WARREN SCHOOLS Parent liaisons try to help get family problems solved

The liaisons live in the neighborhood of the schools.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- When Cindy McCoy watched one little girl graduate from McGuffey Elementary School last month, she knew that's why she became a parent liaison.
She and Angela McKinnon, a parent liaison at Jefferson Elementary, started with the program five years ago.
The six-year-old program, provided for the district through Community Solutions, helps students and families with problems that are interfering with academic success.
Liaisons work out of the school building each day.
In 2001, the program earned a family partnership award from the Ohio Department of Education.
Appreciative parent
When McCoy first met the little girl, the girl was in kindergarten and suffered from frequent absenteeism and chronic head lice.
It took a few years, but McCoy introduced the girl's mother to Community Solutions' family support team, where she learned about preventative measures against lice.
"The mom was thrilled with the help," McCoy said.
This year, the girl's mother was one of McCoy's most involved parents, the girl was lice free, missed school only when legitimately ill and graduated from elementary school with good grades.
"When I saw her graduate, I thought, 'This is why I'm here,'" McCoy said.
McKinnon called one pupil's family when she noticed a problem with clothing.
She introduced the woman to an agency that provides clothes. McKinnon even brought some clothes her daughter had outgrown for the woman's little girl.
They've also addressed problems with hygiene, frequent absenteeism and chronic tardiness.
McKinnon brought one little boy an alarm clock to help him get to school by 8 a.m. instead of his usual 10 a.m. arrival.
It doesn't take long for the liaisons to determine which kids are going to be late for school, so they make a point of calling them each day.
"Sometimes you have to wake the parents and I don't mind doing that," McKinnon said.
The difference
Schools districts in other Ohio counties offer similar programs, but what makes Warren's different is the inclusion of a liaison in each school.
Some districts offer a handful of liaisons who bounce from building to building.
"The liaison really becomes a part of the school community for the students, the schools and families," said Ken Lloyd, president and CEO of Community Solutions, a social services agency.
Both McKinnon and McCoy live in the neighborhoods of the school and their children attended that school.
"We wanted people who could relate to the families," said Kathie Marando, director of prevention and community services
"We set it up so the liaisons would be approachable, outreach people that families would be comfortable going to and talking with."
Increasing involvement
The liaisons also try to increase parent involvement at the schools.
McKinnon has organized Grandparents' Day, Dad's Day, Mom's Morning and several evening gatherings to get parents into the schools.
McCoy organized book nights and other activities. Those events have drawn more than 90 participants.
Marando said such activities provide an opportunity for parents to come into the school under positive circumstances.
Involvement in children's activities is important even for parents whose children do well in school, McCoy said.
Parent liaisons aren't social workers but get supervision and assistance from Community Solutions.
Seeking grant
At its height, the program has included 13 parent liaisons.
With funding from Lifelines, six will return next school year. The agency has applied for a grant to bring more of the liaisons back, but that remains up in the air.
"We want to at least have a liaison in all of the elementary schools," Marando said.
Although the liaisons aren't social workers, Lloyd considers them professionals in their ethics, compassion, creativity and passion for what they do. "It's a testament of their skill level that every principal is concerned about losing their liaison next year," he said.
denise.dick@vindy.com