Frequently Asked Questions

Student Assistance Programs (SAPs) are a school-based approach to providing focused services to students seeking support or needing interventions for academics, behavior, and attendance often due to deeper concerns relating to substance abuse, mental health, or social issues. They are a process—not a curriculum or treatment center-that connects programs and services within and across school and community systems to create a network of supports to help students.

SAPs offer multiple services managed in a way that allows them to be bundled to meet the specific needs of individual student participants. The range of services offered by a SAP typically includes group instruction or facilitation (e.g., classroom prevention education), small support groups, individual counseling, and referrals to both school-based services (e.g., tutoring, after-school activities, career services) and community-based services (e.g., health care, law enforcement, social service organizations, substance abuse recovery centers). SAPs are a vehicle for bridging the delivery of services by external providers and/or community groups to the school, and for linking students to external services, activities, or support. SAPs are also a hub of resources for adults to help youth and their families, offering training workshops, teacher support, and various forms of assistance to parents.

As schools face increasing demands to meet academic accountability standards amidst dwindling resources, students are swept along in their daily educational lives by a tide of expectations for performance. Many students today, however, experience significant emotional or behavioral issues that impede their ability to even be present at school, ready to learn and engaged in classroom activities. These issues can manifest into a host of problems, such as academic failure, alcohol and other drug use, truancy, and violent behavior, which disrupt not only a student's ability to function, but also affects their teachers' ability to deliver instruction, their peers' ability to focus, and corrodes the entire school climate. Nevertheless, the constraints on time and funding currently faced by teachers and school administrators prevent students from being given the individualized attention they each need to succeed both academically and emotionally.

A new approach to helping these at-risk students must be taken—one that accounts for the current limitations schools have to address student's emotional and behavioral issues. Student Assistance Programs are the solution—they provide the time and resources to help students within a school setting that teachers do not possess. SAPs help address student's barriers to academic engagement, and create a school environment that is more conducive to learning.

As a process, most SAPs include the following structural elements:

• identification of students to the program by a concerned person (teacher, staff, parents, peers) through completion of a referral form reporting observable behaviors of concern;
• background review of a student's referral form and their academic, attendance and discipline files by SAP staff prior to meeting with the student to obtain a broader understanding of the student's issues;
• interview/evaluation of student by SAP staff through a non-clinical approach in which the student and SAP staff person meet to discuss the reasons for referral, other documented records of concern, and any issues or challenges the student may be facing;
• referral of student to district and/or community services that can address needs identified within the interview/evaluation, such as on-site counseling, tutoring and conflict management, and SAP support and education groups; or off-site services such as treatment or medical facility care;
• follow up with students served by the SAP is conducted by SAP staff in varying capacities based on what was learned from the interview/intervention, referral and support process.

School-based models of SAP services typically take on one of three different forms: the Counselor Model, the Core Team Model, or the Community Agency Model.

• The Counselor Model utilizes a community-based contracted body or in-house school personnel as the source for SAP services. A certified, experienced counselor acts as program coordinator. However, a SAP can also be set up with a single point person who is not a counselor, such as a school nurse or paraprofessional.
• The Community Agency Model is headed by a contracted external agency provider that brings skilled clinicians into schools to work with students and parents in the delivery of services.
• The Core Team Model is run by a central group of 6-8 multidisciplinary on-campus personnel who have been trained by experienced consultants. Ideally, the team would include a campus administrator, school counselor, SAP counselor or specialist, social worker, classroom teacher, school nurse, and other student services staff. This Core Team collaborates to identify and assist referred students.

While these three models pertain to school-based SAPs, with the entire SAP located within an individual school setting, SAPs can also be district-based, where a centralized SAP serves schools throughout the district. It is possible to establish a SAP to serve students of any and all grade levels, although differing issues and services are applicable for each (see below).

Yes. The SAP called Project SUCCESS is a research-based program founded on over 25 years of research and practice by the program developer Ellen Morehouse LCSW, CASAC, CPP. Project SUCCESS works by placing a trained, masters-level professional in the school to provide a full range of substance abuse prevention and early intervention services, including information dissemination, normative and prevention education, problem identification and referral, community-based processes, environmental approaches, and resistance and social competency skills. Project SUCCESS has been designated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) as a Model Program.

