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FEATURES OF A COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT SERVICES SYSTEM
Local and state educators and community service providers are increasingly
aware of the need to collaborate to improve results for children and youth.
Changes in federal policy, the notion that children and youth are not faring
well, the clamor for better governance, as well as failure of existing systems
have triggered the push towards forming partnerships and collaborating in order
to deliver effective services to students and other youth in the community.
In May 1996, the U.S. Department of Education published a document entitled
Putting the Pieces Together: Comprehensive School-Linked Strategies for
Children and Families. This document outlines ideas, issues, and solutions
that can help schools and their partners in designing, implementing, or
modifying comprehensive school-linked strategies for helping children and
families. According to this document, comprehensive strategies accomplish the
following:
- Build community resources and relationships.
- Solve immediate problems and develop capacity to avoid future crises.
- Build collaboration among all of the community's major groups and cultures.
- Involve multiple stakeholders in all stages of program planning, design,
and implementation.
- Communicate in languages accessible to all partners.
- Flow from a shared vision about improving long-term conditions for
children, families, and communities. (p. 3)
Putting the Pieces
Together: Comprehensive School-Linked Strategies for Children and Families
describes existing forms of comprehensive school-linked strategies such as
family resource centers, community school programs, information and referral
programs, and school-based and school-linked comprehensive health programs.
Family Resource Centers . . .
- are often located in schools, community centers, or public housing
developments.
- enhance parenting skills, prevent crises, and connect families to an array
of existing resources.
- are mostly operated by families for families in the
community.
Community School Programs . . .
- serve as hubs of communities.
- provide services to all members of the community.
- offer adult education and skill development, youth-focused activities,
athletic programs, tutoring and mentoring, and other programs that build
academic and social skills.
- emphasize informal community opportunities and links with community
agencies.
Information and Referral Programs . . .
- improve communication among agencies by reducing transportation and
eligibility barriers.
- may utilize a case management approach, in which a single worker such as a
family advocate acts as connector/broker for families.
School-Based and
School-Linked Comprehensive Health Programs . . .
- primarily serve children and focus on a broad range of health services.
- reach children through the school, health, and mental health care
providers who might otherwise have no access to these services.
NCRVE
staff envision a comprehensive student services program that not only provides
comprehensive school-linked services but also offers all other types of
services, such as career counseling and work experiences, that students may
need throughout their school life. Three initiatives have been identified that
we feel exemplify many of the features characteristic of a comprehensive
student services program.
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