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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Hamlin, West Virginia
| Partners: | Lincoln County Board of Education Prestera Center for Mental Health Charles, Inc. and Action Youth Care Lincoln County Sheriff's Office | |
Lincoln County is a chronically depressed rural county in southwestern West Virginia. The per capita personal income in 1993 was $10,784, which ranked the county 53rd out of 55 counties in the state. Only 43.6% of the county labor force is employed. The county has some of the highest rates statewide of teen violent deaths, child abuse/neglect, free and reduced cost school meals, and teen births. A 1997-1998 survey of three of the county's four high schools indicated that over 25% of the student population had used illegal drugs and drank to the point of intoxication two weeks prior to the survey. The school reports that student suspensions, truancy, safe school violations, child protective services cases, and juvenile court referrals are continuing to increase. At least 157 students ages 6-17 have being identified with emotional and behavioral disorders.
The 12-member Lincoln County Consortium Against Youth Violence includes the Lincoln County Schools, Special Education Department, Title I Office, West Virginia University Lincoln County Extension Program, Office of Probation, Starting Points, Girls Resiliency Program, Prestera Center for Mental Health Services, Action Youth Care, 21st Century Program, Department of Health and Human Resources, Lincoln County Health Department, County Commission and County Law Enforcement.
The overall goal of the Lincoln Early Aggression Prevention Program (LEAAP) is to provide support and prevention programs for families to address social, emotional and physical needs of students. LEAAP's focus is primarily preschool and elementary students. The effort will build upon existing programs and infrastructure to reach more families in need of services. Three new preschool programs will be implemented to involve parent and child in developmental activities designed to prepare the child for successful entry into school. All seven elementary schools participating in LEAAP will have leadership teams coordinated by an in-school social worker. These teams will develop programming and interventions to prevent and reduce student drug use and violence. A mentoring coordinator will link children with mentors. Teachers will be trained on how to identify youth with mental health problems and how to refer those students to specialized services provided by the consortium partners. Students that continue to be a disruptive presence in the classroom will be removed and placed in alternative learning classes. To enhance school safety, school resource officers will be a visible presence on campus.
Marshall University School of Medicine's Center for Rural Health will implement the evaluation plan. Formative and summative data will be generated to monitor progress. Data include those taken from school records, reports from school administrators, sample parent surveys and focus groups, police reports, and pre- and post-testing.
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[Madison, Wisconsin]