Agency update: Communities in Schools San Antonio
The stresses on students and their families can be significant at any time, but the pandemic of the past two years has made such situations more difficult. Communities in Schools San Antonio, a 2021 Impact San Antonio Support Grant recipient, is offering help through counseling and other services.
The $7,000 Impact SA Support Grant enabled CIS-SA to purchase online counseling-related tools. Zipwhip ensures that texts between staff and counseling participants are sent and stored safely with data encryption. MyOutcomes is an online platform that allows staff to receive reports from clients before and after counseling sessions to measure the impact of the sessions.
“CIS-SA was excited to learn that we would be able to provide 21st century tools and technology to our counseling team,” said Lauren Geraghty, chief strategy officer for the nonprofit. “The tools ensured CIS-SA licensed mental health counselors had a secure communication platform to stay connected with clients and a modern reporting tool to better understand what the clients need to achieve their mental wellness goals.”
CIS-SA is part of a national organization that was started in New York City in the 1970s. The San Antonio affiliate was formed in 1985 with the help of city leaders including Henry and Mary Alice Cisneros. The purpose of CIS-SA, according to its website, is to “surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.”
CIS-SA has site coordinators on campuses in 12 regional school districts who work with school administrators to assess needs and coordinate resources for students and their families. Those resources can include food, school supplies, health care, counseling, academic assistance and positive role models.
Counselors travel between campuses throughout the day to provide services, and students typically have one counseling session per week, Geraghty said. CIS-SA has 36 staff and eight partners/contractors, she said, adding that, due to the need in the community, the agency has been increasing the number of counselors each year for more than six years.
Those counselors have been especially busy this school year. As of March 31, the agency’s licensed mental health clinicians had provided 900-plus students with more than 5,400 individual counseling sessions.
Most of the counseling sessions are in person now that students have returned to campus, Geraghty said. “We do have a few programs that provide counseling to parents or guardians, so staff working with this clientele may provide virtual sessions,” she noted.
The counselors are pleased with the new online programs.
One of them, Serenity, said, “I have been able to connect more consistently with students with the help of Zipwhip. This tool has helped reduce communication barriers in many ways — for example, by allowing the parent to communicate with me while they are working. Zipwhip has also been helpful with verifying whether a student is available for a session. It saves time and mileage in traveling to other campuses.”