Student Assistance
Program
“Students who are hungry, sick,
troubled, or depressed cannot
function well in the classroom, no
matter how good the school.”
Carnegie Council on Adolescent
Development
Riley – 17 years old
 Incarcerated father,
 Mother deceased,
 Lives with 26 year old sister that
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doesn’t want her there,
Riley reads at grade level,
Math skills are above grade level,
Riley often does not have money
for lunch, has not had breakfast,
doesn’t know where lunch card is,
Is often distracted in class,
States she feels alone most of the
time,
Does not interact well with other
girls,
• Spends a lot of time in
independent reading,
• Often dresses inappropriately
for school,
• States that her boyfriend is
29, jealous and sometimes
scares her when he is
smoking weed. She is afraid
he will stop wanting to spend
time with her and then she
would be alone again.
• Wants a lot of adult attention,
• Difficulty identifying emotions
• Possible older sister gang
affiliation
What is Student Assistance?
 Student Assistance Programs are an evidence-based
framework to provide prevention, intervention, and
support services for students to address non-academic
barriers to being successful in school.
 45+ year history of success across the U.S.
 Prevention for all, support for more vulnerable,
intervention and additional support for those at
highest risk.
 Builds on what we have that is already working.
What is Student Assistance?
 The ________ Student Assistance Team is a
group of administrators, teachers, counselors,
healthcare mentors, and community mental
health professionals who aim to identify students
whose family problems, mental health concerns,
alcohol and drug issues cause them to perform
or behave poorly at school.
Who is our Student Assistance
Team?
 All adults in the building are part of the SAP.
 We have a trained SAP core team whose members are:
What we’ve done so far:
 Attended two day training presented by the Student
Assistance Center at Prevention First
 Met as a team to apply what we learned including
assessing needs and resources.
 Worked weekly to establish program procedures and
processes to build sustainability.
What we need for you to do  Be good ears and eyes in observing the students.
 Express your concerns about a student to the Student
Assistance team by _______________________
 Fill out a data form.
 Meet with the team to talk about your concerns.
What should I look for?
• Students in despair
• Extreme changes in weight, sleep patterns, grades or
attendance
• Angry outbursts and serious disciplinary issues
• Use of or frequent reference to drugs and alcohol
• Irritability, restlessness
• Self-injury or talk of same
• Use of or frequent reference to weapons or guns
• Students struggling with family issues– divorce, grief, loss,
illness, mental illness, abuse.
How do I refer a student to our
SAP?
 Referral forms can be found in __________
_________ or you can get a copy from ______
 ________________.
 You can return the referral to the mailbox, or
drop it in the SAP box located in ______.
Then what happens?
 The SAP confidentially collects relevant data from
staff, the student, school records, and may involve
the parents / guardians.
 The SAP uses a problem-solving process to
determine what actions should be taken.
 The SAP monitors the student’s progress.
 The student’s case manager will let you know the
referral has been received. Confidentiality is the
cornerstone of SAP. You may not hear anything
further specifically about the student’s case. You
may be involved in the problem-solving process
over a period of time.