Preparing to Serve Foster Youth and Students Experiencing Homelessness: Preservice School Counselors' Learnings During COVID-19

• In Event: Diverse Perspectives on the Training and Development of Counseling Students

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes and challenges to education that may have long-term effects for students in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness. The re-opening of schools will require a coordinated effort to deliver both academic and mental health supports for all students. This project aims at examining new approaches in curriculum development for school counselor trainers to better prepare pre-service school counselors to effectively serve these two populations. Learnings will be shared from the experiences of pre-service school counselors who conducted counseling sessions with students in foster care and youth experiencing homelessness in a K-8 high need school district in California during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Lorri M. Capizzi, San José State University

• Brent Duckor, San José State University