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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Des Moines, Iowa
| Partners: | Des Moines Independent School District Polk County Health Services, Inc. Des Moines Police Department | |
Des Moines, the capital city of Iowa, is a mid-sized city located in Polk County. The county encompasses nine school districts, serving students in both urban and rural areas. Eighty-four percent of the county's population is non-Hispanic White; 8% is Hispanic, and 5% is African American. Almost 16,000 students are receiving free and reduced cost meals at school. In 1990, one in eight families was living at or below the poverty level. The students in Polk County have alcohol and drugs readily available to them: 88% of students have used alcohol and almost 25% of students have used either marijuana or cocaine. Seven of the county's nine school districts will be served under this grant, reaching a total of 73,229 students.
Along with the three major partners, the Human Services Planning Alliance (HSPA) will oversee the program implementation. HSPA will stress the importance of ongoing evaluation and program modification to drive this initiative. In addition, Merit Behavioral Care, a local managed health care organization, will offer training.
The program includes plans to increase access to training for in-home child-care providers county-wide. Also, scholarships will be provided for staff at child-care centers to attend child development training programs, in order to increase the quality of care provided at these centers. In addition to enhancing the existing K-12 alcohol, drug and violence curricula in schools, training for parents of K-6 graders will be provided. This training will include prevention and intervention approaches, and awareness videos will be produced and shown to parents. At the middle and high school levels, 13 case managers will be added, as well as two additional prevention specialists. A summer program, focusing on violence and drug abuse prevention, will serve 98% of students and will strive to improve school attendance. A local managed health care organization will offer training to elementary school nurses and counselors to assist them in the development of their assessment and referral process. These efforts will complement the district's current comprehensive strategy that includes efforts toward educational reform, safe school policies, and safe school environment.
The Child and Family Policy Center, a non-profit research organization in Des Moines, will conduct the evaluation for this initiative. Major aspects of this initiative's evaluation include ongoing meetings, structured interviews with key partners, and on-site observation and documentation. Assessment and measurement tools will be designed with the school and community partners.
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[Hays, Kansas]