Our Resilient Scholars Project (RSP) clinicians provide therapy in schools and case management services to DC children/adolescents and their families affected by trauma and/or loss. RSP collaborates with youth, their families, and community partner staff to improve their understanding of trauma/loss and allow them to develop coping skills that are healthy and practical.
Resilient Scholars Project – School Based Services (RSP-SB)
RSP-SB is year-round program that provides therapy in schools and community organizations during the school year and summer months. Services are grounded in evidence-based treatment models such as trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT), play therapy, and mindfulness. This program utilizes group and individual therapy to empower children and adolescents by highlighting their existing strengths. Throughout the school year, RSP clinicians facilitate grief- and trauma-focused therapy services using art, experiential activities, writing, and other modalities that engage participants in developmentally appropriate ways. RSP clinicians facilitate a condensed version of the interventions during the summer onsite at community partner locations. As part of the program, RSP clinicians also provide training to partner staff on incorporating trauma- and grief-informed practices into their environments.
School Year 2025-2026
We are very grateful to offer these services for free thanks to several funders. Below is a list of schools we are in this year, grouped by funder. If you or your child attend one of these schools and would like to learn more, please speak to your school counselor or social worker.
Connected Schools
- Anacostia High School
- Eliot Hine Middle School
- Johnson Middle School
- Kelly Miller Middle School
- Kramer Middle School
DC Health
- DC Prep Anacostia Campus
- Deal Middle School
- Digital Pioneers Academy
- Dunbar High School
- KIPP DC: Legacy Academy
- Statesmen College Prep for Boys
KIPP DC
- KIPP DC: AIM Academy
- KIPP DC: College Preparatory Academy
- KIPP DC: Promise Academy
The Fowler Foundation
- Garnet-Patterson S.T.A.Y. Academy
Want to learn more about being a partner?
Expectations for School Partners
RSP values the partnerships which it forms in the community. Below please learn more about the expectations we have for our school partners as well as information on how to apply.
Kick-off Meeting
In an effort to create a partnership based on transparency and collective understanding, the RSP Director will meet with potential partners to discuss the highlights of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for DC Public Schools or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for DC Public Charter Schools. This ensures that both parties have a clear understanding of what to expect from the partnership.
Points of Contact
RSP expects to be linked to a primary on-site staff person who is a member of the school’s mental health team as well as a backup on-site staff person to ‘cover’ if/when the primary point of contact is unavailable. These individuals will be responsible for entering referrals into the Wendt Center’s electronic database, collecting consents from parents/legal guardians of referred students, and gathering students from their classes to attend weekly group or individual therapy sessions and then take them back to their classes as age appropriate. Furthermore, should a student report suicidal or homicidal ideation during RSP services, the student will be brought to one of these points of contact for further assessment in adherence with your school’s policies.
Communication
With full schedules and competing tasks, communication with outside partners can be a challenge. To best serve students and our school partners, RSP expects a minimum of 24 hours notice should RSP-SB services need to be canceled (with exception for weather-related closures). In general, RSP expects school partners to communicate any changes that might impact the delivery of our services.
Collaboration and Agreement
As partners, RSP looks forward to and expects different forms of collaboration while under the MOA/MOU. This may look like collaborating on the development of staff trainings related to trauma/loss, reaching out to parents/caregivers, providing clinical/crisis consultation, etc. This collaboration may mean additional time and support by the persons designated by you as the primary and secondary points of contact.
Space for Services
Students who have experienced difficult events thrive when they feel safe, can predict where they will meet, and know that there is privacy in the space they are in. For these reasons, RSP expects a clean, confidential, consistent, and quiet space to facilitate services.
Timelines and Dates
RSP uses feedback from school partners to create realistic timelines that fit the needs of RSP and the school partners. These timelines help RSP provide high-quality services to your students. RSP expects school partners to make every effort to adhere to these timelines and dates.
Additional Supports
Finally, we expect that you will let us know if you need any additional support services beyond RSP-SB Therapy Services, and will be open to suggestions. RSP will work with you to tailor any additional supportive services to your staff’s culture and climate.
Application Process
Timing of Application
The Application to become an RSP Partner is made available the first week of May. We then try to reach out to selected partners by mid-August. The timeline may shift based on funding, as we cannot make our final decisions until the program is fully funded.
Update your contact information!
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RSP Partner Application Contact List
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Partner Application – Not Available
The application is not currently available. Please check back in early May, or use the field above to receive notifications once our application goes live.
Resilient Scholars Project – Family Based Services (RSP-FB)
RSP-FB provides therapy services to families impacted by trauma, facilitating an array of evidence-based interventions tailored to the needs of each family. The program is funded by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Currently, our waitlist is full, and we are awaiting information on a new funding cycle. Please check back for further updates.
RSP-FB Services utilizes three evidence-based models to support families who have experienced trauma:
TA-FC
Let’s Connect
TF-CBT
Trauma Adapted Family Connections (TA-FC) is a model that incorporates principles from narrative therapy, motivational interviewing, and family systems therapy. It aims to help families improve access to needed resources, build family connection, reduce mental health symptoms, increase safety skills, reduce youth absenteeism from school and/or improve youth grades over a period of six months.
Let’s Connect (LC) is a parenting intervention that teaches caregivers to identify and respond to children’s emotional needs and behaviors in a way that builds connection and warmth, and promotes children’s emotional competence, sense of emotional security, and well-being.
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is primarily an individual service model that helps children and adolescents recover after trauma. The model supports children with understanding trauma, building coping skills, and expressing emotions, while simultaneously building caregiver support skills.