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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Hays, Kansas
| Partners: | Hays Unified Schools District #489 High Plains Mental Health Ellis County Law Enforcement | |
Ellis County is a rural community in western Kansas. This project will serve 5,500 students in Ellis County, the majority of whom attend school in Hays Unified School District, which serves 3,630 students, 96% of whom are non-Hispanic White. Of county residents, 11% live in poverty, and the number of economically disadvantaged students in the Hays school district has increased 27% since l989. Risk factors in the community include births to single teens (an 81% increase since l990); and a 51% increase since l996 in out-of-home placements of children age 18 and under. Juvenile court filings have increased by 41%, including arrests for battery and for theft. Of the DUI arrests, 29% were minors. The graduation rate in the school district has fallen from 97% in 1997 to 87% in 1998. The dropout rate has increased from 1.5% in 1994 to 3.3 % in 1998.
RURAL was developed in collaboration with the three school districts in Ellis County. Also included are High Plains Mental Health; Ellis County Law Enforcement (sheriff, Hays police, county attorney); Juvenile Justice; the Regional Prevention Center; Fort Hays State University; the Ministerial Alliance; Hays Interagency Community Council; Parents and Children Together; the Docking Institute; and the Ellis County Community Partnership.
RURAL will provide integrated resources for schools and community mental health agencies to better meet the needs of children and their families. Using a Prevention Team, Mental Health Liaison, School Resource Officer and other community partners, RURAL will implement research-based substance abuse/violence prevention curricula, develop conflict resolution education programs in the schools, and train school staff to maintain and expand these programs. To increase the quality and degree of parent involvement in schools, RURAL will engage parents and children in fun, hands-on, after-school science and math activities. Half-price scholarships will be provided to economically disadvantaged students in the after-school program to increase parent buy-in and reduce absenteeism. Law enforcement will continually assess security and school safety concerns to ensure that the schools are safe and drug free. RURAL will provide community outreach activities that will increase community awareness regarding the prevention of substance abuse and violence, mobilize the community to change the current acceptance of alcohol use, and promote healthy behaviors. RURAL will provide after school and summer school programs, a resource library, mental health consultation, service coordination (for families receiving multiple services), a learning center (for students at risk or already dropped out of school), and early intervention services.
Docking Institute of Public Affairs will evaluate the RURAL program at Fort Hays State University, using a quasi-experimental research design.
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[Louisville, Kentucky]