Who Is Afraid Of Universal School Mental Health Screenings

Illinois passes a first-in-the-nation law mandating opt-out universal mental health screenings for students

In a decision that has sparked panic among some parents and outrage from conservatives, Illinois has become the first state to mandate the use of opt-out universal mental health screenings for K-12 students.

While research has demonstrated that such screenings can help to identify behavioral risks early as part of a continuum of care, there’s an unintended risk that hasn’t been discussed thoroughly—whether collecting data on the mental health of children is beneficial to them over the long term.

At a time when health insurance companies rely on big data to determine who gets care and who doesn’t, despite legal guardrails, this is a vital consideration. The extent of such behavior is largely unknown, due to the black box nature of private insurers. But the few court cases that have emerged over the years demonstrate that analytics can be used to determine care in cases with even young, vulnerable people.

Even though one assumes that Illinois officials wouldn’t have an interest in funnelin…