Flatlanders Fall Frolic

Lanier County Family Connection will be featuring CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit at the annual Flatlanders Fall
Frolic on Saturday, September 4th, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m at the Lakeland Threate Center.

CASA will be recruiting volunteers, selling raffle tickets for the playhouse, and Lanier 4-H will be painting faces on the children. The 6 x 8 ft Playhouse was built and donated by Kirby Sapp of Lakeland and will be on display at the Lanier County Courthouse. The raffle tickets are $5.00 each and we will raffle the playhouse on December 2nd, at the Christmas Parade in Lakeland.

If you would like to help at the Flatlanders Fall Frolic and/or help with raffle tickets, please let me know. We would love to have your support for our CASA program.

We are also taking orders for CASA T-shirts at this time. The T-shirts are $12.00 each. Please let Elaine Dounglas Grice know if you would like to purchase a T-shirt by Thursday, September 2nd. elaine.douglas@berrien.k12.ga.us (P) 229-686-6576.

Berrien County Even Start Update

The Berrien County Even Start Family Literacy program has completed the opening of its center and is now serving more than twenty families with over sixty participants benefiting from the literacy programs. The impact of this program has already changed the lives of seven high school and GED participants that graduated this spring and summer. This program offers promise for help in breaking the cycle of poverty and low literacy to the parents and children of Berrien County. The opening of Wiregrass Technical College's campus this fall will expand the program's impact by being directly linked to the Even Start Center on the Berrien County Board of Education campus in Nashville.

Even Start is funded by a year-to-year grant that provides funding to support local family literacy projects that integrate early childhood education, adult literacy (adult basic and secondary-level education and instruction for English language learners), parenting education, and interactive parent and child literacy activities for low-income families with parents who are eligible for services under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act and their children from birth through age 7. Teen parents and their children from birth through age 7 also are eligible. All participating families must be those most in need of program services.

Parents who have not completed high school and would like to pursue a GED should contact Kristin Evan or Dianne Fuller at 229-686-6247. The Even Start Family Literacy Center is located at 810 South Dogwood and currently open for services. We are fortunate here in Berrien County to have this opportunity. If you would like to make a referral or visit our center, please call or email us at kristin.evans@berriencountycollaborative.org or dianne.fuller@berriencountycollaborative.org.

Invest in your community!

If you are interested in investing in the future of Berrien County, please go to the Collaborative's Blog and click on the Donate link on the top right hand side of the page. You may indicate where you would like your investment to go. If you would like a list of initiatives and programs, please go to www.berriencountycollaborative.com and click on the Initiatives link or contact Matt Jansen at 229-686-6576 or matt.jansen@berriencountycollaborative.org.

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit CJCC Approval

CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit has been approved as a Local Victims Assistance program by Georgia's Criminal Justice Coordinator Council for Atkinson, Berrien, Clinch, Cook, and Lanier counties and is eligible for 5% funding.

What does 5% Certification mean for CASA of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit?

Certification Program Overview

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council is responsible for promulgating rules governing the approval of victim assistance programs in Georgia. Those rules are designed to encourage local innovations in development of victim assistance, and provide the minimum standards necessary for certification of these programs. Certification permits local victim assistance programs to request funding through their County Board of Commissioners from a fund derived from a five percent penalty added to fines in all criminal and criminal ordinance cases, specifically to fund victim assistance programs. Where the County Commission does not participate in victim assistance, the five percent penalty must be paid over to the District Attorney to fund victim assistance in that Judicial Circuit. For more info, please go to: http://cjcc.ga.gov/

New Georgia Child Abuse and Neglect Rankings

Click the following link for newly released child abuse and neglect state rankings for Georgia.

Rankings 2005 - 2008

After School Status of Achievement of Goals and Objectives

I want to share with you the great pride in after school and impact it is having on our students. The hard work and determination that goes into making sure our children succeed in life is highly prevalent in the data below.

Berrien Primary and Elementary School Updates

Performance Goal #1: Increased academic achievement in reading, language arts, and math.

