Journal of Rural Mental Health, Vol 50(3), Jul 2026, 117-131; doi:10.1037/rmh0000335
Rural youth in the United States face multiple barriers to mental health services, such as a lack of trained providers and limited or nonexistent services. Telemental health services in prekindergarten through high school (PK–12) settings offer promising bridges to meet the mental health needs and address service delivery disparities for rural, underresourced youth. The present scoping review aimed to consolidate the defining characteristics of empirical literature on telemental health services in rural PK–12 schools since the COVID-19 pandemic. Fourteen electronic databases and Google Scholar were searched for peer-reviewed articles published from 2020 through 2024 using the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. From an initial N = 4,344 records, a total of eight studies were identified. The authors identified two overarching themes: viability and sustainability. All eight studies supported the effectiveness or viability of telemental health, but most were grant funded and experienced various challenges and barriers that could impact sustainability. Only half were conducted with youth and families as recipients, whereas the other half focused on evaluating training and service delivery models in school settings with educators and other professionals. Findings illustrated that (a) school-based telemental health services have substantial potential to address mental health service disparities for rural youth, and (b) more research on sustainable funding pathways and policies that support continued implementation in rural schools is needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)