School-based Student Assistance Programs (SAPs) are great allies of addiction and family counselors who work with youth troubled by alcohol/drug use, addiction, and family issues. Not only do SAPs provide direct referrals to community-based counseling services, but the detailed information gathered in the process helps counselors get a “jump start” on assessment. SAPs set the stage for community-based counselors to gain support and increase family involvement in the therapeutic process. They also augment treatment, counseling, and aftercare with the use of school-based support groups. On the whole, SAPs provide a concrete, coordinated approach for counselors to help students troubled by alcohol/drug use, addicted parents, and/or other issues that block their personal and/or academic development.

Origin of SAPs
In the mid-1970’s, a few school and clinical professionals across the country began to realize that educational support programs for children of alcoholics would provide much needed assistance for these young people. Several programs began to surface, and the school and clinical professionals added to their efforts a focus on alcohol and drug-using students. They recognized that growing numbers of young people were in trouble with their alcohol, marijuana and other drug use and needed help. They saw how the early intervention aspect of the Employee Assistance Model could be successfully adapted for schools and their students. These professionals understood that children spend more waking time in school than anywhere else. More adults observe their behavior in school than in any other place. The school environment provides educators with a unique opportunity to know what’s going on with students, and thereby poses a perfect fit for the early identification model.
In the early days, Student Assistance Programs focused on youth alcohol and other drug use and the problem of children of alcoholics. It became apparent that the model also helped students with other concerns: divorce; grief and loss; mental health issues; and low self-esteem, for example. Schools offered additional types of support groups and educational curricula were published to support their work.

What do SAPs do?

The major tasks of an SAP:

• Identify students who exhibit behaviors consistent with alcohol/drug abuse; children of alcoholic parents; and other academic, personal, or social concerns.
• Reach out to identified students and determine the extent of their problems by gathering information from students, parents, teachers, school counselors, administrators, school nurses, and others important in the students’ lives. Additional data is gathered from school records such as attendance, grades, and discipline infractions.
• Review the collected data, identify the main issues or problems, consider the possible solutions from resources available at school and in the community, and decide the best course of action. The goal is not to learn how drug use, family history, or other issues affect the students’ lives, but to decide what, if any, action should be taken to get the students the help they need. Input, agreement, and support from students and parents are important for the plan to succeed.
• Support students and their families in accessing services, completing a treatment program, or finishing therapy/counseling. For example, if students must leave school early to attend counseling, SAPs adjust the students’ schedules. Similarly, if students must be absent from school for treatment, the treatment center accesses information on class work through the SAP in order to keep the students moving forward academically during treatment.

Educational support groups
An essential component of a SAP, and one that provides another way to identify, gather information, and pre-assess students’ problems, is an educational support group. One such group, “Insight,” is often used as a positive alternative to out-of-school suspension for students in trouble because of their alcohol and other drug use.¹ The goal of this time-limited, curriculum-based group is to help young people gain insight into what is going on in their lives and how tobacco, drugs, and alcohol impact them. Through “Insight,” participants learn how mood-altering substances affect their mental and physical health. They consider the consequences of their use and make decisions about changes they need or want to make. At the same time, facilitators have an opportunity to informally assess the participants’ levels of alcohol and other drug use.

The “Insight” process may result in referrals to community services, such as undergoing formal assessments with alcohol or other drug treatment professionals or family counselors to determine the extent of behavioral, emotional, or drug and alcohol use problems. If formal assessments are warranted, they are always conducted outside of the school.

SAP counselors, in general, do not directly refer students to resources outside the school. They most often make recommendations to the students’ parents or guardians. When formal assessments are recommended, students and parents or guardians sign forms granting the release of the confidential information gathered during the SAP process to the counselor, agency, or treatment center. This often-extensive data can be of great value to the referral resource. In addition, because SAP counselors already have worked with the parents to recognize the problems facing their children, it may be easier for the referral resource to work with the parents of these students.

In addition to “Insight” groups, other types of educational support groups are effective and practical means of supporting young people who want to make behavior changes or who suffer because of personal, social, or family issues. These are neither “rap” nor therapeutic groups; they are curriculum-based, solution-focused discussion groups held during the school day. They complement therapeutic counseling or groups offered by outside agencies or treatment centers.

One such complementary group is the “Family Issues” group. Since one out of four children come from families with alcohol/drug abuse or addiction, and is at risk for abusing substances themselves, a second educational support group (for children of addicted parents or from families disrupted by other issues) is an essential component of an SAP. Like “Insight,” the “Family Issues” group provides vulnerable, at-risk youth with a safe, supportive environment to explore issues. This group is part prevention, part early intervention, and part recovery from the “slings and arrows” that students endure at home.

Children of alcoholic or drug-addicted parents seldom display obvious behaviors of concern, and early identification may be difficult. In fact, they may be the “perfect” children, exhibiting neither behavioral issues nor poor grades. Their confusion and fears are real and damaging, however, and they need help.

One of the best ways to reach these children is through classroom discussion and activities where the subjects of alcoholism, drug addiction, family dynamics, and healthy versus dysfunctional families are openly presented. Also, a safe and trusting school atmosphere gives students permission to talk with someone they trust about what is going on. Once these children of alcoholic or drug-addicted parents identify themselves or are identified through their reaction to the material presented, the SAP provides counseling, support, or referral to additional community resources. This process is the centerpiece of Student Assistance, particularly at the elementary level.²

A third educational support group offered by SAPs is an “Abstinence/Aftercare” group for students trying to live and remain free from alcohol and other drugs. This group allows young people the opportunity to meet and get to know others whose goal is also to stay drug-free. Focused on teaching students how to build healthier relationships with their parents, peers, and teachers, the group complements a treatment center’s aftercare program, Alcoholics Anonymous, or Narcotics Anonymous.

Rewards of collaboration
When an addiction counselor or agency collaborates with a school’s SAP, young people with alcohol/drug use or mental health problems have an increased opportunity to get proper counseling or treatment earlier, leading to an increased chance of successful recovery. Working together, school and community professionals can also intervene earlier with children of addicted parents, preventing them from following a path that allows unhealthy lifestyles to continue into adulthood. This collaboration of two different systems and two different professions — the school and community helping professionals — is a “win-win” for all involved, especially the students.

Additional information is available from the National Association of Student Assistance Professionals, www.nasap.org.

James F. Crowley, MA, is the founder and president of Community Intervention, Inc., a Minneapolis, MN-based training and publishing organization since 1979 that works with professionals — from teachers to counselors to social workers — in all 50 states to be more effective with children ages 5-18. He can be reached at 800-328-0417 and www.communityintervention.org.

Footnote
1“Insight” is a curriculum first published by Community Intervention, Inc., in 1987. The 3rd revision, “Helping Teens Overcome Problems With Alcohol, Marijuana and Other Drugs” (The Insight Class Program®, 3rd Edition) has just been completed. For more information on this curriculum and other support group curricula, call Community Intervention at 800-328-0417 or visit the web site www.communityintervention.org.
2 For more information on working with children from addicted families, call the National Association for Children of Alcoholics at 888-554-2627 or visit the web site www.nacoa.org.

This article is published in Counselor,The Magazine for Addiction Professionals, April 2004, v.5, n.2, pp. 59-60.

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