New Truancy Prevention Program to be offered through NEMCSA School Success Partnership Program
NEMCSA is proud to announce that they have secured an additional one million dollars in funding towards the School Success Partnership Program for the 2022-2023 school year. These funds will be used to expand the program into one additional school district, double School Success Liaison staff at one existing school district and add additional staff to focus primarily on truancy and truancy reduction for kindergarten through 12th grade students across the nine county service area.
“I would like to thank the dedicated staff and partners that continue to support, advocate for and recognize the importance of the School Success Partnership Program that serves our students and families in a multitude of ways,” stated Dorothy Pintar, NEMCSA Community Program Director. “This additional funding is a huge WIN for Northeast Michigan. I am excited to create this new program to address the chronic absenteeism and truancy issues in our community.”
The School Success Partnership Program began over three decades ago in response to community awareness that school failure was a complex, multi-faceted issue linked to chronic poverty, unemployment, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, teen pregnancy, child abuse and neglect, and a lack of parent education. Throughout early years, the School Success Partnership was supported by NEMCSA, school districts and community funders. As the program’s fidelity increased, the State of Michigan showed their support in 2014 creating a partnership with the program by adding the School Success Partnership Program as a line item in the state budget. The initial partnership with the State of Michigan supported a 600% expansion of the trusted School Success Partnership Program.
Throughout continued expansion and partnerships, the School Success Partnership Program continues to show its value in our communities, especially as we navigated a global pandemic and the long lasting impacts it is having on students and families in our communities.
Kristen Wisniewski, School Success Program Coordinator, is “looking forward to having the ability to increase direct services and support to serve more students and families in our area in their journey towards academic success. Not only will our existing School Success Liaisons continue to help and support students at school, but our Truancy Intervention Liaisons will be able to increase the focus on supporting students in their return to school.”
If you would like to learn more information about joining the School Success team, contact Dorothy Pintar at 989-255-0006 or pintard@nemcsa.org.