PRINTER'S NO. 1839
No. 302 Session of 2004
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, FERLO, KUKOVICH, WAGNER, BOSCOLA, LOGAN,
COSTA, STOUT, CORMAN, RAFFERTY, ARMSTRONG, CONTI, THOMPSON,
EARLL, KITCHEN, O'PAKE, D. WHITE, GREENLEAF, SCHWARTZ,
LEMMOND, TOMLINSON, STACK, C. WILLIAMS AND PIPPY,
SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing the 20th anniversary of the Pennsylvania Student
2 Assistance Program during the 2004-2005 school year and
3 designating the month of November 2004 as "Pennsylvania
4 Student Assistance Program Month."
5 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program is a primary vehicle
6 for schools in this Commonwealth to address students' behavioral
7 health needs and concerns; and
8 WHEREAS, The goal of the Student Assistance Program is to
9 help a student overcome barriers to academic progress by
10 addressing issues involving alcohol, tobacco, other controlled
11 substances or social, emotional or mental health concerns; and
12 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program helps students by
13 mobilizing school resources to remove these barriers and by
14 making recommendations to students and parents concerning other
15 services such as intervention, screening or assessment for
16 treatment; and
17 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program helps students and
1 parents find needed services and assistance within the school
2 and community; and
3 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program was begun in this
4 Commonwealth in 1984 when the Department of Health's Office of
5 Drug and Alcohol Programs provided a grant which was used to
6 establish four pilot Student Assistance Programs under the
7 auspices of the Department of Education; and
8 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program initiative was
9 expanded in 1986 to include intervention strategies for students
10 at risk of suicide through the support of the Department of
11 Public Welfare's Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
12 Services; and
13 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program has expanded over the
14 years through support from the Commonwealth as well as the
15 Pennsylvania Masonic Foundation for Children; and
16 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program Interagency Committee
17 was formed in 1988 among the Department of Education, the
18 Department of Health and the Department of Public Welfare to
19 seek funding and to improve training and programming in this
20 Commonwealth; and
21 WHEREAS, All 501 school districts, as well as many charter
22 schools, nonpublic and private schools, career and technical
23 centers and alternative schools, in this Commonwealth are
24 trained in the Student Assistance Program, and State funding is
25 provided to all counties in this Commonwealth to support the
26 program in middle schools and high schools; and
27 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program fulfills the
28 requirements under Act 211 of 1990 that school districts provide
29 annual mandatory drug and alcohol prevention instruction for all
30 children in public schools and establish and maintain a program
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1 of appropriate counseling and support services to students who
2 experience problems related to the use of drugs, alcohol and
3 controlled substances; and
4 WHEREAS, The Student Assistance Program received the American
5 Medical Association's National Congress on Adolescent Health
6 Award for excellence in intervention and coordination of
7 adolescent health services within a state in 1999; and
8 WHEREAS, More than 2,500 school personnel receive training
9 annually in the Student Assistance Program, and more than 74,000
10 students annually are referred for help through the program; and
11 WHEREAS, These students show positive behaviors, a decrease
12 in discipline problems and positive promotion and graduation
13 status after their Student Assistance Program referral;
14 therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize the 20th anniversary of
16 the Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program during the 2004-2005
17 school year and designate the month of November 2004 as
18 "Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program Month."
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