Implementation of School-based Wellness Centers

This article describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation of school-based Wellness Centers operated by the Riverside Unified School District in Riverside, CA, as part of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). We describe the program as planned in terms of the theoretical model for the intervention and the evaluation design, and discuss the actual implementation including accomplishments and challenges. The program was designed to promote positive development and wellness for individual students via selfand teacher-referrals for personal and mental health problems handled through a case management and referral process, support groups, and other activities such as after-school programs, mentoring, tutoring, and parent training. An effort was also made to promote wellness at the school level by providing wellness campaigns, information, and compatible policies and procedures designed to enhance healthy development. Our observations are based on a qualitative assessment that was a component of the evaluation. A more detailed evaluation examining the impact of school-wide and student-focused activities on academic and behavioral outcomes is currently underway. However, we do include comments from students suggesting that the Wellness Center concept holds much promise for school-based mental health and violence prevention services. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.