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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Lansing, Michigan
| Partners: | Lansing School District Clington-Eaton-Ingham Community Mental Health Board Ingham County Sheriff's Department | |
Lansing, the capital of Michigan, is a mid-sized city located in the Lower Peninsula. The school district serves students in 34 elementary schools, four middle schools, and three high schools. The student population is 44% non-Hispanic white, 36% African American, 13% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 1% Native American. Over one-quarter of district's students live at or below poverty level. Lansing school children are at an elevated risk for nearly every negative social indicator, including high alcohol and illicit drug use, school violence, truancy, suspension, expulsion, dropout, teen pregnancies, high infant mortality, and low birth weight. Current mental and physical health services do not meet the great need of many high-risk families, especially those with preschool children.
The three primary partners have a history of collaboration with one another and with other agencies. They will be joined by the Ingham County Health Department, Highfields Inc., Lutheran Social Services, Eaton Intermediate School District, and the Neighborhood Youth and Parent Prevention Partnership. These agencies will implement a comprehensive program to initiate or expand services to youth, caregivers, and teachers to close service gaps.
An extensive network of early childhood services, coordinated at the community level, will be oriented for high-risk children ages 0-5 and their families to assure that children enter school ready to learn. The early childhood program will include increased personnel for family consultation, outreach, screening, referral for mental health and other services, improved connections with primary health care (including immunizations), and enhanced pre-school programs. A continuum of mental health services and age-appropriate preventive interventions will be available to children as they enter and progress through school. Screening and referral for high-risk kindergarten children - a casualty of previous budget cuts - will be reinstated. Increased mental health and other services will be available to students and families. School staff, including kindergarten teachers, will be trained in timely recognition and referral of troubled students and families before violence occurs. Evidence-based prevention programs will include parent education, increased parental involvement, and teaching children and youth skills to avoid substance abuse and violence. The Lansing SS/HS initiative will increase outreach to students and families, and increase family-school communication. As part of this effort, and to provide a safer and more secure school environment, additional school resource personnel will be hired, and training will be provided for new and existing school resource officers.
The Lansing SS/HS Initiative will be evaluated by Michigan State University using a quasi-experimental design.
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