Addressing Educational Success by Focusing on Mental Health in DeKalb County
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By Tavena McPherson
Coordinator, DeKalb Initative for Children and Families
An overwhelming challenge facing our families and communities is mental health, which is a predictor of educational success that has a domino effect. DeKalb Initiative for Children and Families is actively working with RezilientKidz, an evidence-based parenting program known as Raising Highly Capable Kids. We’re engaging community partners to embrace resilience as a way of linking disaster preparedness with all activities that help a community flourish, socially and economically.
This program engagement will also be beneficial as we expand our approach to on-time high school graduation rates. We aim to use what we learn to work with feeder schools to address third-grade reading proficiency as a part of absenteeism and high school graduation rates—in many cases also impacted by mental health issues. RezilientKidz will equip families with knowledge, skills, and resources to help them thrive, creating a long-term, multi-generational impact.
Being part of Family Connection’s statewide network strengthens our efforts by providing access to personnel, data, systems, funding, and resources. For instance, as part of our annual plan, we’ve focused on improving high school graduation rates at Towers and Columbia.
By participating in Georgia Family Connection Partnership’s (GaFCP) Community Partnerships for Supporting Youth cohort, we’re supporting students who may have experienced complicating factors, such as extended absences or involvement with the juvenile justice system—which often is connected to the mental health of the child, parent, or both. Through the systematic approach of this evidence-based program, GaFCP brings together local partners to develop a comprehensive strategy to support youth through a continuing process of evaluating goals and objectives related to policies, practices, and systems as they impact a diverse group of learners.
Visit DeKalb Initative for Children and Families’s website and Instagram account.
To find out more, contact me at 470-389-1970 or coordinator@dicfga.org.