Skip to main content

Popular Links

  1. Departments
  2. Special Services
  3. Related Services

Related Services

Related Services

Welcome to The Related Services Page!

Social Services

The Student Services Department at Hoover-Schrum School District is committed to improving the educational success and mental health of our students. We achieve this through active collaboration with families and school personnel. Our focus is on advocating for all children and youth by implementing effective programs that lead to enhanced outcomes for every student.

School Social Work

Our school social workers are qualified professionals who meet state requirements to practice social work within the educational setting. They assist students in overcoming barriers to learning by adopting an ecological perspective, which considers each student in the context of their classroom, family, community, and culture.

School social workers are trained to understand and assess how each student functions in various environments. They provide essential services to all students, concentrating on their social and emotional adjustment to school, family, community, and society. Acting as a vital link between home, school, and the community, school social workers deliver both direct and indirect services to students, families, and school staff, promoting academic and social success.

As members of multidisciplinary school teams, school social workers offer a wide range of services, including but not limited to:

  • Assessment and Screening
  • Counseling and Support Groups
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Collaboration Between Home and School
  • Advocacy
  • Services to Families
  • Support for School Staff
  • Coordination of Community Agency Services
  • Classroom Observations and Teacher Support

We remain dedicated to providing comprehensive support to ensure the well-being and success of our students.

Mental Well-Being and Suicide Prevention

The transition from childhood to adulthood is a critical period marked by significant cognitive, mental, emotional, and social changes. Although adolescence is a time of tremendous growth and potential, navigating new milestones in preparation for adult roles can be challenging. These transitions may lead to various mental health challenges, increasing the risk of suicide.

    • Sudden changes in behavior (either positive or negative)
    • Withdrawal from friends and activities
    • Lack of interest
    • Increased use of alcohol and drugs
    • Recent loss of a friend, family member, or parent, particularly due to suicide
    • Conflicting feelings or shame regarding sexual orientation
    • Mood swings, emotional outbursts, irritability, or aggression
    • Feelings of hopelessness
    • Preoccupation with death or giving away valuable possessions
    • Talk of suicide, e.g., "no one cares if I live or die"
    • "Hero worship" of individuals who have died by suicide.

  • Each school has a designated contact for mental health referrals. Please reach out to the school directly for additional assistance.

    Families in need of mental health services, social services, or support for homelessness can contact us for help.

School Psychology

School psychologists play a crucial role in helping children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally. They collaborate with educators, parents, and other professionals to create safe, healthy, and supportive learning environments that strengthen connections between home, school, and the community. A school psychologist is highly trained in both psychology and education, completing a minimum of a specialist-level graduate degree program. They provide counseling, instruction, and mentoring for students facing social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. 

School psychologists promote student wellness and resilience by enhancing communication and social skills, problem-solving, anger management, self-regulation, self-determination, and optimism. Services provided may include:

  • Data-based decision making and accountability
  • Counseling (individual and group)
  • Crisis prevention and intervention
  • Family-school collaboration services
  • Psychoeducational evaluation
  • Identification of tiered academic, behavioral, social, and emotional interventions
  • Consultation and collaboration
  • Professional development for staff and parents regarding behavior and learning

Speech Impairment

Speech impairments are disorders that affect speech sounds, fluency, or voice, interfering with communication and adversely impacting performance or functioning in the educational environment. These disorders result in the need for exceptional student education.

Types of Speech Disorders:

  • Speech Sound Disorder: Characterized by atypical production of speech sounds, including substitutions, distortions, additions, or omissions that affect intelligibility. This disorder is not primarily caused by age, gender, culture, ethnicity, or limited English proficiency.

  • Phonological Disorder: An impairment in the system of phonemes and phoneme patterns within spoken language.

  • Articulation Disorder: Difficulty in articulating speech sounds that may stem from motoric or structural issues.

  • Fluency Disorder: Deviations in the continuity, smoothness, rhythm, or effort of spoken communication, potentially accompanied by excessive tension and secondary behaviors like struggle and avoidance.

  • Voice Disorder: Atypical production or absence of vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, or duration of phonation not primarily caused by age, gender, culture, ethnicity, or limited English proficiency.

Speech Language Impairment

Language impairments interfere with communication and adversely affect performance or functioning in a student’s typical learning environment, necessitating exceptional student education. A language impairment is defined as a disorder affecting one or more basic learning processes involved in understanding or using spoken or written language. These include:

  • Phonology: The sound system of a language and the conventions governing sound selection and combinations.
  • Morphology: The system governing the internal structure of words and the construction of word forms.
  • Syntax: The system that governs the order and combination of words to form sentences and the relationships among elements within a sentence.
  • Semantics: The system governing the meanings of words and sentences.
  • Pragmatics: The system that combines language components for functional and socially appropriate communication.

Language impairments may manifest as significant difficulties in listening comprehension, oral expression, social interaction, reading, writing, or spelling. These impairments are not primarily caused by age, gender, culture, ethnicity, or limited English proficiency.