TRUANCY PREVENTION PROGRAMS
School & Family Together is a unique program that seeks to deliver a comprehensive array of social services to vulnerable families and children.
School & Family Together was designed to address several alarming trends, including early childhood truancy. The specific goals of the program are to:
- Reduce truancy/chronic absenteeism;
- Reduce the incidence of out of home placement of children at risk;
- Improve school performance of children;
- Decrease severity and incidence of acting out behavior; and
- Increase parents’ coping skills and self-sufficiency.
School & Family Together serves families with elementary school children attending elementary schools in Northwest Philadelphia. These children have been identified as having school related problems such as truancy/chronic absenteeism, acting out behavior in school, or below grade level in reading or mathematics; and may be at risk of being placed outside the home as a result of these issues.
Ellen is a 10-year-old with a history of chronic absenteeism, poor school performance and behavior issues. Through SFT intervention, Ellen’s mother became more involved with helping Ellen with her homework, visited the school on a regular basis, and developed a better working relationship with Ellen’s teachers. As a result of working with Ellen’s mother on tutoring skills, Ellen’s school performance improved dramatically. In addition, Ellen began to attend school on a regular basis, decrease her acting out behaviors and participate in after-school activities.
In order to successfully achieve the goals of the program, School & Family Together case managers must creative and energetic. They each work intensively with three or four families at a time for twelve weeks. The needs and desires of each family determine the specific interventions required; however, interventions often include:
- Mediation between family and school;
- Education advocacy and tutoring;
- Life skills training and mentoring;
- Linkages among families and local community resources; and
- Referrals to childcare, adult education, housing resources, after school programs, health and mental health services, and other community resources.
To learn more about School & Family Together please contact the program manager at 215/924-6104.
School & Family Together Next line of defense is the Truancy Court Support Program providing case management and advocacy services to the families involved in Truancy Court who do not have an active case with the Department of Human Services. Using their knowledge of the community, and strong reputation both in the schools and among area families, the case managers conduct home visits, accompany families to court and connect families to needed support services. Supervisor: Melvena Trusty, MSW
Our Intensive Delinquency Prevention Program (IDPP)/After School Incentives Activities (ASIA) provides intensive services to students ages 10-17 who have been identified as at-risk for delinquency behavior. These students receive daily after school programming, which includes case management, life skills training, mural arts, community service, individual/group counseling, drug & alcohol education, sex education and court supports. The workers utilize the schools' support when accessing school records to determine progress as well as an open line of communication regarding any concerns between the family and school. These students are referred to our program directly from Regional Truancy Courts, Youth Aid Panels, Youth Study Center or Family Court. Supervisor: Raphaela Browne, MS
Finally, the Equal Partners In Change Stakeholder Group meets monthly to discuss community concerns and ways to improve the Northwest Section of Philadelphia. It is imperative that this group identifies strong community leaders and organizations to assist. The group is always welcome to new members who may have an interest in the success of the Northwest Region. Meetings are currently held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 1:00 at 6101 N. Limekiln Pike, 19141. For more information about this group, please call Mary Spanburgh, MSW at 215-549-2686 or join us at our next meeting!! www.nwepic.org
Investing in PA's Families: Economic Opportunity for All
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