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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Louisville, Kentucky
| Partners: | Jefferson County Public Schools Seven Counties Services, Inc. Louisville Police Department | |
The Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) District is the largest district in Kentucky. Located in an urban area that includes inner-city Louisville, the District serves 87 elementary schools, 23 middle schools, 20 high schools, 11 special education centers, and nine schools designated for students with special needs. About 30% of students are African Americans and 1% are of Asian, Hispanic, and of other ethnic/cultural descent. Project SHIELD will be implemented in 12 elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools to serve approximately 19,216 students. One-third of the selected schools are located in the Enterprise Community. More than one-half of the students are economically disadvantaged, and 60% of elementary, 70% of middle-school, and 80% of high school students receive free or reduced price meals. Truancy, low academic performance, and disciplinary problems are of concern.
Project SHIELD partners include Big Brothers/Big Sisters; the Salvation Army (Boys and Girls Clubs); Indiana University Southeast; Educations, Inc.; and Community System Research, Inc. The Kentucky Incentive Project (KIP) and the Department of Juvenile Justice are also participating in this initiative.
The goals of Project SHIELD are to: (1) strengthen community partnerships that support safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools; (2) help students develop skills and emotional resilience to achieve positive mental health, engage in pro-social behavior, and avoid violence and drug use; and (3) ensure that students are able to learn in a safe, disciplined, and drug-free environment. To support early childhood development, a Primary Mental Health Program will be conducted, providing individual interactive play sessions for children who are beginning to show adjustment difficulties. Peabody Language Kits, which promote language and cognitive development, will be purchased for use in the preschool, kindergarten, and first grades. Existing drug and violence prevention and early intervention programs will be integrated and augmented with science-based model programs, including Second Step, Skills Mastery and Resistance Training (SMART), Big Brothers/Big Sisters (a model program of case managed mentoring), and Preparing for Drug-Free Years. To enhance mental health prevention and intervention, the following science-based programs will be implemented: Functional Family Therapy (FFT), a model program for youth ages 11-18; and Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST), a model program for chronic, violent, or substance abusing juvenile offenders ages 12-18. A Project SHIELD Advisory Board will be formed to help refine existing policies and procedures. Teacher training will focus on classroom behavior management. To support school safety, teams at the district and school level will be trained on Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), the effective use of the physical environment to reduce crime.
An evaluation team led by a chief evaluator-an ex-officio member to the SHIELD Advisory Board-will be responsible for evaluating the project.
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[Machias, Maine]