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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Show Low, Arizona
| Partners: | Northern Arizona Academy Community Counseling Centers, Inc. -- Navajo County Health Department Superior Court of Navajo County | |
Located in a rural Enterprise/Weed and Seed Community, Northern Arizona Academy is an accredited public charter school district with campuses in three of the nation's poorest counties. The area encompasses approximately 30,000 square miles and includes three Native American Reservations: Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe, and White Mountain Apache Tribe. Northern Academy has 5 campus sites, located in Winslow (bordered by the largest Reservation in the United States), Snowflake/Taylor, Show Low, Springerville, and Florence. An recent survey indicates that approximately 59% of the Indian youth live below the poverty level; 43% come from single parent homes; and 60% demonstrate low academic achievement. At the largest campus (Winslow), 48% of the students have been incarcerated one or more times, and 61% are currently on probation. Sixteen percent of the students are parents (37% of these are young mothers), and, at the time of the survey, 25% of the female students were pregnant. At the remaining four sites, homelessness is an additional risk factor. The school district serves 400 secondary students. At the Winslow site, the student population is 48% Native American, 26% Hispanic, 2% African American, and 24% White. The population breakdown at the other 4 sites is 19% Hispanic, 8% Native American, 2% African American, and 71% other and White.
In addition to the core partners, participants include Head Start, the Game Plan, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Northeastern Arizona, Little Colorado Behavioral Health Center, White Mountain Safe House, Family Solutions, and other mental health and prevention providers.
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative will create an integrated environment for community-partnered programs within the school districts to implement a variety of "best practices" to reduce risk factors and promote a safe and drug-free environment. The Navajo County Health Department will coordinate multiple interventions, implementing prenatal physical health home visitations, immunizations, parent training, social service linkages through referrals and advocacy systems for students and their parents. A registered nurse will provide home visits for mothers and infants following birth, addressing wellness checks, childhood and parental development assistance, anger and stress management. To address alcohol and other drug and violence prevention/intervention, several opportunities will be available: Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous support groups, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, youth leadership and mentoring programs, and cultural awareness and sensitivity training. Community Counseling Centers will provide on-site counseling and training in assessment, casework, and service delivery to directly benefit the district's student population. Northern Arizona Academy will continue to enforce student behavior standards and equity through clear guidelines. An assessment of the campus sites will take place (to determine the need for additional safeguards such as proper fencing and lighting), followed by enhancement of the crisis response plan.
Aspen Consultants will supervise evaluation procedures in collaboration with the partners to guarantee accurate measures of overall effectiveness of the initiative's programs.
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[Pinon, Arizona]