As many as 20% of students have behavioral, emotional and mental health issues that require counseling or treatment. Of these youth, more than 80% never receive any mental health care for their issues and 10% go on to drop out of school.
At Next Step, we want to ensure that teens experiencing mental health issues get the support they need, no matter what. We can partner with your school to provide a Licensed Professional Counselor on campus, so any student on your campus can access counseling at no cost. Many schools have a student to guidance counselor ratio of 500:1. Most school guidance counselors simply don’t have the time to spend with the 30-60-100 or more students that require many hours of individualized counseling sessions over the course of the school year.
COUNSELING LOCATIONS – SCHOOLS
ATHENS ISD
- Athens High School
- Athens Middle School
- Bel Air Elementary
- Central Athens Elementary
- South Athens Elementary
BROWNSBORO ISD
- Brownsboro High School
- Brownsboro Junior High School
- Brownsboro Intermediate
- Brownsboro Elementary
- Chandler Intermediate
- Chandler Elementary
BULLARD ISD
- Bullard High School
- Bullard Middle School
- Bullard Intermediate School
- Bullard Elementary School
- Bullard Primary School
KILGORE ISD
- Kilgore High School
- Kilgore Middle School
- Kilgore Intermediate School
- Chandler Elementary School
MIDLOTHIAN ISD
- Midlothian High School
- Midlothian Heritage High School
- Dieterich Middle School
- Frank Seale Middle School
- Walnut Grove Middle School
MINEOLA ISD
- Mineola High School
- Mineola Middle School
- Mineola Elementary
- Mineola Primary School
MOUNT PLEASANT ISD
- Mount Pleasant High School
- Mount Pleasant Junior High School
- E. Wallace Middle School
NAVASOTA ISD
- Navasota High School
- Navasota Junior High School
NTCC – Communities in Schools
- AVERY ISD
- Avery Secondary School
- Avery Elementary School
- CLARKSVILLE ISD
- Clarksville High School
- Clarksville Middle High School
- Cheatham Elementary School
- DETROIT ISD
- Detroit High School
- Detroit Middle School
- Detroit Elementary School
- RIVERCREST ISD
- Rivercrest High School
- Rivercrest Junior High
- Rivercrest Elementary School
SPRING HILL ISD
- Spring Hill High School
- Spring Hill Junior High School
- Spring Hill Intermediate School
- Spring Hill Primary School
WAXAHACHIE ISD
- Waxahachie High School
- Waxahachie High School of Choice
- Waxahachie Global High School
- Coleman Junior High School
- Finley Junior High School
- Howard Junior High School
- Clift Elementary School
- Dunaway Elementary School
- Felty Elementary School
- Marvin Elementary School
- Northside Elementary School
- Shackelford Elementary School
- Simpson Elementary School
- Wedgeworth Elementary School
- Wilemon STEAM Academy
WINONA ISD
- Winona High School
- Winona Middle School
- Winona Elementary School
WHY CHOOSE TO PARTNER WITH US?
Next Step employees licensed mental health professionals in order to achieve the highest level of service. Next Step has been offering counseling services to Texas schools since 2014.
Our program is administered within the school setting during school hours. Next Step counselors work closely with designated school staff, and provide the right amount of counseling hours based on your unique needs.
Since we are a nonprofit organization, we work to combine your support with a variety of funding sources to provide your school with the most affordable solution, making it more beneficial than hiring a district employee.
Hiring a district employee to perform mental health services can be expensive when you factor in hidden costs such as payroll, health insurance, taxes, retirement, background checks, HIPAA compliant case management software, and more. Our school based mental health program takes care of these things , and leaves your mental health care footprint small, effective and cost efficient.
Student’s unmet mental health needs pose barriers to learning and development. Because of school guidance counselors’ training and position, they are uniquely qualified to provide education, prevention, intervention and referral services to students and their families. At Next Step, we see ourselves as a critical part of this mosaic of care, allowing school guidance counselors and administrative staff to refer students to our licensed professional counselors right on campus.
1. Our licensed professional counselors can make professional recommendations and referrals to outside experts when necessary.
2. All counselors have up-to-date Senate Bill 9 certified criminal background checks.
3. Mental Health care can help teachers improve classroom management reducing teacher stress by helping disruptive students, improve grades, and decrease absenteeism and reduce disciplinary referrals.
4. Our counselors only provide mental health counseling. This allows school staff to perform their core duties.
5. By having mental health counselors on campus, we remove the barriers to care so you know your students are getting the services they need. We will see any young person referred.
If you would like to have a licensed professional counselor on your campus, we would love to talk further! Contact our office at 903 939 9010.
COUNSELING AT JUVENILE PROBATION OFFICES
We have counselors at 18 Juvenile Probation locations across East Texas.
Our counseling program also extends to Juvenile Probation Offices. Our licensed professional counselors provide individual and group counseling on site. We work closely with probation staff to ensure needs are met.
If you are interested in having one of our Next Step counselors at your probation office, we would love to discuss this further! Contact our office at 903 939 9010.
COUNSELING LOCATIONS – JUVENILE PROBATION
Anderson County JPD
Henderson County JPD
Navarro County JPD
Wood County JPD
Youth Mental Health First Aid USA is an 8 hour public education program which introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teaches individuals how to help an adolescent in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge.
The course teaches participants the risk factors and warning signs of a variety of mental health challenges common among adolescents, including anxiety, depression, psychosis, eating disorders, AD/HD, disruptive behavior disorders, and substance use disorder. Participants learn to support a youth developing signs and symptoms of a mental illness or in an emotional crisis by applying a core five-step action plan: Assess for risk of suicide or harm, Listen non judgmentally, Give reassurance and information, Encourage appropriate professional help, and Encourage self-help and other support strategies.
CALL US FOR MORE INFORMATION AT 903 939 9010.
We are excited to be the first in Texas to implement Sources of Strength in schools, a best practice youth suicide prevention project. This program is designed to harness the power of peer social networks to change unhealthy norms and culture, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse.
The mission of Sources of Strength is to prevent suicide by increasing help seeking behaviors and promoting connections between peers and caring adults. Sources of Strength moves beyond a singular focus on risk factors by utilizing an upstream approach for youth suicide prevention. This upstream model strengthens multiple sources of support (protective factors) around young individuals so that when times get hard, they have strengths to rely on.