Thanks to a partnership between Communities in Schools and the City of Federal Way, teachers and counselors will have a new tool to help students going through a rough patch.
Together, they unveiled a new computer program Web site that will put social resources at educational staff’s fingertips — and compile the district’s list of resources into one data bank.
“This is great, awesome,” said Josh Garcia, director of Teaching for Learning. “Kudos to you. This helps leveling the playing field for kids to learn.”
The CIS Resource Database puts all of the district’s currently known social resources into one place, including psychiatrists, school supply donation centers, housing support and help for those who do not speak English.
The project began more than a year ago, after district staff members mentioned putting together one notebook full of the resources. Many schools have their own lists of whom teachers and counselors can turn to for referrals or support for students. However, the lists vary from school to school, depending on what the staff knows. Some schools had pages of resources while others had just a few known to them, CIS director Tracy Oster said.
CIS instead put together a Web site database, accessible only by district staff, so that resources were easily searchable. The information is similar to that found in the old 211 system. However, that system is rarely used due to outdated information and difficulties.
Teaming up
To keep the information current, CIS and Federal Way have entered into a memorandum of understanding to help fund a new position at the city. The new position will be based with the Human Services department and will keep the database current.
Right now, there are already about 40 agencies in the database. However, there is much more out there, Oster said.
The database works by allowing district staff to search for a type of resource. They can also do a more in-depth search by selecting languages spoken.
Once an agency is selected, the staff has all pertinent information on the screen. They can then go about their standard procedure, whether talking to parents or the student, to get that student or family referred to the agency.
Staff can also keep track of which students they have referred and to whom.
“This isn’t changing the process,” said Lynette Hynden, Human Services manager. “It’s just giving it in real time…We don’t want to displace the procedures in the schools. We want to make it easier.”
Hynden said that by putting all the resources in one area, it will help the city find out where there is still a need.
Oster said they also hope to put a few on-site counselors in the schools to help with the program down the road. CIS came earlier this year to the school board asking for a memorandum of understanding to help with additional funding for the program. However, the district has not made a decision on that.
