SCHOOL BASED SERVICES

I want to take the opportunity, and will continue to do so in succeeding years, to briefly describe some of the programs that we are conducting at the Clinic.  We have set as a priority working in the community and working with schools.  For the past three years we have stationed outreach social workers at the Head Start Program in Manchester and in four Manchester elementary schools, providing mental health services to children who would not otherwise come to our Clinic, and providing mental health consultants to both parents who come into the school and to school staff.  This program has been a cooperative effort made possible by the Superintendent of Schools, staff at each of the schools with whom we are involved, and in particular the school social workers with whom we work collaboratively.  Through this program we have been able to reach large numbers of children who might not otherwise have made use of Clinic services.  We also have an extended day treatment program, which is conducted at the Keeney Street School and which provides three hours per day of after-school treatment services to children with serious problems.  Again this is a cooperative program made possible by the collaboration of the Superintendent of Schools, our Child Guidance Clinic, the Department of Children and Families, and The Village for Families and Children in Hartford.  This community-based collaborative work is possible only when people come together with a willingness to solve problems.  Our longstanding grassroots community support has resulted in our ability to develop community programs, such as school-based services.

Clifford Johnson, ACSW, LCSW

Executive Director