School Social Workers, Psychologists, Nurses, and Counselors are often called “helping professionals” since their work is focused on providing the health and education services to improve the well-being of students. The NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) calls these staff “Specialized Instructional Support Personnel.”
Specialized Instructional Support Personnel (SISP) are school-based professionals (social workers, psychologists, nurses, and counselors) who provide crucial health, social-emotional, mental health, and academic support to help all students overcome barriers to learning, ensuring they can succeed in school and life, working collaboratively with teachers and families. These staff support student success beyond classroom instruction by addressing the environment of the school itself as well as factors outside of the school. Children affected by social determinants of health (SDOH) that influence their pathway to educational, health, and career success. A school’s SISP can help address barriers that help all students learn, thrive, and grow.
In NC, it is often difficult for school districts to find, hire and retain helping professionals because there are so many opportunities for higher salaries in the private sector. The ratio of the professionals needed versus what is allocated or funded in school districts is insufficient. There have been improvements in increasing the number of school nurses since the COVID-19 pandemic but not as much in the other roles: school social workers, school psychologists and school counselors. View our fact sheet to learn more about School Helping Professionals.
Watch our webinar on school psychologists. You can find other webinars with other helping professionals such as school social workers on our Youtube channel.
Resources
NC School Psychologist Association
School Nurse Association of NC
NC School Social Workers Association
NC School Counselor Association
View our fact sheet on Specialized Instructional Support Staff.