I think it's the counsellor's duty to help the kid by showing them what's available and letting the kid decide by themselves. I know my high school counsellor did absolutely jack unless you either approached them or like a former friend, lived next door to them and knew them already. She never spoke to students as a whole, or to them individually. The career advisor did little as well unless you approached them, she was great as a teacher but as an advisor, absolutely useless. I agree with Gabriellea that they should be there to guide and advise, but you can't expect every student to approach the counsellor if they're not even aware there is help available in the first place. There are programs, but kids are also not even allowed to be involved in the programs just because of their parents salary, not because of their familial situation.
Single parent families get knocked back all the time just because the parent earns over a certain amount, which I think is ridiculous.
Counsellors are there to help, and yes, they can't help kids if the kids don't approach them, but they should also approach the kids. The kids with the knowledge of scholarships etc are already a step ahead.
It also helps if the parent(s) or foster carers are even aware that there's a counsellor at the school, most counsellors don't even bother to meet the parents upon enrolment here in Aust. It's just 'here's the paperwork, meet the principal, sign the dotted line' and your kid is enrolled.