School/Community Partnerships

For over a decade there has been an effort made in Stark County to find ways that the educational and service systems could work effectively to jointly serve children and families in our county. Many models have been researched and various efforts have been mobilized that have had varying rates of success.

One school district in the county, Fairless Local, has been very effective in taking research-based knowledge and combining it with a strong commitment to working collaboratively with their child/family-serving community partners throughout the county. The result has been the development of a CARE Team model that is showing great promise in mobilizing community efforts to support student achievement and wellness. The Stark County Family Council has taken an active role in supporting and mobilizing these efforts.

The Fairless Care Team is a team of multi-disciplinary professional working together to address the obstacles facing students and their families. The objectives of this team are to assist students and their families to overcome obstacles that could prevent educational success. Based on the principles of W. Edward Demming’s Total Quality Management, guided by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and supported by the research conducted by Adelman and Taylor at the University of Southern California, the Care Team identifies gaps in student development and addresses these areas to teach the skills necessary for a young person to be successful in daily life.

The program is holistic in scope, and represents a basic change in the teaching/learning process. The program is year-round, systemic, long-term, and consequence-based. The team is comprised of community professionals who work along side teachers and administrators within the school setting. These professionals include a police officer, a mental health counselor, the juvenile court system, and staff of several other social service agencies located in the county.

The goal of the program is to provide students and families with prevention, intervention, and asset building support tailored to the needs of the individual. These services are offered within the school setting and are part of the student’s daily routine.

The success of the Fairless Local CARE Team has generated interest not only within the county, but at the state and federal levels as well. Many other school districts in the county and in other counties are initiating efforts to replicate the model.

For more information contact Carol Lichtenwalter at the Stark County Family Council - (330) 455-1225 ext. 304 or Carol@starkfamilycouncil.org

Click here to view a CARE Team brochure
Click here to view a Power Point document