WEBINAR #1: Student Assistance Programs (SAP)

“Talk. They Hear You.” Campaign SAP Webinar Series

November 10, 2021, 1 p.m. ET

Robert M. Vincent, M.S.Ed.

Associate Administrator for Alcohol 

Prevention and Treatment Policy,

SAMHSA

Erin L. Wick, M.B.A., SUDP

Senior Director, Behavioral 

Health and Student Supports, 

Capital Region ESD 113

Amity Noltemeyer, Ph.D., NCSP

Associate Dean of the Graduate School, 

Professor of Educational Psychology, 

Miami University
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Polling Questions

This presentation contains four short polls to help us learn 

more about today’s webinar participants.

• All answers will be presented as totals or percentages, and no one will be 

able to tell by name who answered what question.

• When you answer the questions, you are agreeing to have your answers 

anonymously included in the totals as percentages.
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Poll Question #1

What is your current role?

A. School administrator

B. District administrator

C. Student assistance program (SAP) professional

D. Educator

E. Health department employee

F. Prevention coalition staff member

G. Other (please specify)
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Today’s Session

Today’s session will cover:

• What is a student assistance program (SAP)?

• How do SAPs function in schools?

• The links between SAPs and academic and behavioral success

• SAP spotlights
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What is an SAP?

Comprehensive, school-based framework designed to provide a 

variety of services for K–12 students who exhibit a range of risk 

factors that interfere with their educational success.

Students best suited for involvement in student assistance services 

are those who are experiencing issues with substance use or misuse 

and/or mental illness.
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What is an SAP?

Services include:

1. Education

2. Prevention

3. Early identification

4. Evidence-based intervention

5. Referral processes

6. Guided support services
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How Do SAPs Function in Schools?

Prevention specialists 

and licensed clinical 

professionals

School administrators, 

teachers, nurses, counselors, 

support personnel, and 

linked community providers

Access to a range of promotion, prevention, 

treatment, and continuing care activities

Students in grades K–12
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Identification and Referral Process

Identification/referral by...

Teachers, administrators, and interdisciplinary team members

OR

Students and/or families

Process:

1. Provide brief description of concerns.

2. Students receive notification from designated SAP team member(s).

3. SAP team member(s) meets with student and assesses current 

concerns or risks.
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Poll Question #2

Do you currently have an active SAP?

• Yes, we currently have an active SAP.

• No, we used to have an SAP, but it’s no longer active. 

• No, but we are currently in the process of developing an SAP for 

implementation.

• No, but we plan to develop and implement an SAP at some point.

• No, and we don’t plan to develop and implement an SAP.
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Benefits of SAPs

Promote positive social, emotional, and behavioral functioning 

through a variety of strategies, including:

1. Improving family-school connections;

2. Offering skill-building to students in core competency areas such as 

problem-solving and positive coping;

3. Building on behavioral self-management or self-control;

4. Improving relationship skills; and

5. Understanding responsible decision-making.
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Benefits of SAPs

Help students in areas related to 

academic achievement, such as:

• Assisting with organizational skills;

• Completing missing assignments; 

and

• Obtaining direct tutoring 

opportunities.

Help to identify specific 

barriers to student learning 

and academic success 

through the development 

and implementation of 

individualized skill-building 

programs that reduce and 

remove these barriers.
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Benefits of SAPs

Complement and strengthen 

related curricula and existing 

supports in schools.

Play a key role in linking 

students in need of more 

focused or intensive supports to 

a team of trained school and 

community personnel and 

research-based interventions.

Convey a message to 

students that positive help 

and assistance from caring 

adults is available to them 

and that problems they 

experience can be mitigated 

or overcome.
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Benefits of SAPs

Achieve outcomes that are valued by families and schools 

when implemented to reflect best practices and research, 

including:

1. Improved student behavior;

2. Increased school attendance;

3. Increased assignment completion;

4. Higher grades and academic achievement;

5. Higher rates of high school graduation; and

6. Increased self-control, self-efficacy, and social competence.
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Poll Question #3

What are the primary barriers you have faced in creating or 

maintaining an SAP? (select all that apply)

• School board buy-in

• Funding

• Staffing

• Staff development & training

• COVID

• Other (please specify)
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9 Critical Components of Effective SAPs

1. School Board Policy

Provide operational definitions of a school’s role in creating a safe and secure learning 

environment.

2. Staff Development

Provide professional development, ongoing training and coaching, and technical 

assistance to school employees and SAP staff members.

3. Program Awareness

Build knowledge for parents, students, and other agencies in the community on school 

policies while also providing information on increasing and promoting resiliency and 

student success.
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9 Critical Components of Effective SAPs

4. Internal Referral Process

Provide school staff with the tools to refer students contending with risk or presenting 

with social, emotional, behavioral, or substance use difficulties.

5. Problem-Solving Team and Case Management

Form a student assistance team that will make decisions on how to best serve students

identified as in need.

