Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) COMMITTEE

BIPOC Committee Chair

Laura Williams
School Counselor
Oak Valley School, Deptford

Learn more about the needs of Latinx/Hispanic communities by downloading the MHA BIPOC Mental Health Month toolkit!

New Jersey School Counselor Association Position Statement on Culturally Sustaining School Counseling

NJSCA counselors believe that all students can be successful with the appropriate school counseling support. New Jersey school counselors advocate to create welcoming and safe environments for students of color to learn and thrive. We work with all educators to end racism, microaggressions, bias, and create systemic change. (Diversity & Education, 2020).

As such, New Jersey School Counselor Association counselors are committed to:

  • Learning the skills necessary to provide a culturally sustaining safe space to support students through ongoing professional development.

  • Servicing students with cultural humility by honoring, acknowledging, and valuing the cultural identity of students. (Owen et al., 2016; Hammond, 2015)

  • Servicing students from an antiracist lens.

  • Encouraging awareness of racism with their students and disrupting all types of racism in their schools (French et al., 2019).

  • Collaborating with all other stakeholders to provide culturally appropriate interventions and plans that ensure respect.

  • Using data and needs assessments to inform efforts to eliminate the achievement gap by providing all students of color with equitable access to scholarships, post high school planning, and resources (Burkard et al., 2009).

  • Providing equitable access to school counseling services that include mental wellness, social and emotional learning, academic advising, and college and career readiness (Gordillo, 2015; Burkard et al., 2009).

  • Maintaining ongoing relationships with and awareness of community resources that support the unique needs of marginalized communities.

  • Advocating for and developing appropriate antiracist interventions and positive behavior supports (Sink, 2016) that decrease the disproportionate rates at which students of color are disciplined and suspended.

  • Creating a school culture that is preventative of implicit bias and discrimination while simultaneously giving students a voice and a sense of belonging. (Sink, 2016).