Sage provides comprehensive mental health services to all of our partner schools. This includes counseling and proactive mental health education for students (including Special Education students), consultation and training for staff, and outreach to parents and the broader community. We specifically provide the following services at no cost to students, staff and parents:
For students…
Crisis Intervention and Treatment
Sometimes a traumatic event, such as the death of a student, affects the entire student body. For such a school-wide crisis, Sage identifies those in need, provides ongoing grief counseling and supports school staff.
Peer Mediation
Using a 15-week conflict resolution program, Sage trains student leaders to become peer mediators to assist in student conflicts on campus.
Ongoing Counseling
Sage provides individual, family and group counseling sessions on-campus during school hours. Group topics include Grief and Loss, Anger Management, Victims of Violence, and Social Skills Training.
Proactive Mental Health Education
We provide high school classroom presentations on depression awareness and suicide prevention using a nationally recognized curriculum from SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education) and run K-8 anti-bullying workshops to confront bullying issues directly in the classrooms.
For parents…
Parent Consultation
Sage therapists are experts in dealing with child/adolescent behaviors and issues. We offer parents confidential consultations at the schools we serve, help them distinguish between normal and risky behaviors, and secure additional support when needed.
Community Outreach
Sage provides parent education opportunities by giving presentations and leading discussions about raising emotionally healthy adolescents. These presentations include our proven Latino Outreach program where the sessions are conducted in Spanish and address specific cultural needs of Latino Community.
For staff…
Staff Consultation
Sage becomes an integral part of each school’s team. School staff can freely consult with the on-campus therapists regarding disconcerting situations that they see in their classrooms, in the halls or anywhere.
Staff Training
We provide staff training on mental health issues such as Child Protective Services (CPS) reporting requirements, classroom management of grief and loss, and how to identify red flags.
Measuring Success
Sage collaborates with school partners to measure the success of our services. We use a mix of the following quantitative and qualitative tools and metrics to measure the efficacy of our programs:
Quantitative
Children's Global Assesment Scale
The Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) is a tool used to assess the global level of functioning and severity of mental illness in children and adolescents. The CGAS uses various scales that assess a child’s psychological, social and occupational functioning. The scoring on the scales ranges from positive mental health to severe psychopathology. Using a number system from 1 to 100, the CGAS assesses daily functioning and behaviors such as personal hygiene habits, sleep patterns and risk for suicide. Sage therapists assess students at the beginning and end of treatment, with the results compiled at the end. Our goal is to help students maintain or increase positive functioning in their daily life.
Attendance/Truancy Rates and Number of Resolved Behavioral Concerns
Studies show a link between students with mental health concerns, attendance rates, and ongoing disciplinary concerns. We anticipate that students who work directly with Sage therapists will show an increase in their attendance rate and/or show a reduction in disciplinary referrals, if these concerns are present.
Qualitative
Parent feedback
We request a parent feedback form, which gives the parent an opportunity to evaluate the impact of our services on their child.
Staff feedback
We invite staff to complete a feedback form for students they refer to Sage.
Self report by students
We simply ask students if they thought counseling was helpful and whether they would seek counseling again in the future.