Do Kids At Mental Health Facilities Receive An Education?

Hospital school programs for young people receiving in-patient psychiatric care can help them stay on track academically and aid their recovery. Many pediatric hospitals have teachers who provide one-on-one teaching to accommodate the educational needs of children and young people in hospitals. Mental health experts point to this school-hospital partnership as an effective model, meeting the growing need to help children get mental health treatment and avoid avoiding school.

Most pediatric hospital medicine providers have limited and ad hoc education and training in behavioral and mental health care. After inpatient treatment, most children are transitioned from the hospital into a regular school setting. Little is known about how these transitions are managed by hospital or school. According to the Milbank report, only 15 to 25 of children with psychiatric disorders receive specialty care. In response, children’s hospitals are offering psychiatric evaluation, assessment, diagnosis, and care for children and teens with psychiatric disorders.

Hospital programs typically offer some kind of academic support or tutoring, and they can ask your child’s school to provide them with assignments so your child can continue schooling. However, children and teens hospitalized at less-resourced and rural hospitals often receive minimal school services. Education for severely mentally handicapped children in hospital is nothing new, with records showing that “patients” in the Royal Eastern Counties and in the 1870s received over 16 hours of education per week in a registered school.

In those settings, a child’s education is the primary concern, and policy matters are decided by educators usually, but not necessarily, in consultation with the hospital. Access to a teacher and continuing school within the hospital provides children with a sense of normalcy during their hospital stay.