The use of alcohol and other drugs, particularly marijuana, is widespread among high school students. In California, by the 11th grade 63% of students will have used alcohol at least once, and 39% of students will have used marijuana at least once. While overall use rates have generally declined during the past 15 years, the portion of students using alcohol and other drugs at high rates has remained nearly constant.

High rate users have established a pattern of regular use of alcohol or other drugs that is strongly associated with problems in other parts of their lives (e.g., health, school, family, criminal justice, personal relations). The California Student Survey data present strong correlations between reports of high rate alcohol and/or drug use and school-related violence, victimization, and poor school outcomes (e.g., skipping class, low school connectedness). School-related problems attributable to high rate drinking or drug use are associated with school failure or dropping out. Without appropriate intervention, this pattern of early high rate use is predictive of still more serious use problems in the future.

School-based interventions are designed to help young people avoid the initiation of substance use and to provide the protective skills for avoiding use. However, current in-school prevention emphases are inadequate for youth who already use at high rates and are already experiencing negative life consequences because of their use. These youth represent the greatest individual and social cost of substance abuse, and they require interventions that are appropriate to the variety of risk factors and needs that make them vulnerable to high rate use. This level of intervention is best offered through an SAP type of service.

The number of students your SAP serves each year is in fact dependent upon the staffing capabilities of your program. Experienced SAP professionals report that lack of demand by students for assistance is never an issue in operating a SAP successfully; rather, the funding or availability of staff positions sufficient to support student needs is likely the greatest determinant of student service. Practitioners within high-functioning SAPs estimate around 20% of a student body are served by the program.

To begin a SAP in your school, you should first convene a SAP planning workgroup to consider existing assets for establishing a SAP on campus, including administrative, teacher, and student interest in a SAP; the availability of professional management skills; the feasibility of delivering SAP type services; the availability of space and location to house the SAP; and the practicability of collaboration with community partners. Your group should also consider which of the three SAP models is most appropriate to meet the needs of your student body, to build on the interests and skills of your staff, and that falls within your school's budgeting concerns.

Once your planning is well underway, your workgroup can begin developing school board policies to help solidify the SAP structure for your site by defining the SAP process of referral and confidentiality, the relationship between the SAP and other co-curricular activities, and the involvement of law enforcement, mental health professionals, and other associated community agencies and organizations. You can also look towards initiating staff training and development around SAP processes and service delivery, as well as marketing the SAP's services to the student body, staff, administration, parents, and other sources of student referral.

The initial goal of your SAP should be to address the highest need students in your school's population, especially those using alcohol or other drugs at significant levels. To determine other issues on which your SAP could focus services, look to your local California Healthy Kids Survey results. This snapshot of student perspectives can help to elucidate other common or concerning issues, such as violence, low feelings of adult support, etc. within your school and community and that would be appropriate to address within the SAP.

The issue that first brings a student to your SAP is also not necessarily the most significant or dangerous issue the child is facing; AOD use, for example, is not always immediately evident. The needs of your students is also dependent upon their age—typically, interpersonal problems are the most significant concern in the lives of elementary and middle school students, while more complex discipline, attendance, academic, and AOD issues are presented by high school. Your SAP and the intake and service process must be flexible to adjust and address the individual and varied needs of each of it's students.

Staff development is important to the establishment of a SAP so that all supporting school personnel are aligned with similar service goals and levels of commitment. This process will promote the culture of student support that is the foundation for SAPs in your school climate.

The California Masonic Foundation offers free 2-day offsite training for a school's SAP Core Team members on the administration of the Masonic Student Assistance Program model. For this and other information on training See the enclosed “Resources and References” page of CDE's Introduction to Student Assistance Programs packet for opportunities in California to obtain training on the administration of a SAP.

