We Help Vulnerable Children Succeed in School

The impact of trauma and other life challenges on children can increase their risk for lower academic achievement.

If you know a child who needs help, we are their advocates. Let us be their liaison to help build a better future.

EDUCATIONAL LIAISONS: IMPROVING CHILDREN'S LIVES IN SCHOOL

How is your child performing in school? Do they have academic, behavioral, or social challenges?

Our Educational Liaison Program works to improve educational outcomes for children who need additional social, emotional, and educational support to succeed in school due to trauma or other life challenges. Our educational liaisons collaborate with school staff, parents/caregivers, and service providers to develop educational plans that accommodate and support each child’s unique needs.

We model the development of positive partnerships to achieve better educational outcomes for students. Your child’s social and emotional needs are the foundation from which we look at all educational planning. And we believe in the potential of every child.

Our Vision, Plan & Referral Form | Educational Liaison Program

CHILDREN'S SUCCESS STORIES

Our educational liaisons helped a grandparent who offered kinship care for a grandchild after the child was placed in the child welfare system. Due to past trauma in the grandparent’s home, the grandchild had trust and behavior issues impacting them academically. Our educational liaisons found someone in the school system whom the grandchild trusted to help, and we guided the child’s path forward. That child is having more success in school today.

Our educational liaisons helped children whose parents abandoned them. The children were distrustful and anxious about their future which affected their school work. We worked with the school to help them develop a relationship with staff, join a counseling group, and build student friendships that improved their social connections and academic success.

Listen to this important video conversation with Donna Walker, an Educational Liaison and longtime educator, as she explains some of the challenges children face in school and how we help address them.

How We Help Students Succeed

Education Statistics

Students participating in social and emotional learning programs showed significantly more positive outcomes with respect to enhanced SEL skills, attitudes, positive social behavior, and academic performance, and significantly lower levels of conduct problems and emotional distress. The higher academic performance of the SEL program showed an 11 percentile-point gain in achievement. (Durlak et al., 2011)

Some studies have shown that child abuse and neglect, trauma, poverty, mental health issues, and lack of parental involvement are some of the factors impacting students’ academic success. And maltreatment in the first five years of life nearly triples a child’s likelihood of having academic problems.

Many school districts, nationwide, have used the five CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) competencies to improve academic success: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

Here are some of the ways experts say parents can support children who are struggling in school. Get involved with your child’s school. Build partnerships with teachers, staff, and community programs. Make sure your child gets their homework done and get them help if needed. Observe changes in their school work and talk to them and listen. Create structure for learning at home with no distractions.