Mission

Surround students with a network of support empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life.

Services

Communities in Schools Chatham County surrounds students with a network of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. CIS programs and services are delivered in schools and in the community. Due to the demographic makeup of the county and schools that CIS (CC) serves, the majority of the students that the agency serves are students of color. In 2018-19 80% of all students served through CIS CC programs were students of color. All of the students served were identified due to barriers in and out of the classroom and had goals of improving Attendance, Behavior and or Course work ( ABC)

CIS Chatham programming includes:
Teen Court and Community Service & Restitution, are both restorative justice programs that are designed to reduce the recidivism rate and disrupting the school to prison pipeline by focusing on a process that seeks to repair the harm by involving the entire community in rehabilitating youth and holding them accountable for their behavior.
Family Advocacy: targets services for youth and families that are referred through Truancy and Juvenile Court or as part of a diversion agreement. The Family Advocate works primarily with immigrant families whose first language is Spanish but the service is offered to all families of all backgrounds. The Family Advocate works closely with parents to help them “navigate” the various systems that can be confusing or not accessible to families with limited English, transportation and or understanding of how to access services. The Family Advocate also accompanies families to school and treatment meetings of students so that both parents and students can be engaged in finding positive solutions, along with school personnel/court counselors/therapists to behavior and or academic concerns. Families are invited to participate in Parenting Matters, an evidence-based curriculum that teaches improved communication skills and limit setting.
CIS Model/Youth F.I.R.S.T School-based programs

The school-based programs have a positive effect on the school to prison pipeline by decreasing behavior problems/suspensions and increasing student success through providing in-school interventions. The on-site Student Support Specialists build positive relationships with students, identify barriers to their success, help them set goals, leverage resources and monitor their progress throughout the school year.
Youth F.I.R.S.T. helps to connect caring adult volunteers with students across Chatham County by matching students with the community -based mentors and or school-based Lunch Buddies.

Programs:
General Youth Services in every school
Community Service & Restitution: JCPC program
Teen Court: JCPC program
Family Advocacy: JCPC program