The School Safety Program (SSP), funded by the Arizona legislature, provides school safety and mental health professionals to Arizona schools. In December 2019, the program was expanded to include school counselors and social workers for the first time. Despite these gains, demand outstripped program funds, leaving many schools who applied for a position unfunded.
On April 19, 2021, the Arizona Department of Education announced it is allocating $21.3 million of its federal recovery dollars to fund the School Safety Program's counselor and social worker waitlists – bringing opportunities for 71 school counselor and 69 school social worker positions to schools across 10 counties for two years.
Download the full list of sites here.
Additionally, a portion of the federal ESSER recovery dollars has been allocated to fund 41 schools that had previously had to forfeit funding for a school counselor or school social worker. The funding will be for two years, beginning with the next school year. Download the list here.
Our school safety team will be reaching out to school leaders at each of these sites directly with more guidance and an official letter of award by May 3, 2021.
“By supplementing the School Safety Grant Program with federal relief funds, we are providing real solutions and resources that will have a direct impact on school safety, the social-emotional well-being of our students, and the overall health of our communities.” - Superintendent Kathy Hoffman
School Counselor Positions
School Social Worker Positions
