The START program was recently voted the highest valued component of our Safe Schools Healthy Students grant!
The Support, Treatment, Advocacy, and Referral Team (START) is made up of school-based mental health counselors who focus on the early identification and assessment of students with learning, behavior, substance abuse, and emotional problems. The START program is part of the Safe Schools Healthy Students (SSHS) grant initiative that helps fund various programs in Carpinteria. At a recent SSHS Coordinating Council meeting, in order to help prioritize SSHS components for sustainability, all Council members provided their feedback by voting/prioritizing components of the grant. The START program – by far – received the highest votes and is clearly the most valued service provided under SSHS!
To give a glimpse of the type of services offered by the START program, read the report below about one of the START clients from the Fall semester:
This year a student was referred by a former START therapist to continue services. During their previous experience with START, a number of Child Welfare Services reports were made regarding their family situation. The student has witnessed domestic violence in the home and was a victim of physical and emotional abuse. As a result, the student retains a poor self esteem and began to perform poorly at school. In addition, the student lacked coping skills to deal with emotions and really needed support. The student has been an active participant in therapy and has been able to expand their communication skills with parents, build confidence, and identify healthy coping skills. In addition, this student has been educated about additional community resources and is quickly becoming involved in these services. This student openly talks about their beneficial experience with START reporting it as a safe place to communicate their feelings and receive support through difficult times. This is just one example of how the START therapists work closely with one another, and provide encouragement to utilize community resources.
The START program is guided by a vision of a children’s system of care characterized by doing whatever it takes, developing individualized, strengths-based plans and providing unconditional care. Service delivery is creative and team-based. Highly individualized planning processes help children and families meet previously unmet needs both within and outside of formal services, while children remain in their homes and community whenever possible.
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