Program seeks to put more counselors in highest-need schools

By Jessica Holdman

SCDailyGazette.com

COLUMBIA — A new program at the University of South Carolina is helping fill openings for counselors and therapists in schools that most need them.

South Carolina public schools reported 30 unfilled counselor positions statewide this fall, according to a report by the state’s Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement.

USC’s program, funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, aims to help fill those vacancies going forward by recruiting, training and graduating a total of 72 new school counselors by 2029.

Participating students receive free tuition, money to attend professional conferences, and a $10,000 stipend while interning in schools with a high percentage of impoverished students in three school districts: Richland 2 (suburban Columbia), Lexington 1 (which includes Lexington, Gilbert and Pelion) and Aiken County.

Those districts, which offer a relatively short commute for USC students, also met the grant’s requirements for school poverty ratings and understaffing, and each committed to hiring five USC students annually from the program.

Upon graduation, the students agree to work for at least two years in a high-need school in South Carolina, where more than 60% of students statewide live in poverty.

USC’s counselor program has had grant-funded programs in the past, but this is its first focused on getting graduates through the master’s degree program debt free and into schools with the greatest needs.

Growing up in New Jersey, USC student Jack Apple attended a high-poverty school and experienced homelessness in fourth and fifth grades. In choosing a career, he wanted to help children facing similar challenges.

He was weighing whether to accept a job offer teaching second grade in Richland County after graduating with a bachelor’s degree or stay in college to become a counselor when he learned about the opportunity at USC.

“These children, they need an advocate,” Apple said about his decision, recalling what he saw firsthand while student teaching.

Some children “would steal food because they knew they would go home where there was no food provided for them,” he said. “Some kids would come to school in the same outfit all week long. A lot of these kids have gone through some experiences, traumatic experiences, and they just need somebody who will love them unconditionally, regardless of how they show up to school.”

Combating a shortage

It’s already difficult to get mental health professionals to become school counselors. It’s even more difficult to recruit and retain them in the poorest schools, said Jonathan Ohrt, an associate professor of education and the USC program’s director. The grant identifies willing students and gives them an education free from the burden of student loans.

And it gives them the extra training to handle the circumstances they’ll experience in poor communities.

Increasing the number of counselors working in schools also is important to the professional well-being of the counselors themselves and their ability to help, Ohrt said.

The state Department of Health and Human Services found in January 2022 that South Carolina school mental health counselors were each handling about 1,300 students, compared to the national ratio of 385:1. By September 2023, districts added counselors to 230 more schools in the state. Each counselor then handled 653 students.

The effort to combat the shortage also extends beyond the program at USC.

South Carolina State University also received a federal grant this year of $1.25 million to offer a free certificate program for those who counsel children and adolescents with disabilities. And last year, Clemson University received a $5.8 million federal education grant to offer free tuition to Greenville County school employees who wanted to go back to school for counseling.

Issues exacerbated

The long-term goal for South Carolina is to have one therapist for every 325 students. While progress has been made, students’ mental health issues were exacerbated by a global pandemic.

“When we look at post-COVID surveys of K-12 students, there are higher levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness and stress — all those things seem to have increased,” Ohrt said.

It’s a feeling USC counseling student Katie Struzyk knows well. She was a high school senior in Burnsville, Minnesota, when the COVID-19 virus struck and worsened the anxiety she had struggled with through childhood.

Luckily, Struzyk had people she could turn to growing up, such as her softball coach who was also a school counselor.

“I remember one day, my anxiety was over running and I was starting to freak out and couldn’t be in class,” Struzyk said “I walked all the way down to her office and I sat with her for half an hour, and she just let me talk to her.”

While shadowing a middle school counselor, Struzyk encountered a student who attempted self-harm during class. Struzyk said she was impressed by the counselor’s calm demeanor and assurances the student wouldn’t be disciplined.

“School should be a safe and comfortable space for students and I want to be a part of that,” Struzyk said. “If I can be a trusted adult in that environment for them, it would be an honor to me.”

Making students feel safe

Part of what prompted Apple to stay in school to become a counselor is his passion for helping students develop social and emotional skills. This teaches kids how to interact with each other and the community at large, recognizing and controlling their emotions and coping techniques for resolving conflicts.

Since Apple started the USC program this semester, he has spent 15 hours shadowing several area school counselors on the job and witnessed the types of difficult circumstances he will one day need to address.

For example, Apple was present when a middle school student told the school counselor they wanted to identify as a different gender. Under a state law signed in May, school administration must inform students’ parents.

Apple told the S.C. Daily Gazette he is openly queer and was outed while in grade school.

“I know firsthand the harm that being outed when you’re not ready can do to somebody, and it just sticks with me,” he said.

In a separate instance, a play therapy session with a kindergartner caught him off guard. Apple, the counselor and the child were playing with a doll house, and the child revealed being sexually assaulted.

“You can imagine sitting there playing dolls, and this stuff is starting to unravel and how heavy that is,” Apple said.

The techniques he learned in class took over.

“You have to be positive; you have to make that child feel safe,” Apple said. “Otherwise, kids, they’ll pick up that maybe Mr. Apple feels uncomfortable, so I need to stop sharing.”

After the child told Apple and the counselor what happened, the counselor contacted the state Department of Social Services to look into the matter to hopefully ensure the child’s safety. That, too, is required by law.

Jessica Holdman writes about the economy, workforce and higher education. Before joining the S.C. Daily Gazette, she was a business reporter for The Post and Courier. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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