School/Community Partnerships

Mental Health Services Act – Student Assistance Programs

Mental Health Services Act Logo
The Kern County Superintendent of Schools collaborates with Kern County mental health to administer Mental Health Services Act (MHSA-Prevention & Early Intervention) funding from statewide voter approved Prop. 63 Initiative to support Student Assistance Programs (SAP) in selected Kern County schools. Student Assistance Programs are a school-based strategy to identify, refer and support young people in collaboration with parents, community-based agencies and Mental Health.

The goal is to offer positive alternatives to students experiencing difficulties and to help them remain in school. The Kern SAP project provides a comprehensive school-based program for students (K-12) at high-need and underserved schools across Kern County designed to identify issues that prevent students from being successful in school.

  • The Kern SAP project provides school-based screening, early identification of behaviors of concern and then provides support to students and families through prevention activities, early intervention, referral and support for students that will address problems of substance abuse, violence, truancy and other issues potentially related to school failure.
  • The Kern SAP project will focus on capacity building efforts across all Kern County school sites to enhance already established Student Assistance Teams so that they can add cost-effective and evidence based peer helping programs (Peer Conflict Mediation, Peer Tutoring, Link Crew, Safe School Ambassadors) as well as intensive interventions (Brief Intervention, Aggression Replacement Training-Teaching Pro-social Skills and Parent Project) to address the areas of greatest need to improve outcomes by reducing juvenile delinquency, school failure, drop-outs and youth violence/aggression.