What is Communities In Schools?

 

Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation’s fifth largest youth serving organization, delivering resources to more than 3,400 schools across the country.  More than two million students have access to CIS services, and about 1.2 million students are directly served by CIS.  There are 195 local affiliates in 27 states.  In Texas, there are 27 CIS programs who are each a separate, nonprofit corporation under the direction of a local Board of Directors.  The Texas State Legislature supports CIS programs in Texas with $21.2 million per year in funding.  The Communities In Schools program has documented success in keeping kids in school and in reducing the dropout rate.  CIS works by providing successful solutions at schools through the coordination of public, private, and nonprofit resources so kids can get the help they need - where they need it - in the public schools.

 

Communities In Schools of South Central Texas, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that has been in existence in Comal County since 1992.  The organization expanded to provide services to Guadalupe County in 2001, and now serves five schools in three districts there.  CIS provides social work services on public school campuses throughout the two counties served.  Social work staff is located at the school campus being served, with 30 schools presently served in five school districts.  The program began in the 1993 school year by serving 300 students and their families and now proudly provides intensive, case managed services to nearly 3,000 students from Kindergarten through twelfth grade.

 

The CIS Mission

 

Our Mission:  Communities In Schools of South Central Texas, Inc. exists to provide school-based social services that help students succeed in school and make positive life choices.

 

The CIS Six Components

 

· Educational Enhancement

· Counseling and Supportive Guidance

· Health and Human Service Referrals

· Parental Involvement

· Enrichment Activities

· Career Exploration and Employment

 

 

The Teamwork Approach

 

CIS staff work closely with the school staff as a part of the school team to provide needed services to identified students.  The students may be referred by any  school staff person, a parent, or by the students themselves.  They must meet the eligibility criteria set forth by the legislature:  each CIS case managed student must be determined “at-risk” by the school using the current TEA criteria; must be on the free or reduced lunch list; or must be experiencing family conflict or emotional crisis.

 

CIS Staff also work closely with each other, providing the best services possible to families of identified students.  The CIS team works to leverage resources in the community, to meet the needs of CIS students and families.  These resources may include money, tangible items in the form of supplies or computers, donated resources in the form of free medical treatment or free admission to local activities, or human resources in the form of volunteers and/or mentors.

 

Endorsements

 

Communities In Schools was recently endorsed by the Texas Association of Business, “the program fosters community development by working with at-risk school children to provide them with tools that will keep them off the streets and in the classroom; and secondly CIS strives to help its students gain ‘a marketable skill’ that can be put to use in the workforce.’

 

A Supervisor for Child Protective Services in Comal County said, “Our rates of child abuse and neglect in Comal County would be much higher were it not for the intervention of Communities In Schools — who work hand in hand with our investigators to assure the safety of children.”

 

For questions or to find out how you might get CIS services at your school, email the administrative office in New Braunfels at chrisd@cisnewbraunfels.org

 

For more information on other CIS programs, see www.cisnet.org or www.tea.state.tx.us/cis/cis.html.