A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

"Pend Oreille County Safe Schools/Healthy Students Collaborative Partnership"
Spokane, Washington

Rural Pend Oreille County, Washington, includes the home of the Kalispel Indian Tribe. The program will serve 2,342 students (K-12) enrolled in three school districts; it will also serve 830 preschool youngsters (age 0-4) and approximately 300 out-of-school and home-schooled youth. In each of the three school districts in the partnership, approximately 60% of students qualify for subsidized lunches. The area?s natural resource-based economy is prone to boom-and-bust cycles, leading to a percentage of children living in poverty two to three times the state average of 15%, and the rate of unemployment among the state?s highest. In this remote northeastern corner of the state, isolation, unemployment, poverty, low academic achievement, and exposure to drug use and violence pose serious threats to youth safety. The area also experiences high rates of child abuse, school drop-out, and juvenile crime, violence, and victimization, and low rates of academic achievement. In 1997, the Pend Oreille area exceeded regional and national rates for stimulant, alcohol, and marijuana use.

The major collaborative partners are joined by Newport Consolidated Joint School District 56-415, Selkirk School District 70, and Cusick School District 59, the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, the City of Newport, Family Crisis Network, Special Delivery Services, Citizens Actively Promoting Schools, and CREATE.

The components of the collaborative partnership?s early childhood program include providing pre/postnatal services for high-risk mothers, offering a parenting skills course, and coordinating mental health services, to help prepare young children for success in school. To create a school environment of zero tolerance for substance abuse and violence, the partnership will offer Second Step prevention training, student-support interventions, outreach to families and students in crisis, classroom curriculum support, behavior management and social skills training, and an arts program. Mental health services will include services by a case management team, free mental health counseling, psychiatric back-up support, and a crisis response system to ensure immediate safety for children in danger. The partnership will develop countywide safe-schools policies and will constitute a student advisory committee at each high school. Educational reform measures will include forging employment connections, outreach to school-age children who do not attend school, and developing policy for educational programming. To ensure a safe school environment, the partners will fortify schools with security equipment, design enforcement and investigation techniques, and provide a direct link with local law enforcement to enhance onsite security.

An experienced evaluator from the Department of Education, Eastern Washington University, will conduct the process and outcome evaluation.

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