staff in addressing trauma and fostering resilience among students. By providing practical strategies for managing trauma-related behaviors and promoting emotional well-being, the BriefCASE set complements DPS's existing mental health initiatives, enhancing the district's capacity to support at-risk students effectively.
Massachusetts as a National Leader in Trauma-Informed Teaching
Trauma is often the lens through which at-risk students experience the world. When left unaddressed, trauma can shape behavior, disrupt learning, and erode a young person's sense of safety. That's why trauma-informed practices have become essential in schools that aim to serve every student well.
The Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium (MASMHC) brings together districts across the state to scale what works and strengthen mental health in schools. Their focus is clear: reduce wait times, expand access, and invest in long-term prevention.
Massachusetts developed its Flexible Framework to help schools create environments that prioritize emotional safety alongside academic achievement. These trauma-sensitive schools adjust classroom routines, build predictable structures, and train teachers to recognize signs of trauma rather than label those signs as defiance or disinterest.
The state's Turnaround Practices initiative further reinforces this work. Developed through research conducted by the American Institutes for Research, this type of evidence-based practice implementation can offer a framework for sustainable school improvement and includes:
- Leadership and professional collaboration
- Instructional practices responsive to both teachers and students
- Student-specific supports informed by data
- A positive school climate that fosters safety, respect, and academic achievement
This integrated approach makes embedding social-emotional learning into the everyday school experience easier. Schools can explore these practices through digital resources, videos, planning guides, and topic-specific tools to guide their improvement efforts.
By shifting school culture and arming educators with the right solutions, Massachusetts is showing what's possible when at-risk students are met not with punishment but with evidence-based structure and support.
Carey Group's Brief Intervention Tools (BITS) can offer a natural complement to these efforts. Individuals who have experienced trauma often struggle with automatic responses, thinking traps, and ineffective problem-solving—core areas addressed by BITS through brief, skill-building interventions grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy principles. With one-page interventions that teach decision-making, emotional regulation, and peer influence reflection, BITS supports teachers in providing consistent, skill-based responses to at risk students. In classrooms where structure, empathy, and trauma awareness are prioritized, BITS help ensure that student behavior is met with evidence-based support rather than punitive reaction.
Austin Independent School District Makes Mental Health Support Available in Schools
Sometimes, at-risk students need someone to talk to without facing long wait times or fearing being seen as "troubled." That's why the Austin Independent School District (AISD) made mental health in school available to all students.
AISD's school-based mental health centers offer short-term therapy delivered by licensed mental health professionals on campus. This initiative replaces referrals that fall through the cracks with immediate, familiar, and easy-to-access support.
With parental consent, students meet with a therapist who understands their environment and can coordinate care directly with school staff. When longer-term support is needed, warm hand-offs ensure no student is left navigating a complex system alone. By integrating mental health in schools, AISD reduces stigma by normalizing care and showing students that asking for help is not a sign of failure.
The district's approach mirrors Carey Group's philosophy. Our tools and staff training emphasize strength, possibility, and partnership as a framework that empowers educators to support at-risk students with empathy and intention.
Nebraska Schools Take a Preventive Approach to Supporting At-Risk Students
Through dedicated evidence-based practice implementation, Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska identifies and supports at-risk students before a crisis occurs. The district built a system of early behavioral health screenings to spot challenges with mental health in school settings before they spiral or need intensive interventions. By proactively identifying students who may be struggling, educators can intervene early and tailor support before disengagement sets in.
This forward-thinking approach is part of a broader effort led by the Nebraska Department of Education that helps districts scale evidence-based practice implementation and place wellness at the center of school success.
To strengthen these early identification efforts, schools can utilize tools like Orbis Partners’ Mental Health Assessment for Youth (MAYSI). This evidence-based screening instrument helps identify key areas of concern such as anxiety, depression, and trauma-related symptoms among youth. By integrating assessments like MAYSI into existing school mental health protocols, Nebraska districts can deepen their commitment to prevention and ensure that challenges related to mental health in school are recognized and addressed before they escalate.
Support At-Risk Students with Evidence-Based Interventions that Work
The research backs what many educators already know: there's no single fix for helping at-risk students thrive. According to the Education Endowment Foundation's Attendance Interventions Report, multi-component strategies that combine parental involvement, social-emotional learning, and behavioral support are among the most effective for improving school engagement.
But the impact doesn't come from piling on programs. It comes from tailoring support to student realities and grounding it in evidence-based practice implementation. Schools seeking to support at-risk students should prioritize comprehensive, evidence-based interventions rather than generalized programs.
Carey Group provides schools with practical, research-backed interventions and coaching that make evidence-based practice implementation achievable. Supporting at-risk students isn't just good practice; it's the work that matters most.
Carey Group's evidence-based online training and consulting services address the needs of the justice system and behavioral health professionals. Training is an essential tool for keeping staff, supervisors, leadership, and stakeholders up to date with emerging knowledge and expectations for improved outcomes. Working closely with Carey Group professionals, agencies are better able to offer a mixture of in-person, online, and self-directed courses on evidence-based practices, motivational interviewing, core professional competencies, case planning and management, continuous quality improvement, coaching, and the use of behavior-change tools and supervisor resources. Talk to a Carey Group consultant today to get started!