Implementing Universal Whole-Person Screening in High Schools: Lessons From a School-Health System Partnership

19/10/2026

AI Summary

Universal whole-person screening identified 86% of students with moderate needs likely missed by crisis-triggered referral systems.
Successful implementation required formal governance, tiered triage workflows, and school-embedded clinical teams to connect students to supports.
The WPHS-AV showed acceptable internal consistency and feasibility at scale; consent barriers and referral bottlenecks require iterative problem-solving.

TL;DR (AI Generated)

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Universal whole-person screening identified 86% of high school students with moderate needs likely missed by crisis-triggered systems.

This district-health system partnership demonstrates that systematic screening requires formal governance structures, tiered triage workflows, and school-embedded clinical teams to connect identified students to appropriate supports.

Basic summary

J Sch Health. 2026 Nov;96(11):e70260. doi: 10.1111/josh.70260.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Most school districts lack infrastructure to systematically identify whole-person needs and connect students to coordinated services. We developed and implemented a whole-person screening tool within a county-school partnership model.

METHODS: Between 2020 and 2024, Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health partnered with a Southern California unified school district to implement the Whole Person Health Score-Adolescent Version (WPHS-AV) for 11,786 high school students. The partnership included universal screening, governance structures, tiered triage workflows, and school-embedded behavioral health teams.

RESULTS: The WPHS-AV demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.64-0.65). Screening identified substantial moderate-need students (86.3% had ≥ 1 Yellow flag) likely invisible under traditional crisis-triggered referral systems, while high-need classifications remained relatively uncommon (19.6% had ≥ 1 Red flag).

IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: Universal whole-person screening identified 86% of high school students with moderate needs likely missed by crisis-triggered systems. This district-health system partnership demonstrates that systematic screening requires formal governance structures, tiered triage workflows, and school-embedded clinical teams to connect identified students to appropriate supports.

CONCLUSIONS: Universal whole-person screening at scale requires partnership infrastructure, including formal governance structures, clearly defined workflows linking assessment to intervention, and iterative problem-solving for consent barriers and referral bottlenecks.

PMID:42893961 | DOI:10.1111/josh.70260

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