New Toolkit Supports School Counselors in Advancing Youth Mental Health
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
By Jacinda Nembhard | jacinda.nembhard@gse.rutgers.edu | 848-932-0774
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., April 3, 2026 — The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute of Leadership, Equity, and Justice (Proctor Institute) is proud to announce the release of A Toolkit for Culturally Responsive & Evidence-Based School Counseling. The publication offers school counselors practical guidance on delivering culturally responsive and evidence-based services in K–12 schools. It also emphasizes the interconnected roles that school counselors play, which are essential to students’ overall well-being, but are often overlooked within the school environment.
“At a time when student mental health needs are both urgent and widespread, and federal funding for school-based mental health programs continues to shrink, the role of school counselors has never been more critical,” shares Ian Levy, Assistant Professor of School Counseling and Educational Psychology at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. “Rather than responding only in crisis, school counselors are uniquely positioned to build systems of prevention, affirm student identity, foster community, and equip students to navigate a complex world.”
The toolkit is based on a review of school counseling research and practice, which says that “academic, social-emotional, and post-secondary development” are the most important parts of a school counselor’s job. With an average of 376 students per counselor, classroom-level instruction and prevention are very important. Other important areas include culturally responsive counseling methods, working with teachers and families, strengths-based assessment, and data-driven leadership and advocacy. Leaders in the field say that success means helping students grow intellectually, socially, and emotionally, especially Black and Brown youth who have to deal with systems that were not made for them.
To support this vision, the report introduces the Educator-Counselor (EC) identity as a framework for school counseling practice. It suggests that counselors provide universal mental health services through classroom instruction, employ culturally relevant counseling techniques such as Bibliotherapy, Hip Hop and Spoken Word Therapy, and conduct strengths-based evaluations that respect students as complex human beings. The toolkit also advocates for deliberate cooperation, community asset mapping, and funding for data systems that allow school counselors to recognize and resolve racial disparities in achievement, attendance, and discipline. The toolkit concludes by highlighting the necessity of implementing these tactics with a steadfast dedication to social justice, development, wellness, and prevention.
You can read the Toolkit for Culturally Responsive & Evidence-Based School Counseling here.
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About the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice (Proctor Institute) is a national center that focuses on issues of leadership, equity, and justice within the context of higher education. It brings together researchers, practitioners, and community members to work toward the common goals of diversifying leadership, enhancing equity, and fostering justice for all. The Proctor Institute is located at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, in the Graduate School of Education and, houses the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI). For more information about the Proctor Institute, please visit https://proctor.gse.rutgers.edu/
Date: Friday, April 3, 2026
Press Release type: Rutgers