- 48% of the participating students improved their reading grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Forty-eight (48) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 19 students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- 53% of the participating students improved their language arts grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Twenty-seven (27) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 8 students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- 47% of the participating students improved their math grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Fifty-seven (57) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and 15students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

- The percentage of participating students not meeting the state standard on the reading section of the CRCT decreased from 30.8% in Spring 2009 to 9.9% in Spring 2010.

- The percentage of participating students not meeting the state standard on the math section of the CRCT decreased from 40.7% in Spring 2009 to 27.5% in Spring 2010.

Goal #2: Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities, such as youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, nutrition programs, counseling programs; art, music and recreation programs, technology education programs and character education programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; encourage effective integration and operation of programs in concert with all designated partners.

- During the year, the local centers emphasized programming in the core content areas of reading, language arts and math for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment and support activities for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment, support activities and programming to support learning outside of core academic content areas and technology for 100% of its participating students.

Goal #3: Improve student attendance, homework completion and class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 93% of the participating students were absent for 15 days or less from school.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 90% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 84% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 90% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion and 84% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 59% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in behavior.

- At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 94% of the participating students were promoted to the next grade level.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, the local centers provided a total of nine opportunities for literacy and related education development. Our Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 2,000 participants.The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

- During the 2008-2009 school year, the Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 3,000 participants.The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

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Berrien High and Academy Programs

Performance Goal #1: Increased academic achievement in reading, language arts, and math.

- 63% of the participating students improved their language arts grade during the 2009-2010 school year.

- 61% of the participating students improved their math grade during the 2009-2010 school year. Thirty-seven (37) of these students improved by at least one letter grade and six students raised a failing grade to at least a “C”.

Goal #2: Offer students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities, such as youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, nutrition programs, counseling programs; art, music and recreation programs, technology education programs and character education programs that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students; encourage effective integration and operation of programs in concert with all designated partners.

- During the year, the local centers emphasized programming in the core content areas of reading, language arts and math for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment and support activities for 100% of its participating students.

- During the year, the local centers offered academic enrichment, support activities and programming to support learning outside of core academic content areas and technology for 100% of its participating students.

Goal #3: Improve student attendance, homework completion and class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 93% of the participating students were absent from school for 15 days or less.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 40% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 35% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 40% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in homework completion and 35% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in class participation.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, 26% of the participating students demonstrated improvement in behavior.

- At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, 94% of the participating students were promoted to the next grade level.

Goal #4: Offer families of students who are served by the local community learning center the opportunities for literacy and related educational development.

- During the 2009-2010 school year, the local centers provided a total of nine opportunities for literacy and related education development. Our Reading Around the Campfire event had 142 adults and 158 students participate. Our Duathlon event had 40 students and 48 adults attending. Our four movie nights were also well attended. Furthermore, our rodeo event had over 3,000 participants. The majority of these participants are not enrolled in our after school program, although our families were invited to attend.

Institute of Medicine 2009 Report

This is an Intense report full of great systemic ideas for implementing an effective system of care. - Preventing Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People: Progress and Possibilities.

http://www.whyy.org/news/sci20090302Mentalprepub.pdf

School-Based Mental Health Models

Great white paper on school-based mental health models.This encompasses the ISSC (Integrated Student System of Care) model used to develop the MED (School-Based Collaborative HeathCare) initative at Berrien Elementary School.

Using Coordinated School Health to Promote Mental Health for All Students

Meeting to address Lanier’s high child abuse rate

Dawn Castro

The Valdosta Daily Times

LAKELAND — Inadequate income and substance abuse play major roles in Lanier County topping the state in child abuse and neglect cases.

The county currently ranks No. 1 in neglect and No. 2 in physical abuse, the highest per capita rate in Georgia, according to the state Department of Family and Children Services.

To address this ranking, an organization committed to understanding and lowering these numbers hosts a meeting this week.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, the Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC) holds a community meeting at the Oak Grove Freewill Baptist Church to discuss ending child abuse.

“From this meeting, we hope to come up with some sort of resolution or positive steps towards resolving the issues facing our community,” Amy Burton, the Lanier County Family Connection coordinator, said.

Joyce Johnson, CPPC area coordinator, said the meeting will be an open forum for the people.

“We want to hear from the residents,” she said. “We looked at the data for the area where the most problems occur and found that Oak Ridge subdivision ranks the highest.”

