Course Spotlight: Addressing Substance Abuse in Schools (SB523)

For eight years and counting, Daniel B. Jacobs, PsyD, EdM, MBA has been giving school psychology graduate students a leg up when it comes to understanding the prevalence of substance use concerns in schools. Fueled by a background in developing and working in adolescent and adult treatment programs for mental health and dual diagnosis concerns, Jacobs—a clinical psychologist by training—knew teaching such a course was vital to practitioners entering the field. 

“Many systems are not addressing substance abuse at the school-aged level, when they could be in prevention mode; they are waiting to address it at the college level and beyond which puts them in reactive mode,” says Jacobs, who created a course to teach prevention, assessment, and intervention to school psychologists in training in one fell swoop. He brings deep experience presenting all over the country—for organizations including the New England Psychological Association, Massachusetts School Psychologists Association, and the National Association of School Psychologists—to his role as Associate Professor in the School Psychology and Organizational & Leadership Psychology Departments at William James College. 

 “I specifically wanted to reach kids in the K-12 school environment, before they developed a full-blown substance use disorder, because that’s where they are,” says Jacobs, who first offered the two-credit elective in Summer 2017. Described as a practice-oriented course, SB523 draws from current theory and evidence-based research aimed at preparing our students to conduct thoughtful and well-informed substance abuse assessments and interventions with students in schools; address alcohol and drug-related consultations with parents and faculty members; and become familiar with a range of prevention- and intervention-focused initiatives for use in elementary, middle and high school settings. 

“My students are among the few MA/CAGS level school psychology students—certainly in Massachusetts, but I'm going to argue most of the country—currently receiving this training,” says Jacobs of the very topic on which he is slated to present at the 2025 Trainers of School Psychologists Conference in Seattle. Guided by eight course objectives—spanning the psychological impact of those substances most commonly abused by children and adolescents to developing practical prevention and intervention initiatives—SB523 is rife with role-play and experiential exercises.

“It’s very interactive, and each student completes a project geared toward their chosen age group,” says Jacobs, pointing to some recent standouts. Last year, one student built on her reading instruction background by creating a bibliotherapy intervention using age-appropriate reading materials to address substance use; another student addressed the issue through physical activity. Rather than set strict parameters for topic ideas, Jacobs provides his students with ample research and helps them sort through it, as long as it is based on the evidence-based research covered in the course.

The course description goes on to state that both individual and group-based interventions will be considered as will the role of the family in the development (and treatment) of substance abuse concerns. In addition, individual and community issues of diversity and cultural difference in relation to relevant diagnostic and intervention situations will be discussed and explored. The last point is top-of-mind for Jacobs of late.

“The group at greatest risk [of developing SUD] is kids from traditionally underserved populations, and systems are doing a poor job [addressing this fact],” says Jacobs underscoring another truth on which the current conversation hinges: Addressing diversity and equity definitely means addressing substance use and abuse concerns as well . 

For the past few years, Jacobs and a colleague (Elisa Huerta, MA/CAGS, a graduate of the College’s School Psychology progam) have presented their findings at different conferences, including NEPA, NASP, and, most recently, at the 2024 MSPA Conference, held annually in October. Last fall, their focus was the impact of substance use on the Latiné population—a lens which has since expanded to include Black and Indigenous/Native American individuals. Still, Jacobs also sees the issue as one that is plagued by poverty prejudice more than anything else. 

“People without means are the ones who suffer the most, and schools can reach thousands of them each year,” says Jacobs, underscoring another benefit: meeting young people where they are removes financial and logistical barriers (including transportation) and increases access in ways that private providers and day-treatment programs are unable to do . Amidst a dearth of mental health providers for children  and adolescents in the first place, most of the substance use specialists out there are working with adults.

“But every school has a mental health provider…which means they actually have a better shot at providing prevention than those in the community,” says Jacobs, dispelling an antiquated belief that teaching kids about drugs will lead to their using drugs. 

“That’s completely wrong,” says Jacobs, whose own doctoral project hinged on HIV prevention among teenagers, a subject to which the same theories and concepts apply. Preventative measures—from teaching about self-esteem and self-advocacy to connectedness and alternative coping skills—can begin in elementary school, a population with whom half of Jacobs’ graduate students will go on to work.

Spoiler alert: While training of this nature benefits any practitioner poised to work with young people in schools, it’s not routinely being provided. “If national standards don’t require studying substance use, mental health programs don't have to train it,” says Jacobs underscoring another staggering fact: To date, the School Psychology Program at William James College is one of the very few MA/CAGS levels in the country (save for CADC and LADC programs for alcohol and drug counseling) to offer a course on substance use in schools. 

“Save for their investment of time and energy, my Master’s students do not have to pay for this course,” says Jacobs of one way William James College is addressing financial inequities among program participants. (For the time being, the course is being offered at no additional cost for those students over the required 66 credits.) And for those students unable to enroll in Jacobs’ elective? He’s incorporating the same content into his other courses: Psychopathology did not used to have a dedicated section on substance use, but it does now; ditto for Lifespan Development as well as counseling and group counseling courses.

In a country where alcohol is the number one abused drug, understanding individuals’ motivation to use substances is incredibly important. 

“As clinicians, we have no control over access,” says Jacobs, whose true love is prevention. “But we can counter kids' desire to alter their brains in a negative fashion—with sports, arts, music—and cumulatively reach more people than I ever did in my hospital program by working with students in schools.”

• Tags:
• Around Campus