Employee Assistance Program

Welcome to The Syracuse City School District Employee Assistance Program

The Syracuse City School District recognizes that many employees at one time or another may be faced with a serious personal or family problem. Often, the situation is resolved without outside help. But sometimes, in spited of their best efforts to handle the situation, it continues or gets worse. The EAP is available to help, before the problem gets out of hand and begin to effect one’s general health and productivity.

What is the EAP?

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential service to help employees and their families deal with personal or workplace problems that may be a threat to their well being, health, or possible their job. The EAP coordinator provides counseling and/or referrals to services that can provide the help that is needed

What kinds of problems can EAP help with? We can help with any personal or work-related problem that is affecting your sense of well-being, your daily life or job performance. Here are some of the issues that we deal with everyday

• Stress related emotional issues
• Relationship issues
• Family issues and Parent-Child concerns
• Domestic Violence
• Divorce/ separation adjustment
• Alcohol and drug concerns
• Single Parenting
• Aging Parents
• Grief / loss issues
• Depression and Anxiety
• Financial concerns
• Interpersonal difficulties
• Workplace adjustment challenges
• Workplace conflicts and concerns
• Job dissatisfaction or Burnout
• Job performance issues

What Services Are Available?

Assessment, Counseling, Information, and Referral: When seeking a solution to problems or concerns people often try to solve it themselves. Sometimes they confide in family and friends. A call to the EAP can be helpful when a problem persists, when the solutions generated don't seem to work, or when a new perspective or additional options are needed.
Consultation: Supervisors and Administrators play a key role in creating and maintaining healthy and productive employees and work groups. Supervisors and Administrators consult with the EAP for assistance in managing employees with personal problems or whose behaviors are causing poor job performance or interpersonal conflicts.
Workshops: The EAP offers district wide training and educational workshops that are available to all employees. Programs can also be tailored to meet the specific needs of a group or department.
Some workshops which could be tailored are:

• Building Resiliency
• Caregiver's Stress - Ways to cope
• Communication Skills
• Dealing with Difficult people
• Coping with Change
• Avoiding Burnout
• Negotiating through Conflict
• Relationship Building
• Stress Management
• Pre-retirement planning
• Financial fitness

Smoking Cessation Program: The EAP coordinator provides smoking cessation information and can authorize coverage for certain smoking cessation medications for employees and family members. This is a one time benefit and coverage and runs for 12 weeks. The current covered medications include Zyban, Nicotrol Inhaler, Nicotrol Nasal Spray, Nicotine Trans Dermal System (patch), and Chantix. Employee must call EAP for consultation and medication authorization.

Are EAP Services Confidential?

Counseling often involves disclosing sensitive personal information. This information is protected by state law and by professional ethics. Therefore, no acknowledgement of your status as a client or information about your counseling will be released to anyone unless you have given written permission, or as may be required by law. There are a few exceptions to this confidentiality policy for you to know about.

• Abuse of Children: Counselors who know or have reasonable suspicion that a child under the age of 18 is being abused or neglected are legally mandated to report this situation to the appropriate agency.
• Imminent Harm to Self: If a counselor believes you are in danger of physically harming yourself and are unwilling or unable to follow treatment recommendations, they may contact a family member or another person who may be able to protect you. The counselor may seek your involuntary admission to a hospital if deemed necessary.
• Imminent Harm to Others: If a counselor has reason to believe that you are actually threatening physical violence against another person, or if you have a history of physically violent behavior and that you pose a real threat to the safety of another person, they may be required to take some action to insure that the other person is protected. Such action may include contacting the police, notifying the other person and/or seeking involuntary hospitalization.

The situations described above are rare. However, if they should occur, it is the Employee Assistance Program practice to discuss with you any action that is being considered. You should be aware that the EAP is not legally obligated to inform you or seek your permission, especially if such a discussion would prevent securing your safety or the safety of others. If disclosure of confidential information becomes necessary, only the information necessary to protect you and/or another person will be released.

How are Services Accessed?

Employee Self-Referral: Employees who elect to use the service at their own initiative should contact EAP directly. An EAP counselor will work with the staff member to assist in identifying the problem and its cause, resolving the problem, or when appropriate, securing other treatment or counseling services. The EAP counselor may refer the staff member to community-based resources for the treatment of problems that are beyond the scope of EAP. Information given to the counselor is confidential.

Supervisory Referral: A supervisor can refer an employee to the EAP. Supervisors may detect a change in a staff member's on-the-job behavior that seems to suggest that the staff member is experiencing difficulty. Patterned absences and unusual mood swings may be symptomatic of some influences in the staff member's life that might benefit from the kind of attention available through EAP. Since it is clearly not the supervisor's job to attempt to diagnose any such problems, a reasonable course of action might include a reminder to the staff member of the availability of EAP and the accompanying suggestion of the value of participating in the program.

Cost

The services of the EAP coordinator are free of charge to employees of the SCSD. However, after a problem has been assessed, the employee may be referred to a community agency or private counselor for treatment or counseling. At that point the individual will be responsible for any costs that are not covered under the present health benefit program.