Active parental consent for a school-based community violence screening: comparing distribution methods.
BACKGROUND
Students are unable to benefit from many school programs designed to address their mental health needs if their parents do not consent to their participation. As part of an ongoing effort in a large urban school district to meet the mental health needs of students traumatized by violence exposure, this paper examines the impact of alternative approaches on parental response and consent rates for an initial screening to participate in a school mental health program.


METHODS
Two alternative approaches were used to obtain consent for students to participate in a school-based intervention for students exposed to violence. For one cohort, consent forms were distributed along with school information and other school forms during a parent orientation meeting. In the other cohort, school mental health clinicians visited student homerooms to distribute consent forms and explain the program and evaluation to students.


RESULTS
There were significantly higher rates of return of consent forms (89.8% vs 53.2%) and parents consenting to participate (69.6% vs 27.9%) among parents receiving consent forms at a school meeting than among parents whose forms were distributed to children in a classroom, with comparable rates of active refusals to participate (20.1% vs 25.3%).


CONCLUSIONS
Overall return rates and rates of consent for screening participation were substantially higher when the consent form and accompanying materials were provided directly to parents rather than distributed in the classroom and sent home with students. These findings have implications for efforts to obtain active consent from parents for students to participate in school mental health programs.
Stein
Bradley D
BD
RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. stein@rand.org
Jaycox
Lisa H
LH
Langley
Audra
A
Kataoka
Sheryl H
SH
Wilkins
Windy S
WS
Wong
Marleen
M
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D032962:Consent Forms; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D033282:Parental Consent; D045808:Refusal to Participate / Q000208:ethnology; D012572:School Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*