Student Assistance Program
Employee & Family Resources' Student Assistance Program (SAP) was launched in 1977 to reach troubled students and their families. Today, the SAP partners with local school districts to cover more than 68,000 students in Central Iowa through combined public and private funding. The goal is to unite schools, parents, and community resources in an education-support partnership. The SAP is designed to assist students, families, and schools in our partner districts, to manage the impact that a wide variety of personal and family problems can have on student behavior and achievement. Many issues can negatively impact a student including those related to family conflict, emotional or mental health problems, limited parenting skills, substance abuse, bullying, and other peer conflict. Services provided include telephone consultation, in-person sessions, referrals to community resources, crisis consultation, and quarterly newsletters.
Telephone Consultation
Students and families have immediate access to a live clinician ready to offer support 24 hours-a-day, 365 days-a-year. Employee & Family Resources has been a leader among assistance programs in requiring that Masters-degreed clinical staff answer all calls to eliminate delay in servicing individuals who might be in emergency or urgent situations. While telephone assistance is available any time, students and their eligible family members are also encouraged to attend appointments for in-person assistance with a Masters-degreed clinician.
In-Person Sessions
At EFR's SAP, we believe the in-person assessment of mental health or chemical dependency problems is crucial to creating successful clinical outcomes for our clients. Appointments for in-person assessment and short-term counseling are offered at four locations: downtown Des Moines, north-central Des Moines, West Des Moines, and Ankeny. Features of the program include:
- Quality assessment of concerns to help clarify, and identify solutions for, issues such as family and marital conflict, alcohol and other drugs, emotional disturbance, and other topics of concern
- Short-term counseling aimed at immediate problem resolution within SAP sessions
- Referrals to affordable long-term resources as needed
Employee & Family Resources employs clinical staff that hold a masters degree in a behavioral science field, and appropriate state certification or license. SAP clinicians are experienced in responding to the unique concerns of students and their family members. These concerns may include poor grades, attendance, alcohol and other drug problems, eating disorders, dating and relationship issues, conflict, bullying, violence, emotional issues such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and other family concerns.
Crisis Consultation
Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISDs) are provided by EFR, recognizing the importance of planning for and providing immediate and caring responses to critical incidents that may impact students or school employees. The SAP will assist the school with it's response to crisis including employee or student deaths; accidents; serious injuries; natural disasters; sexual assaults; or other traumatic events.
In the event of a critical incident, school administrators can immediately consult with a clinician to arrange for appropriate response services including on-site group debriefings, generally held within 72 hours of the incident. Critical Incident Stress Debriefings have been demonstrated to accelerate the recovery of individuals from traumatic events while helping them get back to normal as quickly as possible.
Family News You Can Use Newsletter
This quarterly newsletter is distributed electronically to provide useful articles and news items for distribution to district parents and students. Family News You Can Use articles are excellent tools for reminding students and parents about the benefits available to them through the Student Assistance Program and other community services offered by EFR.
