Not many young students will volunteer information, unprompted, about feelings of depression or their recent experimentation with drugs.
That's why advocates, school employees and lawmakers are pushing for regular screenings of students at the middle- and high-school levels, as long as their parents consent.
With a caseload of 400 students, counselor Cristina Puri at Lincoln Park Middle School typically wouldn't end up seeing a troubled student until someone else sensed an issue or the student was presenting outward signs in class.
Her school is one of a couple in the Garden State testing out a model known as SBIRT — Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. Since November, 50 students were screened in a way that's meant to pick up on the need for mental health services or the severity of substance use.