SAS Mission Statement
The mission of Employee/Student Support Services is to provide support to employees, students, and their families in participating districts and agencies in an effort to maximize overall wellness and each individual’s learning potential. It is our belief that learning improves when we help people develop skills, attitudes, and values necessary to manage life tasks, form relationships, and adapt to the demands of today’s society.
About SAS
The Eastern Suffolk BOCES Student Assistance Service is a school based program designed to address the social and emotional needs of students by placing professional counselors in schools to provide early intervention and prevention services, grades K-12.
In 2012 the program was proud to have completed its 25th year of operation in Suffolk County schools. Our dedication to providing quality prevention and early intervention services to our local schools has never wavered.
SAS is a leader in Suffolk County in working with students and staff to help promote a positive school climate that intervenes early to identify students before problems escalate into more serious and higher risk behaviors. As of September 2012, the Student Assistance Service has provided drug and alcohol prevention, violence prevention, and early intervention services to over 54,000 youngsters in Suffolk County Schools.
The Student Assistance staff is made up of skilled social workers who are specially trained in various research based prevention techniques including comprehensive universal, selective, and indicated services for students. The counselors are placed in the schools and are available on a daily basis to provide their services and deal with crises situations as they arise. They receive individual and group supervision from a credentialed prevention professional, as well as staff development to stay current with emerging social trends, share information and resources, and discuss various other relevant issues related to students.
Our services include universal, selective, and indicated prevention interventions. These include and are not limited to education and support, identification, assessment, early intervention, crisis intervention, and referral services for students and their families. The program is available to all students, but particularly targets those who are beginning to exhibit behavioral and academic problems, coming from substance abusing homes, or signs of stress that could result in substance abuse or other self-destructive behaviors.
Our SAS program emphasizes the development of the skills that are necessary to help students become resilient, connected, and to manage their lives in healthy ways in spite of the adversity or dysfunction that may go on around them.
SAS Evaluations by Bach Harrison, LLC, a nationally recognized research firm, have shown that:
- After being in a SAS group, students showed significant improvements in self-esteem and self-efficacy, decision making, managing stress, and setting goals.
- At the end of group interventions students were post-tested. More students found it was easier to get along with peers and said that it was definitely true that they knew how to better deal with pressure to use alcohol and drugs than they did at pretest.
- Students who spent more time in an SAS group had an even better outcome than those who spent less.
With our years of helping students in Suffolk County deal with difficult issues, we are committed to continuing to serve our districts with the most current and relevant prevention programs. We are well positioned because of our knowledge base, collective wisdom, and excellent relationship with schools to further the cause of identifying and assisting students in need early and effectively. Please feel free to call if you would like further information about how to participate in our program. The phone numbers is (631) 289-0078.
