CASE STUDIES: JOINT USE
UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities
Program for Integrated School & Community Solutions
Program Summary
The long-term aim of the Program for Integrated School and Community
Solutions is to improve the well being of youth, families and
communities. This is accomplished by working closely with schools,
complexes of schools, and district-wide systems to enhance Learning
Support programs and organizational policies and practices. The
Program examines issues involving system integration and benefit
to instruction, while developing tools to enhance future efforts
at reform.
There are three primary components to the design for the Program
for Integrated School and Community Solutions (PISCS): (1) Eliciting
expertise and best practices for policy, model designs and dissemination;
(2) Refining and encouraging implementation of policy changes
in the area of school-based Learning Support and (3) Providing
technical assistance, tools and training.
(1) PISCS staff is collecting and compiling best practices, tools
and materials from schools and programs around the country. The
Program uses current research and expert panels to develop solutions,
strategy packets and useful tools for local efforts. The initial
areas of focus are financing, structure and organization, and
tools development.
Facilitated Task Forces, including university staff, district
leaders and health education and social service experts, meet
with Program staff in each area of interest. The Task Forces are
classifying the range of services, models and training delivered
by schools; delineating financing options; creating strategy packets;
and determining the components of successful models.
(2) Information from the first component is being used to refine
and encourage implementation of needed policy changes in Los Angeles
County. A series of Policy Makers' Convenings continues the change
process. Six school district superintendents, directors from the
Los Angeles County Departments of Health and Mental Health, officials
from both the LA County Office of Education and the State Department
of Education, and other agencies have been invited to this interactive
series of meetings. Information from the convenings and the results
of implementation by the involved districts will be disseminated
countywide at a Learning Support Conference. Representatives from
all 80 districts in LA County will be invited to attend this conference
which will take place in the fall of 1999.
(3) The focus of our third component is immediate technical assistance,
tools and training. Local efforts at reform of health and human
services have current needs in terms of tools and training. This
component uses the expertise of the departments at UCLA to sustain
and improve local county efforts. Through the development of the
Capacity Building Learning Collaborative, the Program will determine
areas of greatest need in order to target immediate technical
assistance and tool development efforts.
If you have any questions or need more information, please contact
Dr. Neal Halfon at (310) 206-1898 or Michael Shannon at (310)
825-8042.
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