Welcome to the Denton ISD Website for Student and Staff Assistance |
The Student and Staff Assistance Program for Denton ISD covers a broad range of concerns regarding the welfare of both students and staff.
· Staff Assistance
· Crisis Management
· Therapist Pool for Students and Staff
· Information and referrals for mental health needs
· Community Resource Development
· School Health Advisory
· Staff Assistance :
o Teacher and staff referrals for services outside the DISD support network through the development of Staff Helplines (an on-line resource for services to support staff addressing a variety of mental health concerns) and the Staff Assistance Pool (a group of private practice therapists that have negotiated a reduced fee for service)
· Student Assistance is supported by this office through the coordination of campus and community resources. Student Assistance Counselors on all secondary campuses have specific training in both mental health and substance abuse concerns. These counselors work in concert with other campus counselors, their administration, teachers and parents. Staff awareness programs include orientations and intervention strategies for many student crisis’ to include, but not limited to the following:
o Threats of suicide and other forms of self-harm
o Domestic and other relationship violence
o Drug and alcohol counseling
o Cyber-abuse and other forms of bullying
o Depression and other forms of mental health crisis’
o Grief and loss
o Anger management
o Relationship crisis’
o Other psycho-social concerns
Student Assistance Counselors receive their referrals through direct teacher and campus counselor referrals, student drop-ins, administrators, and parents. Interventions may include individual, solution-focused counseling, group counseling, referrals to outside support, and family collaboration.
At the middle schools, the Student Assistance Counselors deliver the Project Alert/Aware curriculum to all 6th and 7th grade students. This material is specifically designed to address substance abuse but is enhanced by the campus Student Assistance Counselor with supplemental material that expands lessons into more broad life skills. The program “Real Kids Getting Real” is presented to all middle school students and this addresses relationship and dating violence. These counselors also provide anger management and peer support groups along with individual counseling or psycho-educational services for students who are reactive with aggression or experimenting with drugs.
At the high schools, The Student Assistance Counselors address student drug use/abuse and violence through the internal RtI campus mechanism. There is a local, campus-based protocol for instructional and other campus staff to refer students who are struggling with personal/social/emotional issues that may lead to substance abuse and/or violence. Practical Parent Education sessions throughout the year are also a venue for preparing parents to be more effective in inoculating their children against substance abuse and violent behavior.
Crisis Management is a response to an event that directly impacts the student learning environment and/or the staff work climate. Staff preparedness for prevention, intervention, and post-vention is visited annually in anticipation of situations that can disrupt a campus. While no single event can be anticipated, responding to a crisis with focused readiness is always the department’s target.
Therapist Pool is a group of community private practice therapists who work pro-bono for families who have no resources but want and are committed to seeking supportive counseling. There are approximately 35 participating therapist annually. Access to the Therapist Pool is through the campus counselor then interviewed and screened through this department.
