Student Assistance Programs are Vital for Youth
Youth Development also Means Providing Youth Counseling Services
In a Student Assistance Program a counselor often sees high-risk youth who have problems, sometimes incidental and sometimes long standing. These can include problems with alcohol or other drugs, emotional problems, behavioral problems, relationship, academic, or family problems (including physical or sexual abuse) often due to parental addiction.
An Early Intervention Program
The Student Assistance Program was started as an early intervention program specifically for Children of Alcoholics (COAs) in the 70s as a response to the overwhelming problems that COAs faced at home. These problems posed serious issues at school including emotional neglect, or physical or mental abuse. Often the only adult that could be trusted in the life of a young COA was the youth counselor in the school.
In the 80s, the program expanded to focus upon all youth who abuse alcohol and other drugs. In the 90s the programs again expanded to focus upon all youth who are at-risk for a number of life problems: alcohol/drug abuse, delinquency, relationship and family issues, and academic underachievement and school drop-out. Finally, the SAP has once again evolved to integrate the risk and protective factor model of prevention into the counselor’s role.
A Student Assistance Program can be extremely effective. As a result of referral to a youth counselor schools have found reductions in use of alcohol and drugs by youth, decreases in family problems, reductions in personal problems, reductions in maladaptive behaviors, and reductions in academic problems.
Advantages of SAPs
SAPs have distinct advantages over community-based youth counseling programs. Because they are school-based they are more easily accessible for youth than community-based services, and are more likely to be used by youth. They also have a lower “no-show” or premature drop-out rate. Experience also shows that while many youth may be referred from the school, the number of self-referrals of youth is greater. SAPs also provide free services to youth, without regard to the ability to pay.
SAPs provide both crisis management services, educational services, and individual and group counseling. For situations which are more critical, such as suicidal ideation or active addiction, the programs refer to a number of other community-based providers better equipped to handle problems of that level of severity.
School-based Youth Counseling Programs can be very effective, and have been recommended as a core component in the overall system to fight drug abuse ("Background Research", Center for Prevention Research and Development, Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois, July 2005.) Clearly, the provision of services such as these are a key element in both the control and eradication of illicit drug use, and the overall stabilization and development of youth with serious problems.
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
It has been reported that for every one dollar invested in prevention or treatment, society sees a return of seven to twenty-three dollars in savings (“Benefit Cost Analysis of Residential and Outpatient Addiction Treatment in the State of Washington”, French, M.T., Salome, H.J., Krupski, A., McKay, J.R., Donovan, D.M., McLellan, A.T. Durrell, J., Evaluation Review, 24(6), 2000.) Certainly, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The SAP is a critical service for youth-in-need, and there is no better way to enhance education while improving lives than by providing assistance and support to our youth.
References:
National Student Assistance Association
Let's Help Youth In Need
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