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Parents of youth found to be at possible risk are notified and helped with identifying and connecting to local mental health services where they can obtain further evaluation. No child is screened without parental consent. The results of the screen are confidential. Mental health screening can take place in any number of venues, including schools, clinics, doctors' offices, juvenile justice facilities - in short, anywhere that a group of teens is present.

The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health recognized TeenScreen as a model program. Screening requires parental consent and the results are confidential. Most importantly, mental health screening finds youth with depression and other emotional disorders before they fall behind in school, end up in serious trouble, or worst of all end their lives.

This mission is supported by 34 national organizations including the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Federation of Teachers, and the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.

The TeenScreen Program does not recommend or endorse any particular kind of treatment for the youth who are identified by the mental health screening.

TeenScreen is funded by private foundations, individuals and organizations that are all committed to the early identification of mental illness in youth and the prevention of teen suicide. The national TeenScreen Program is not affiliated with or funded by any pharmaceutical companies.

The TeenScreen Program works by creating partnerships with communities across the nation to implement their own screening programs for youth. The local programs are developed in consultation with Columbia to accommodate the specific needs and resources of each community. Local programs range from one-day screening efforts to full-time, district-wide screening for all high school students. While all local screening programs are independently run, Columbia University offers consultation, training, screening tools, and technical assistance to qualifying communities free-of-charge.

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