The cost of offering planned services is dependent on five interrelated factors:

1. Number of youths in need of service (e.g., it has been estimated that 10 – 20% of a school's student body may benefit from SAP-type services );
2. Size of the school population;
3. Breadth of services to be provided;
4. Use of current school staff to deliver services (e.g., Core Team model); and,
5. Use of service contracts to support personnel based at the school site or with external community-based organizations (e.g., Counselor Model).

The explicit cost of a particular program will depend on the selected program model, range of services, and resource availability. There are several distinct approaches in the field to organizing an SAP that carry different cost implications, from a no-cost model run on volunteer staff time, to a model with minimally paid staff and expenditures and that exists within a school's existing budget, to a model run exclusively by a community agency and that can cost upwards of $80,000 annually. For a more detailed exploration of these options, please see Cost to Operate a Student Assistance Program in CDE's Introduction to Student Assistance Programs packet.

While certain schools or communities have greater resources or social service support systems available to them, no school or community is completely devoid of resources. Inventory the community and school strengths that exist for your developing program and look for non-traditional sources to enhance your support structure, such as faith based organizations, community health providers, law enforcement, businesses, fraternal organizations (Masons, Lions, Elks, etc.), or for additional funding sources such as medical insurance (including MediCare). You can also look for resources which enhance strengths for students served, rather than only addressing deficits, such as extracurricular programs or community service opportunities.

Your school or district's existing resources may allow for school staff to be trained and assigned to SAP approaches, and/or support other SAP services and functioning. In addition, there are several state and federal funding programs that may provide resources for SAP services. These include the following:

• Safe and Drug Free Schools—No Child Left Behind, Title I, Title IV, Title V
• GRAA (Grant to Reduce Alcohol) – Federal grant
• SB 1113—Safe Schools and Violence Prevention Act
• AB1802—Counselor Resource Funding
• SB 65 or School Dropout Prevention Specialists
• General Fund
• T.U.P.E. (Tobacco Use Prevention Education)
• School Community Violence Prevention Grants
• After-school program funding
• Foster youth funding

Yes--SAP evaluation will enable you as program planners to continuously reflect and improve upon existing processes, services, and strategies to ensure the optimum effect of SAP resources for students. Evaluation can also help enforce future program authorization and funding. You can begin by keeping track of basic process measures (e.g., # of students referred, # of students served), and plan to track outcome measures down the line (e.g., improvements in attendance or grades for students served).

Online Resources for SAPs

• National Student Assistance Association
  Organization advocates for standards of practice for SAP professionals and continuing development of SAP services. Website provides information on the organization's purpose and annual conference; SAP components and ethical guidelines; and events, trainings, and resources.
  http://www.nasap.org
• Masonic Model Foundation for Children
  Foundation promotes school programs, especially the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program, to intervene early and effectively with students who display patterns of behaviors that threaten their success for academic achievement. Website presents the foundation's position on the MMSAP, describes the MMSAP, and provides a link for information on obtaining MMSAP training.
  http://www.masonicmodel.org
• Illinois' Drug Prevention Resource
  Sponsored by Prevention First, a state-wide nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention of substance abuse and related issues. The tab “Student Assistance Center” provides a significant amount of information and downloadable forms for supporting the establishment of a SAP.
  http://www.prevention.org
• Connecticut Governor's Partnership
  Website offers resources defining a SAP, and describes goals and outcomes, how a program works, program structure and strategies, and research and evaluation, and listing FAQ's.
  http://www.preventionworksct.org/studassistprog.html
• Nebraska Student Assistance Program Initiative
  Website provides resources outlining the structure and purpose of a SAP, how to start a SAP, and info on training, benefits, and making a SAP effective.
  http://162.127.9.3:8080/SAP/
• Texas Student Assistance Program Initiative
  Website describes the Texas SAP Initiative's services and maintains a number of downloadable forms for the SAP referral and case management processes.
  http://www.studentassistance.org/index.html
• Pennsylvania Association of Student Assistance Professionals
  Website describes benefits to Association membership: membership meeting, directory assistance of Pennsylvania SAPs.
  http://www.pasap.org