Supporting Students in Danger

With much of Illinois’s schools currently in flux between remote education and hybrid learning models, it is understandable for students to become lost in the shuffle of the day-to-day uncertainty. Between Zoom student appointments, administrative responsibilities and the daily stress of the unknown as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, school counselors are being pulled in a variety of different directions. Not only are school counselors feeling stressed during this time, but students and young adults are feeling the stress, as well. As a result of COVID-19, young individuals find themselves inside their homes for a longer period of time compared to before the start of the pandemic.

But what happens when home is not a safe environment for an adolescent, and the safety and security of school cannot be accessed? In any normal school year, running away from home is one cause of adolescents’ risk of homelessness. The National Network for Youth reports that 68 percent of runaway youth are between the ages of 15 and 17. According to Riley Dean of the Runaway Safeline Crisis Center, the main reason youths run away from home is family dynamics in their household. As COVID-19 continues to hit communities around the state of Illinois, school counselors must continue to be cognizant of the multiple levels of impact the pandemic has on students.

While health experts remain unsure of how much longer COVID-19 will remain a public health threat, schools continue to adapt and consider how to best support their students. One way to support students during this time is to ensure they are safe and healthy, both physically and mentally. According to the National Institutes of Health, adolescents are especially vulnerable to the mental health impact of the pandemic due to a change in their daily routine, prolonged time in difficult familial systems, and isolation from outside support systems, especially those in their academic unit.

During this unprecedented time, school counselors must consider the isolation their students are experiencing, and the home environment many students find themselves trapped in, and consider the steps students may take to escape from these environments. When asked if the Runaway Safeline Crisis Center has experienced a higher volume of calls since COVID-19 closed schools in March, Dean explained that the amount of mental health and abuse calls have increased, and youths may not have the same options to communicate verbally over the phone as they did before. Therefore, community resources, including school counselors, must consider the options students have right now when they are trying to communicate their struggles or their needs.

Regarding ways that school counselors could connect with different resources to best support runaway students, Dean agreed that more potential for collaboration needs to be considered in supporting runaway and at-risk youth during this time, and beyond. One suggestion she made was for school counselors to “meet the students where they are.” If students cannot talk on the phone, school counselors can utilize different ways to communicate with them and show their support. Other forms of collaboration could be to connect with community agencies to discuss resources available to runaway and at-risk youth. The National Runaway Safeline website (1800runaway.org) provides an abundance of resources that may be of value to school counselors, such as COVID-19 resources and other partner organizations.

With student caseloads in Illinois well over the national recommended caseload average, it is important for school counselors to remember the need for collaboration with different mental health organizations and resources in their communities to best support their students in difficult situations. While school counselors continue to brainstorm ways they can care for their students during this time, building these collaborative partnerships can certainly go a long way to help youth in the present moment, and after the pandemic.