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Advocates for the SBIRT program say it can help identify students needing services for mental health or substance abuse services and isn't hard to implement.

View Comments Although her grades haven't suffered during the pandemic, Shekinah Glory Peter Mba, like many students, knew she wasn't feeling well.  She has endured episodes of depression. "It was bad, honestly," said Peter Mba, a junior at East Orange High School. "This is probably the worst year ever. I realized all throughout my life, I was using school as an escape. Having that taken away from me has not been easy to cope." Then there was the constant drumbeat of disturbing news. For Peter Mba, the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard by an officer of the London Metropolitan Police w...

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...