MENTAL HEALTH

PROGRAM EVALUATION
Lizbeth Ramirez

DEMOGRAPHICS
Ethnicity
1.90% 4.20%

Currently 1,126 students attend Las

Plumas high school.
70% of students qualify for free and
reduced lunch.

8.20%

9.20%

0.10%

24%
52.20%

African American

American Indian

Asian

Filipino

Hispanic

White

Two or more races

CURRENTLY LAS PLUMAS HIGH SCHOOL HAS.

3 academic counselors.
1 social worker.
1 school psychologist.

Victor counselors.
ERMHS counselors.

STRENGTHS OF THE CURRENT PROGRAM

Counseling services are available through
victor for kids with medical.
The social worker provides various services:
Brief intervention for substance using
adolescents.
Resources for homeless kids.
Provides counseling for non-medical kids.

LP has a contract with Butte county

behavioral health to provide educationally
related mental health services.

SOME WEAKNESSES ARE.

The school psychologist is only at LP
three days a week and does not provide
counseling.
The social worker is only at the high
school 2 days a week.

The school counselors do not provide

any counseling services.
Counseling services are not publicized
at the school.

CURRENTLY
Students get counseling services only if they self-refer or if a teacher refers the
student to the academic counselors.
If a student is referred, one of the following happens:
A victor counselor sees them if the qualify for medical
The social worker sees them OR

They are referred to outside providers

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

The availability of counseling services must be advertised to students as many of the
students who would benefit from counseling are unaware of its availability.
A better process of referral must be developed.
Another social worker or counselor should be hired to be at Las Plumas full time in
order to provide:
Counseling for students who do not have medical
Provide brief intervention counseling

GOALS

Ensure that all students who are in need

of services are receiving them.
Prevention of substance abuse.

TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS

The school must ensure that students
are aware of the availability of
counseling services.
The counselor or social worker should
be trained in brief intervention for
substance abusing adolescents.
Students should be referred directly to
the new counselor or social worker
instead of the academic counselors.

COST
A new full time counselor would cost
about $60,000 annually.
Some additional money would be
necessary for training the new
counselor or social worker on brief
intervention for substance abusing
adolescents.

MAKING THE CASE FOR A NEW COUNSELOR

Collect data to demonstrate the need for a new, fulltime counselor.
Survey students to find the percent who would like
counseling and who have used drugs or alcohol.
Find out what percentage of students know about the
availability of counseling.
Find out the percent of students who have been caught
with drugs or alcohol at school.

Use the data to gain support from the principal and

then get in contact with the district.

Request money from the district to hire a new

counselor.
If resistance is encountered, emphasize that benefits
outweigh the costs.

 Students may be hesitant to be honest about wanting counseling services.

They may fail to report instances of substance use.

The district may not want to provide the school with money for a new counselor.

WHAT NEXT?
After a few months of having hired the new counselor, re-administer the survey to assess
whether the presence of a new counselor has helped the school progress toward achieving
their goals.
If there is an increase in:
The percentage of students who know about the availability of counseling.
The percentage of students who are receiving counseling services.

And a decrease in the percentage of students who have used or been caught with drugs or
alcohol then.
The school is progressing toward goal achievement.