AUSD Gateway to Success is part of a TK-8 and Comprehensive High School placement that provides social/emotional and mental health support to the school community to help each student reach their educational potential. We are a team of Mental Health Counselors and Licensed Mental Health Counselors that provide prevention and intervention strategies within the Multi-Domain Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTMDSS). Some of these interventions may include, but are not limited to: school-wide mental health education and workshops, SEL, behavior and social emotional Tier II supports, case management, crisis intervention, parent webinars, group counseling and individual counseling. Common areas of need within our school district are truancy, homelessness, students in need of support with depression, anxiety, grief & loss, social skills, motivation, and conflict resolution skills. Most interns will be site based for the purpose of helping to maximize the developmental potential of all students at the various ages and stages of their academic career.

Social Work Interns under the Gateway to Success Program will learn micro, mezzo, and macro practice skills as it applies to school settings. Social Work Interns are expected to learn and utilize prevention and interventions strategies to help improve individual and schoolwide academic achievement, attendance, behavior and engagement.

MICRO Experiences Available:

• Biopsychosocial Assessments & Treatment Planning.

• Individual & Family Mental Health Counseling with Students.

• Group Mental Health Counseling with Students.

• Case Management support for Students At-Promised including Foster Youth, Youth Experiencing Homelessness, Youth on Probation, and Youth Experiencing Difficulties with Attendance.

• Case Management skills for students in need of behavioral intervention, attendance, social-emotional support.

MEZZO Experiences Available:

• Experience working with school based Multi-disciplinary Teams such as Student Success Teams (SST) and Student Attendance Intervention Teams (SAIT), and Parent Conferences.

• Exposure to participating in IEP meetings and 504 meetings for students.

• Create and conduct Presentations, Webinars and Workshops for Students, Educators, Parents, Caregivers, and Community Members on various mental health and social-emotional topics. 

• Exposure to and collaboration with community-based Mental Health Agencies through our school level Mental Health Integration Team Meetings (MHIT).

• Consultation with other educators such as teachers, school psychologists, school counselors, assistant principals, and principals. 

MACRO Experiences Available:

• Participate in our district task forces, such as: Community Resource Mapping Committee, HOPE/STAR Committee (McKinney-Vento/At-Promised Youth/Foster Youth), Communications & Marketing Committee, and our Mental Health Awareness Committee.

• Attend and participate in School Attendance Review Board (SARB) Meetings held at the District Office with the community panel.

• Attend School Board of Education Meetings as observers to understand policy discussion, analysis, and integration as it relates to school settings.

• Research and create a Policy Brief to present to fellow School Social Work interns during group supervision related to education, mental health, or child welfare issues.

• Analyze data on mental health, counseling, and student attendance services at the site and/or district level.