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Recap: Stakeholder Symposium on Child & Adolescent Trauma
On Friday, April 26th seventy community school practitioners, school administrators, mental health professionals and others gathered to explore how trauma affects a young person's development and the ways in which community schools can respond to mitigate these effects. The morning started with a presentation by Jeff Levy , CTRS, LCSW, in which he set the stage for our conversation by defining trauma and ways in which youth are exposed to violence and trauma, how the effects of trauma manifest themselves in the behavior of young people, and how trauma impacts psychosocial and neurophysiological development. Read more
Following Levy's presentation, a panel of practitioners, including Tegan Camden, LCPC (Clinical Coordinator for Children's Home Association of Illinois), Kasheryl Thomas (Resource Coordinator for Family Focus / Hirsch High School) and Patricia Berry (Student Assistance Center Consultant, Prevention First) shared their approaches to supporting young people that are displaying the effects of trauma.
Thank you to everyone who participated in this important discussion. We look forward to continuing this dialogue with you; please keep an eye out for information about follow-up sessions on this topic.
The materials and resources shared by all of presenters can now be found below. (Please also see below for more information about Student Assistance and how you can implement this program at your community school).
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Student Assistance Programs
At our recent Stakeholder Symposium on Child and Adolescent Trauma, panelist Patricia Berry of Prevention First shared information about Student Assistance Programs (SAP) and how they can be implemented to help school staff respond effectively to students that may be displaying the effects of trauma or other mental health needs. SAP provide a comprehensive framework for creating a system of essential support for students. The Student Assistance Center at Prevention First provides free training, technical assistance, information, and tools to develop a comprehensive SAP team within a school. Each team develops a school wide approach to prevention and intervention efforts, a structured process of matching students with appropriate interventions, and a system to monitor student progress.
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SAP is an evidence-based system that utilizes a multi-disciplinary team composed of school staff which can include: resource coordinators, administrators, teachers, school counselors, school nurses and other support staff. This team creates universal prevention strategies, early identification and intervention for students who are struggling with non-cognitive barriers to learning, such as mental health, domestic violence, substance abuse, or other life issues. Since community schools are structured to connect students and families to community resources, SAP can provide a framework for engaging more adults to identify students in need of additional supports.
Students can be referred in a number of ways including by staff, self or friend referral. After a student has been identified, the team determines a course of action depending on the student's specific issues. SAP has proven to have a number of positive effects, including increasing students' performance in school, sense of self-worth, and ability to communicate and express feelings appropriately while also decreasing students' problem behaviors, dropout rates, discipline referrals and alcohol and drug use.
Click here to learn more about Student Assistance in Illinois. You can also email Dale Gasparovic or Kristie Shurtleff to learn about about implementing SAP at your school.
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Community School Garden Resources
In April resource coordinators gathered for a Resource Coordinator Luncheon at Reavis School that focused on the benefits of school gardens, including the positive impacts they can have on student engagement, social development, and learning. Representatives from the Chicago Botanic Gardens talked about their school garden program at Reavis School and other school- and community-based sites across the Chicagoland area. There are many resources that can help schools get started, including this list of curriculum and activities, teacher professional development and potential funding sources.
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This list also contains information that resource coordinators can provide to youth and families to locate farmers' markets across the City and to use LINK cards to double the value of purchases made at farmers' markets.
Community School Garden Resources
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Using Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Funding to Support Community School Efforts
Community schools often offer academic remediation and tutoring in conjunction with a whole host of enrichment opportunities and supportive services to help students succeed. Supplemental Educational Services (SES) is one source of funding that schools use to provide such programming to low-income children in need of additional academic supports. Though many community school lead partner agencies work in schools alongside approved SES providers, there is an opportunity for lead partner agencies themselves to become approved SES providers to provide these targeted supports to students.
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The Federation recently published this paper about SES funding and the ways in which it could be used to support community school work. While it may not work for every community school partnerships, considering SES funding might provide some partnerships with additional ways to support or expand offerings.
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Community Schools & Workforce Development Symposium Recap
On Friday, January 25, community school and workforce development professionals came together to explore linkages between our efforts that can strengthen everyone's work. During the symposium, we discussed the ways in which community schools are poised to help youth explore their interests and talents, expose them to opportunities beyond their immediate cultural framework, and develop the social and interpersonal skills needed for post-secondary success. The group also talked about the ways in which community schools can serve as an ideal infrastructure for providing adults with work readiness opportunities - either by offering programs at the school or connecting them to existing programs in the community.
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Federation Recognizes Four Outstanding Community School Leaders
At the 8th Annual Illinois Community Schools Forum on October 19, the Federation and its members recognized the leadership of four members of our community. Marcelo Caplan, Fanny Diego Alvarez, Tanika Island, and Marjory Lewe-Brady were each nominated and ultimately selected as outstanding community schools leaders by their peers. Click here to learn more about each of these individuals. Better yet, watch the video below to see for yourself the important role each person plays in their community schools and how we can all serve as agents of change in our communities.
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