Wednesday, May 10, 2000
Six schools add social services
Programs try to link kids, family, school
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Students at six Hamilton County schools will begin receiving intense school-based social services in the fall.
They will join students at four sites who have been participating in programs coordinated by the Hamilton County Family and Children First Council since 1997.
The program, the Children First Plan, promotes family involvement and positive mental and physical health development through conflict resolution and anger management classes, family literacy, recreation opportunities and health fairs. A program coordinator works in each school, attempting to make the office a resource connecting families to needed services.
Results of second-year programs at four schools showed suspensions and drop outs were down and students felt more connected to their schools.
“I was very pleased to see that we are actually seeing some progress in our desired outcomes,” said Patricia Eber, executive director of the Family and Children First Council. “The fact (that) there are already some statistically significant changes and some positive trends is very encouraging.”
Schools entering the program are three Cincinnati Public Schools — Vine Street Elementary, Over-the-Rhine; Douglass Elementary, Walnut Hills; and Quebec Heights Elementary, Price Hill — and three schools in St. Bernard Elmwood Place Schools — Elmwood Place Elementary, St. Bernard Elementary and St. Bernard Junior High.
The six schools have a combined enrollment of 2,400 students.
The initial schools were Aiken High, College Hill; Schwab, Northside; Gamble Elementary, Westwood; and Norwood's high and middle schools and Allison Elementary. Combined, the schools have more than 6,000 students.
Sharpsburg Elementary, also in Norwood, will replace Norwood High School in the program beginning this fall.
Programs in the schools will continue to train teachers on how to better deal with disruptive students in the classroom, helping them to recognize when to refer students to social services that will help to avoid suspensions and expulsions.
Hamilton County's Family and Children First Council contracts with more than 30 agencies to provide services in the schools.
Family and Children First councils were created in Ohio counties in 1993 by former Gov. George Voinovich to streamline and coordinate services among agencies that help children.
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