Mental Health

The Project Access program is Communities In Schools of San Antonio’s most established clinical program. The Project Access program was initially developed in 2005, and its purpose is to provide short-term (8-10 sessions) intensive counseling services to students (and their families) enrolled in CIS-SA as case-managed students at their schools. The Project Access program aims to bring counseling services to the students at their school because many families we work with have difficulty accessing outside counseling services due to money, transportation, and/or time limitations. Our Project Access staff serves students in the following San Antonio area school districts: San Antonio ISD, East Central ISD, Harlandale ISD, Judson ISD, Southwest ISD, Pearsall ISD, Northside ISD, & Somerset ISD. In 2020, we introduced Devine ISD to Communities In Schools of San Antonio through our Devine ISD Project Access program.

The SEEDS Program is a clinical program established in 2018 that offers mental health services to campuses within Northside ISD. The SEEDS program is comprised of licensed mental health professional teams, including social workers and counselors, who serve students from any NISD campus. The SEEDS counselor provides intensive counseling services to students referred by the district’s Point of Contact personnel at each school. The SEEDS Social Worker offers ongoing case management and supportive guidance services to referred students, as well as any necessary aftercare to the students and their families following the completion of counseling services.

The Metro Health – Domestic Violence Program is our clinical program dedicated to providing counseling and mental health support to students (and their families) affected by domestic violence. This program was developed in 2020 in collaboration with the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District and supports students across four San Antonio-area school districts: Northeast ISD, Northside ISD, San Antonio ISD, and East Central ISD. Our Licensed Counselors dedicated to this program can provide counseling services to schools that may not have a CIS-SA Site Coordinator assigned to their campus.

The Youth Mental Health Project (YMHP) is Communities In Schools of San Antonio’s newest clinical program. YMHP was designed to provide intensive counseling services to students (and their families) enrolled in select San Antonio ISD middle and high schools who need additional mental health support. The goal of YMHP is to bring counseling services directly to the students at their school, as many of the families we work with struggle to access outside counseling services due to financial, transportation, and/or time constraints.

The PACE Wellness program, developed in 2020, provides mental health services to select Head Start campuses within San Antonio ISD. The PACE Wellness program comprises licensed mental health professional teams, including social workers and counselors, who serve students from any SAISD Head Start campus. The counselor provides intensive counseling services to students referred by the district’s Point of Contact personnel. The social worker, in turn, provides ongoing case management and supportive guidance services to the referred students and their families, as well as any necessary aftercare once counseling services have concluded.

The Metro Health – Teen Parent Program is our clinical program dedicated to providing counseling and mental health support to pregnant and parenting teenagers across four San Antonio-area school districts. This program was developed in 2017 in collaboration with the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Our Licensed Counselors dedicated to this program can provide counseling services to schools that may not have a CIS-SA Site Coordinator assigned to their campus. The purpose of the Metro Health Clinical program is to reduce the repeat pregnancy rate among teenage youth in San Antonio.

School Box of Trainings offers school staff, administrators, parents, and other professionals tools to support the needs of children through customized professional development workshops on various topics. Each of these workshops is taught by skilled professionals who are experts in their respective fields.

Hope Squad is a peer-led, educational program developed to address mental health and suicide prevention in schools. Hope squad members are nominated by their peers and are guided through a comprehensive curriculum by trained advisors. All nominated students begin by completing 3 foundational lessons focusing on relationship building, creating a welcoming and safe space, developing a basic understanding of mental and emotional health, recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health crisis and suicide, and how to link fellow students to trusted adult help.

Hope Squad was founded by Dr. Greg Hudnall in 2004. Dr. Hudnall wanted to do more to help students and realized that students are more likely to reach out to a trusted peer before an adult when they are experiencing a mental health crisis. Creating a student-led, peer-nominated program proved to help save lives.

CIS-SA site coordinators and selected school staff will serve as Hope Squad advisors. CIS-SA will be able to provide wrap-around support not only for those students who are nominated to Hope Squad, but also for those students reaching out for help.