Johnson noted the top three types of child maltreatment that will be discussed at the meeting are neglect, which includes inadequate supervision, food and medical care; physical abuse; and domestic violence, which usually includes emotional abuse.

The main focus for the meeting will be educating the residents about the problem. The questions posed will be: Why do the residents think Lanier County is No. 1 in abuse, and what should be done to reduce the number?

Johnson said when the data is collected, they look at the number of children under 18 years of age and how many were reportedly abused. They look at the families income, age of the parent(s), location (rural area vs. city), and number of children in the home. She also said it surprises people to know that the average age of the parents reported in these abuse and neglect cases is 35.

“People always assume it’s the younger parents being reported but that is not the case here,” she said. “Just because someone is older, does not mean they have it all together.”

The top three underlying causes in these situations are substance abuse; domestic violence; and mental health issues of the parent or child.

From Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2009, the following Lanier County maltreatment data was collected by the Department of Family and Children Services office:

Neglect: 107 reported; 57 percent

Physical Abuse: 34 reported; 18 percent

Emotional Abuse: 29 reported; 15 percent

Sexual Abuse: 13 reported; 7 percent

No maltreatment but substantial abuse: 6 reported; 3 percent



Racial Composition of Reports:

African-American: 38

Caucasian: 123

Hispanic: 3



CPPC is a strategic plan represented by citizens, including DFACS workers, teachers, parents, faith-based leaders and members of the judicial system, etc.

The plan is to bring everyone together to develop creative ways to prevent or reduce the abuse and neglect in the county.

The CPPC is a nationally recognized plan but has just been organized in Lanier County January 2010. Its mission statement: “Keeping Children Safe is Everybody’s Business.”

Johnson said the plan is not to be confused with an agency or organized program. It only involves community participation. It is based on the understanding that DFACS cannot accomplish the prevention of child abuse alone.

The meeting will include a barbecue meal and door prizes. Childcare will also be provided.

At A Glance: Community Partnership for Protecting Children (CPPC) holds a community meeting to discuss ending child abuse, 7 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 12, Oak Grove Freewill Baptist Church. More information: Contact Amy Burton, Lanier County Family Connection coordinator, (229) 482-3476.

Collaborative Featured in Healthcare Georgia Foundation Listening Tour Report

Voices of the Community: Listening Tour 2010

While the national stage is focused on who has access to care and who is going to pay for it, we know that the more robust discussion–the depth and breadth of the issues impacting the health of our neighbors–is happening at the community level. As a Foundation with a commitment to understanding and working with communities, we sought to actively engage with leaders across the state in a discussion about the health of their communities, the health care issues facing their neighbors, and their community’s efforts and capacity to continue to make an impact.

The Foundation will use insights gained from this Tour to be deliberate and focused on providing community-based solutions that promote sustainability and the enhancement of the health of all Georgians.

To View or Download, click here

Recommended Citation: Voices of the Community: Listening Tour 2010, Porter Novelli, Healthcare Georgia Foundation, Publication #42, June 2010

How does Georgia measure up?

Among the states, Georgia gets these poor health rankings according to the “2008 Health Rankings: Georgia and Georgia’s Children”:

• 31st for the percentage of adults who do smoke.
• 37th for the percentage of adults who do not exercise regularly.
• 38th for the percentage of overweight high school students.
• 39th for the percentage of adults who are obese.
• 41st for the percentage of adults with diabetes.
• 40th for infant mortality.
• 41st for teen birth rate.
• 43rd for pre-term births.
• 45th for low birthweight babies.
• 47th for the prevalence of infectious diseases like tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS.

Georgia’s most recent bad health grade came this summer in the 2010 “F as in Fat” report: Georgia trailed only Mississippi in the percentage of children between 10 and 17 who are obese. The report is produced by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

MED Project Launch

The MED Center is a comprehensive Pediatric Primary Care site located at Berrien Elementary School.

The MED uses an Integrated Student System of Care (ISSC) that incorporates a broad array of service integration, continuity of care, and data exchange strategies that include, but are not limited to: family-centered case management services; family/student health and wellness education services; academic support services; and school nursing services.

ISSC is an integrative medicine approach that provides team-based, collaborative care for students.