6. Direct Services to Students

Tailor specific prevention and intervention services and supports to students based on 

individual needs.
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9 Critical Components of Effective SAPs

7. Cooperation and Collaboration

Foster strong relationships with youth- and family-serving community agencies.

8. Integration with Other School-Based Programs

Work in collaboration with existing school initiatives supporting academic success.

9. Program Evaluation and Improvement

Develop a deep understanding of local school needs and resources and implement 

continuous improvement strategies.
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Poll Question #4

What are you hoping to get out of this SAP webinar series? 

(select all that apply)

• SAP overview

• How to get started

• Getting ready with school partners

• Implementing the SAP

• SAP evaluation and improvement

• Lessons learned from current SAPs

• Other (please specify)
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SAP Spotlight – Ohio School Wellness Initiative

Amity Noltemeyer, Ph.D., NCSP

Associate Dean of the Graduate School

Professor of Educational Psychology 

Miami University
*Needs assessment

with emphasis on

identifying

COVID-19 needs and

potential solutions

*Audit of existing

resources, services,

training, and

coaching

*Leverage existing

practices and partners

*Identify gaps &

create content and

resources

*Identify pilot schools to

implement SAP, Tier II

III, and staff wellness

*Implement regional

model for training,

coaching, and COPs

*Disseminate tools,

resources, and supports

*LEA development of

mental health action plans

and teaming approaches

*Recognition system

*Process and outcome

evaluations

*Regional partners provide

ongoing training, coaching

and technical assistance

through COPs

*School and community

partners have access to

online resource center with

guides and protocols,

planning & implementation

tools, and recognition

system information

*Partners have capacity to

monitor ongoing fidelity

and outcomes

Exploration Implementation Sustainability 

pacity Development

Ohio Mental Health, Behavioral Health, an

Substance Use Supports Ca

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Ohio School Wellness Initiative (OSWI)

Jointly supported by:
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Exploration: OSWI Needs Assessment

Concerns n %

Staff buy-in 54 49%

Community buy-in 23 21%

Resources for staff training 75 68%

Staffing resources for promotion and prevention 63 57%

Staffing resources for intervention 73 66%

Options for an SAP coordinator 20 18%

Data tracking system 53 48%

Locating community-based mental health 

partnerships 27 24%

Locating community-based substance abuse 

partnerships 20 18%

Difficulty collaborating with outside agencies 21 19%

Time management system 32 29%

Cost of outside services 45 41%

Time 71 64%

Remote implementation 20 18%

Other 7 6%

School SAP Implementation Concerns, May-July 2021

Note. Participants were able to select more than one option resulting in a percentage total greater 

than 100%.
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Implementation: OSWI Framework
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Implementation: OSWI Framework
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Sustainability: Improve and Scale-Up

Tools and 

resources

Training, 

coaching, 

technical 

assistance

Learning 

communities

Capacity for 

continued 

fidelity and 

outcome 

evaluation
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SAP Spotlight – Capital Region ESD 113

Erin L. Wick, M.B.A., SUDP

Senior Director

Behavioral Health and Student Supports

Capital Region ESD 113
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ESD 113 – Hoquiam School District SAP
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ESD 113 – Student Assistance Program: MTSS

Student Assistance

Program: MTSS 

CR-ESD 113 True 

North Enhancement 

Traditional Student 

Assistance

Tier 3: 

Behavioral Health Service (Treatment)

Tier 2:

Targeted Interventions 

(Selective/Indicated)

Tier 1:

School-Wide Practices 

(Universal)

FEW

SOME

ALL
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ESD 113 – Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Framework 
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Q&A
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Student Assistance – A Guide for School Administrators

Purpose: Provides school leaders and administrators with 

key information about student assistance services for 

substance use and mental health initiatives.
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Student Assistance Resources Guide

Purpose: Describes some student assistance resources and 

provides tangible ways school administrators and student 

assistance teams can implement the strategies.

Assists school leaders and student assistance teams to 

increase awareness of student assistance services by 

providing guidance on resources available for this critically 

important work.
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Student Assistance Discussion Starter Video

Purpose: Describes some student assistance resources and provides tangible ways 

school administrators and student assistance teams can implement the strategies.

Assists school leaders and student assistance teams to increase awareness of student 

assistance services by providing guidance on resources available for this critically 

important work.
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Other Helpful Resources

• “Talk. They Hear You.” Campaign SAP Resources

– Includes guides, a discussion starter video, public service announcements, 

fact sheets, and posters

• Prevention First Student Assistance Guidebook

• Pennsylvania Network for Student Assistance Services Website

• School Mental Health Quality Guides (e.g., Needs Assessment and 

Resource Mapping Guide, Early Intervention and Treatment 

Services & Supports guide)

• School-Wide Universal Screening Guidance
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What’s Next

WEBINAR #2: Standing up SAP Services

• How to Get Started — Funding, etc.

• Considerations for Program Implementation

– Options for SAP funding and federal sources

– Selection of service delivery model

DATE: Early December 2021
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