Collaborative News

Gordon Collaborative Efforts Help Students Succeed

The Gordon County Family Connection and its collaborative partners are seeing improved results in helping students succeed in school and helping families become more self-sufficient. Since 1996, the collaborative has partnered with the Gordon County Schools on Student Services Teams that focus on eliminating the emotional, behavioral, social and physical barriers to school success.

The rewards are paying off.

• Student absenteeism has been reduced by 20 percent.
  
• Abuse and neglect referrals to the Gordon County Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) have been cut in half.
  
• Confirmed abuse cases have been reduced by one-third.
  
• Immunization rates are approaching 100 percent for school-aged Gordon County children.
  
• Before- and after-school programs serve the working poor with DFCS assistance.
  
• Collaboration and blended funding have increased fiscal efficiency.

Student Services Teams support the school system's mission of providing comprehensive educational opportunities in a caring and nurturing environment.

Student Services Teams are made up of school counselors, nurses and family advocates. Social workers provide additional support to the team, and a director coordinates the program.

Counselors assist with emotional/behavioral issues.

School counselors provide prevention and intervention services for students, such as individual and group counseling, classroom guidance activities, and consultation with parents, staff and community resources. The counselor is the school's referral link to the county DFCS office, as well as the clinical liaison to public and private mental health providers.

Nurses deal with medical issues.

Students whose health issues present acute or persistent barriers to school success may need the assistance of a school nurse. The nurses provide direct and indirect medical services through the school clinic, consulting parents and staff, promoting wellness education and screenings, conducting disease surveillance, developing and implementing health-related accommodation plans, administering immunization plans, and monitoring compliance of health records.

Family advocates help with basic physical needs.

The advocate serves as a link to a variety of community resources for families. Through case management, the advocate assesses a family's needs and helps them establish goals and strategies to eliminate barriers to school success and family self-sufficiency.

Additional collaborative partners in the Gordon County Schools Student Services Teams include: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Gordon County, Gordon County Department of Family and Children's Services, Gordon County Health Department, Gordon County Juvenile Court, Gordon County United Way, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health Services, PCA Family Resource Center, Tallatoona EOA, and Voluntary Action Center.

For more information call (706) 629-7366, e-mail cskaggs@gcbe.org, or visit www.gcbe.org.

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