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Counselors and transition‑services staff describe expanded mental‑health supports and pre‑employment program
Summary
Counselors and transition‑services staff told the board about new and ongoing student supports — in‑school mental‑health counseling, referral processes, and a federally funded pre‑employment transition program serving students with documented disabilities (37 enrolled, more applications pending).
At the Sweet Home SD 55 school board meeting on March 9, district staff outlined several student‑support initiatives including expanded mental‑health counseling and a federally funded pre‑employment transition program for students with documented disabilities.
Brooklyn Sanders (junior‑high mental‑health counselor) and Join Lawrence (high‑school counselor) described services that include one‑on‑one counseling, small groups (self‑compassion, skills groups), same‑day crisis response, safety planning, referrals to outside therapists, and collaboration with family‑support and homeless liaisons to address non‑academic barriers. Counselors said connecting students to outside therapy remains difficult because of insurance limits, provider availability and summer transportation challenges; they described spreadsheets of local resources and same‑day availability for urgent needs.
The counselors reported caseloads and referral totals in the meeting: one counselor said she has 46 referrals this year and meets students weekly/biweekly/monthly as needed; another described seeing a caseload mix 'about 68% female, 40% male' (transcript phrasing). Trustees praised the counselors and emphasized the district’s conscious budget decision to fund the positions.
Separately, Robin Lindy described the district’s pre‑employment transition services (formerly part of an older transition program), funded by a federal grant and open to students with documented disabilities. She said the program offers five component services (job exploration, counseling, self‑advocacy, and others), reported 37 students enrolled from last year, several pending applications for the high school, and volunteer placements including farms and assisted‑living sites. Lindy said the program currently reaches just under 13% of eligible students and the goal is to expand participation toward 30%.
Trustees asked about expanding permanent volunteer locations and about including student‑wages language in district contracts to facilitate paying students for work experience; staff said that would require changes to contract language and further discussion.
Next steps: trustees expressed support; staff will continue reporting program participation numbers and explore options for expanding community placement sites and contracting language to allow student wages.
