Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T12:42:36.226Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

24 - Public Service Organizations and Community Empowerment

A Toolkit to Develop the School–Family–Community Connection at an Urban Middle School

from Part III - Community Psychology in Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

By
Meghan F. Oppenheimer  and
Elizabeth W. Miller
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Long Island University, New York
Get access

Summary

Public service organizations are positioned to serve communities through targeted support and meaningful collaboration with specific populations. This chapter will focus on public service organizations that are uniquely positioned to serve the needs of youth, families, and communities – public schools. Public schools have direct access to students and families, and as such, should actively develop interventions and outreach to further engage, support, and empower those in the community. Specifically, this chapter seeks to provide a toolkit for strengthening the school–family–community connection in an effort to promote growth and foster empowerment among students and families within their communities. This toolkit first addresses school-level interventions, including: 1. A trauma and attachment sensitive approach to support all students; 2. An advisory program to promote school connectedness, and academic and behavioral supports; 3. A character program to aid students in identifying and developing character strengths; 4. School-wide initiatives to promote community connectedness; 5. Community service projects to foster collaboration and a sense of responsibility within the community; and 6. Individual and group counseling to support social-emotional health. The toolkit also addresses family- and community-level interventions. A case study that incorporates components of the proposed toolkit will also be presented.

Keywords

Public service organizationsmiddle school youthschool–family–community connectioncommunity empowermentsocial-emotional health toolkit
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology
Interdisciplinary and Contextual Perspectives
 , pp. 495 - 510
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, J., Greenwald, R., & Mitchell, C. (2011). Trauma-informed treatment for disenfranchised urban children and youth: An open trial. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 28(4), 257–272. doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0230-4Google Scholar
Bemak, F., Chung, R. C. Y., & Siroskey-Sabdo, L. A. (2005). Empowerment groups for academic success: An innovative approach to prevent high school failure for at-risk, urban African American girls. Professional School Counseling, 8(5), 377–389.Google Scholar
Beyond Differences. (n.d.). No one eats alone: A Beyond Differences initiative. www.nooneeatsalone.orgGoogle Scholar
Bryan, J. (2005). Fostering educational resilience and achievement in urban schools through school-family-community partnerships. Professional School Counseling, 8(3), 219–227.Google Scholar
Bryan, J., & Henry, L. (2012). A model for building school-family-community partnerships: Principles and process. Journal of Counseling & Development, 90(4), 408–420. doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2012.00052.xGoogle Scholar
Connor, D. J., & Cavendish, W. (2018). Sharing power with parents: Improving educational decision making for students with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 41(2), 79–84. doi.org/10.1177/0731948717698828Google Scholar
Hartman, S. L., Stotts, J., Ottley, J. R., & Miller, R. (2016). School-community partnerships in rural settings: Facilitating positive outcomes for young children who experience maltreatment. Early Childhood Education Journal, 45(3), 403–410. doi.org/10.1007/s10643-016-0796-8Google Scholar
Holcomb-McCoy, C. (2007). School counseling to close the achievement gap: A social justice approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.Google Scholar
Holcomb-McCoy, C., & Bryan, J. (2010). Advocacy and empowerment in parent consultation: Implications for theory and practice. Journal of Counseling & Development, 88(3), 259–268. doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2010.tb00021.xGoogle Scholar
Jasis, P. M., & Ordonez-Jasis, R. (2004). Convivencia to empowerment: Latino parent organizing at La Familia. The High School Journal, 88(2), 32–42. doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2004.0023Google Scholar
Kim, J., & Bryan, J. (2017). A first step to a conceptual framework of parent empowerment: Exploring relationships between parent empowerment and academic performance in a national sample. Journal of Counseling & Development, 95, 168–179. doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12129Google Scholar
Kim, J., Fletcher, K., & Bryan, J. (2018). Empowering marginalized parents: An emerging parent empowerment model for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 21(1b), 1–9. doi.org/10.1177/2156759X18773585Google Scholar
Kiner, R. (1993). Community service: A middle school success story. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 66(3), 139–140. doi.org/10.1080/00098655.1993.9955952CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore-Thomas, C., & Day-Vines, N. L. (2010). Culturally competent collaboration: School counselor collaboration with African American families and communities. Professional School Counseling, 14(1), 53–63. doi.org/10.1177/2156759X1001400106Google Scholar
Morse, L. L., & Allensworth, D. D. (2015). Placing students at the center: The whole school, whole community, whole child model. Journal of School Health, 85(11), 785–794. doi.org/10.1111/josh.12313CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nieto, S. (2000). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Oppenheimer, M., Miller, E., & Clauss-Ehlers, C. (n.d.). Psychological intervention in a middle school located in a high poverty area: An advocacy-based social-emotional health model [Unpublished manuscript].Google Scholar
Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006). Moral competence and character strengths among adolescents: The development and validation of the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths for Youth. Journal of Adolescence, 29(6), 891–910. doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2006.04.011Google Scholar
Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2008). Positive psychology and character strengths: Application to strengths-based school counseling. Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 85–92. doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0801200214Google Scholar
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York: Oxford University Press & Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Pstross, M., Rodriguez, A., Knopf, R. C., & Paris, C. M. (2016). Empowering Latino parents to transform the education of their children. Education and Urban Society, 48(7), 650–671. doi.org/10.1177/0013124514541464Google Scholar
Rutter, M., & Maughan, B. (2002). School effectiveness findings, 1979–2002. Journal of School Psychology, 40(6), 451–475. doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(02)00124-3Google Scholar
Shulkind, S. B., & Foote, J. (n.d.). Creating a culture of connectedness through middle school advisory programs. www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ArticleID/279/Culture-of-Connectedness-through-Advisory.aspxGoogle Scholar
Toumbourou, J. W., & Gregg, M. E. (2002). Impact of an empowerment-based parent education program on the reduction of youth suicide risk factors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(3), 277–285. doi.org/10.1016/s1054-139x(02)00384-1Google Scholar
US Census Bureau. (2016). American Community Survey 1-year estimates. Retrieved from Census Reporter Profile page for Congressional District 15, NY. https://censusreporter.org/profiles/50000US3615-new-york-congressional-district-15/Google Scholar
VIA Institute on Character. (n.d.). Why do character strengths matter? www.viacharacter.orgGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×