Poverty has an impact on mental health and the counseling process in profound ways; however, counselors may fail to recognize the importance of poverty in clients' lives. The authors propose a model to help counselors navigate the complexities of counseling clients who are living in poverty. The I-CARE Model may help counselors develop insight about personal biases, acknowledge harsh realities of poverty, remove barriers to growth, and expand on the clients' own strengths.La pobreza tiene un profundo impacto sobre la salud mental y el proceso de consejería; sin embargo, es posible que los consejeros no reconozcan la importancia de la pobreza en las vidas de sus clientes. Los autores proponen un modelo para ayudar a los consejeros a comprender las complejidades de los clientes que viven en la probreza. El Modelo I-CARE puede ayudar a los consejeros a desarrollar su percepción de sesgos personales, reconocer las duras realidades de la probreza, eliminar barreras al crecimiento y ampliar las fortalezas de los clientes.

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This study examined student, parent, and faculty perceptions of academic development needs and related comprehensive school counseling program services from four urban middle and high schools. Participants ( n = 1,032) completed a survey designed to assist schools in planning and evaluating their career and college readiness programs, and exploring perceived student support needs. Statistically significant differences were observed in stakeholder perceptions among 12 identified interventions that support improved academic development, through factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) and pairwise comparisons analysis. Findings provide valuable information about prioritizing student academic counseling services strategically and effectively, to meet program needs of students in high-poverty schools.

The consequences of adolescent drug and alcohol use may be serious and far-reaching, forecasting problematic use or addictive behaviors into adulthood. School counselors are particularly well suited to understand the needs of the school community and to seamlessly deliver sustainable substance use prevention. This pilot study with 46 ninth-grade students investigates the impact of the Making Choices and Reducing Risk (MCARR) program, a drug and alcohol use prevention program for the school setting. The MCARR curriculum addresses general knowledge of substances and their related risks, methods for evaluating risk, and skills for avoiding or coping with drug and alcohol use. Using a motivational interviewing framework, MCARR empowers students to choose freely how they wish to behave in relation to drugs and alcohol and to contribute to the health of others in the school community. The authors hypothesized that the implementation of the MCARR curriculum would influence student attitudes, knowledge, and use of substances. Results suggest that the MCARR had a beneficial impact on student attitudes and knowledge. Further, no appreciable increases in substance use during the program were observed. Initial results point to the promise of program feasibility and further research with larger samples including assessment of longitudinal impact.

The Connecticut Comprehensive School Counseling Framework was released in November 2020—8 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the progress made by principals and school counselors in implementing the new framework, and to understand the impact of the pandemic on their efforts to do so. We found significant overlap between the perceptions and priorities expressed by participating principals and school counselors. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that both groups described increased collaboration within their schools.