Tele-education Support Service

Program Description

Laurel House, Inc.’s Tele-education Support Service (TSS) is an enhanced Supported Education service that provides on-campus support to students via electronic media. Supported Education (SE) is a form of support that helps people with mental health disabilities or concerns take advantage of skill, career, education, and interpersonal development opportunities in mainstream academic and vocational training environments. TSS provides comprehensive wrap-around supports to students who live away from home on or near their school campus. It offers counseling, guidance, and support to help older teens and young adults with mental health needs succeed in college and other post-secondary education programs.

Creativity

Navigating the college admissions process and first few months away at school can be a challenge for any young person. It is even more challenging for students who experience mental health disorders, issues with substance use, learning differences, or other special needs. Families of these students may also feel challenged by the prospect of sending a son or daughter with mental health needs away to school. They may be anxious about how their young adult will manage the transition and often wonder where to turn for guidance and support. Some colleges and universities offer on-campus Supported Education programs. Our TSS initiative provides all the supports offered by a community-based Supported Education service, plus enhanced services for remote support of young adults living on college campuses and other education sites.

Leadership

In 1989, Laurel House, Inc., the nonprofit organization that offers www.rtor.org, launched one of the first Supported Education programs in the nation and has continued to provide and enhance the offering since then. Supported Education is a proven evidence-based platform and principles that others can follow and show fidelity to the model, ensuring desired outcomes. TSS is an enhanced Supported Education service that provides on-campus support to students via electronic media. Laurel House and rtor.org are getting the word out about TSS through their own websites, social media platforms and word of mouth. Referring practitioners whose clients benefitted from Supported Education are making referrals to TSS.

Sustainability

Laurel House Supported Education counselors have provided on campus support to students in 20 different colleges including Pace University, Stony Brook University and Purchase College of the State University of New York and to post-secondary certification programs. Laurel House has also been providing services as a Greenwich Department of Human Services (GDHS) Community Partner through our Supported Education program for the past 5 years. We remove barriers to access to service by working with high school students to ensure successful transition to a post-secondary setting. Other high schools have demonstrated interest and used us to assist their student population with mental health conditions.

Replicability

We are creating a “reference book” of all procedures and processes that are required for fidelity to the core Supported Education model and guidelines for scenarios when/how TSS best applies.

Results/Outcomes

Similar to Laurel House’s Supported Education program the TSS initiative will track outputs – numbers served and how well served – and clinically observed functional outcomes including: enrolling in post-secondary or vocational program; getting a job or vocational certification; psychiatric stability; coping skills, studying or more independent living. We record outcomes for all outreach, interventions and transitions to post-TSS experiences.