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It’s a striking reality. Student mental health challenges continue to rise, yet schools are often severely understaffed to support them. According to the American School Counselor Association, the recommended counselor-to-student ratio is 1:250, and the National Association of School Psychologists suggests 1:500 for psychologists. However, the current averages tell a different story: school counselors are supporting around 408 students each, and psychologists are managing 1,211—more than double the recommended numbers.
The founders of EmpowerU, Catapult Learning’s mental health and resilience solution, understand this reality. As former school clinicians, they saw firsthand the overwhelming demands on counselors and the urgent need for effective mental health resources to bolster student attendance, mental health and well-being without adding to the burden of already overloaded staff.
Since 2015, EmpowerU’s Tier 1 and Tier 2 products have fulfilled the founders’ vision with evidence-based MTSS solutions that enable busy school staff to:
- Deliver essential resilience skills and support for all students
- Offer targeted interventions for students with high-risk factors
- Track progress through data-driven analytics
With a proven methodology showing over 90% of students achieving pre- to post-goal progress and 93% improving their well-being, EmpowerU has just announced two expansions to its MTSS portfolio, designed to further strengthen student support.
Expanded Tier 2 Mental Health & Resiliency Programs
To complement its highly effective Tier 2 Comprehensive Support Program with 1:1 coaching, EmpowerU has introduced a new Tier 2 School-Led Group Support Program. This program is tailored to support students with targeted needs in specific areas, such as friendships or emotional regulation. In this new model, students engage in individualized online lessons focused on their area of need, enhanced by group discussions and reflective activities, creating a balanced approach to skill-building and peer support.
With this expanded offering, school teams are better positioned to efficiently provide both targeted and comprehensive Tier 2 support and reach more students with flexible, easy-to-implement programs.
How It Works
This new Tier 2 School-Led Group Support program blends online, student self-directed skill-building lessons with counselor-led small group support, creating a proven combination that provides both the psychological comfort of an online program and the sense of belonging of a group setting.
Counselors schedule regular weekly group time with multi-age, multi-need students for eight-week periods. Students rotate in at any time during the school year. Targeted modules are completed independently by students (grades 6-12) or delivered by the counselor (grades K-5) followed by counselor-led group discussion that builds peer support and a sense of belonging.
The Benefits of Tier 2 School-Led Group Support
Counselors and students benefit from EmpowerU’s Tier 2 school-led group support because it:
- Is easy to implement with lower staff lift, as students complete lessons independently
- Reaches more students with flexible implementation that allows for mixed need and age groups, making scheduling easier
- Is evidence-based, with pre-to-post per-student data
- Delivers targeted support that focuses on specific resiliency competencies for identified need, including anxiety, confidence, friendships, habits, and more
- Instills a sense of belonging and peer support that increases trust and motivation
Intellispark® Pro MTSS Student Support Hub
Built for the reality of today’s schools, EmpowerU’s new Intellispark® Pro MTSS Student Support Hub , is an all-in-one solution designed specifically to help busy school counselors improve efficiencies and student outcomes.
Created by the makers of Naviance—the leading college, career, and life readiness platform—the unified Intellispark Pro platform conveniently allows staff to identify student needs through its highly effective ScholarCentric® screener, deploy custom supports, and communicate with staff, students, and families. Intellispark Pro also seamlessly connects with EmpowerU’s proven supports at Tiers 1 and 2, ensuring every student receives the proper level of care in a timely manner.
MTSS Made Simple: Intellispark Pro MTSS Student Support Hub
In one simple platform, student teams can stay informed and aligned with insights and action to address each student’s academic, social and personal needs. Intellspark Pro delivers everything school team’s need to ensure each student stays on the path to success including:
- Seamless screening with its built-in ScholarCentric resiliency screener, rated as having “strong evidence of effectiveness” by the National Dropout Prevention Center
- Comprehensive student profiles that highlight strengths and risk factors
- Proactive support through automated workflows that recommend interventions
- A centralized communication system for staff, students, and their families
- One, unified platform that identifies, supports, and communicates student needs
Empower School Counselors to Support All Students with MTSS
With EmpowerU’s new expanded Tier 2 School-Led Group Gand Intellispark Pro MTSS Student Support Hub in their toolbox, school counselors experience the benefits of efficiency, effectiveness, and scope of support these tools offer, paving the way to student success. To learn more about EmpowerU, visit https://catapultlearning.com/empoweru/.