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New CFS Project Links Schools and Communities for Latino Children and Families

Kids Count Pocket Guide: Latino Children State-Level Measure of Child Well-Being From the 2000 Census

In the KIDS COUNT Pocket Guide, statistics for Latino children were compared to statistics for non-Hispanic white children in each state to assess gaps in economic, educational, and social well-being. For additional detailed information, visit the website www.kidscount.org.

The US Department of Education has granted nearly $450,000 to the Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) for a three-year project to provide greater access to culturally competent services for the Latino children of rural areas in East and South Hillsborough County.

Many children in these areas experience language barriers and family factors that can affect school achievement and put them at-risk for developing serious emotional problems. The new project, RAICES (Resources, Advocacy, Integration, Collaboration, Empowerment and Services), will blend two proven programs–a community empowerment model, Promotoras, and a school-linked case management approach, FASST–to improve school progress for children, grades K-5, in these geographic areas.

RAICES was designed to develop and test a model that helps case managers enlist the community’s help to support families, while allowing the communities to clearly communicate their needs to the school system, gaining access to a range of service providers.

Promotoras, or community educators, are community members who act as a bridge between communities and health and human services systems. They use their knowledge of their neighborhood’s health and social issues– as well as local resources–to help community residents access needed services. By incorporating the Promotoras model, RAICES will help ensure that social and cultural characteristics of the Latino community will be central to improving and developing appropriate health care services.

FASST case management, identified as a promising practice by the federal government and funded through the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County, provides strength-based school and in-home family support and mental health services. “Our mission emphasizes early intervention and prevention by promoting academic and developmental achievement in youth,” said Stephen Martuas, FASST Project Director. “We are dedicated to facilitating parent involvement in school and connecting families with appropriate resources, and can provide additional support through activities such as parent groups, family fun nights, school counseling and parent training.”

Through RAICES, families and other community representatives will define how the FASST teams will coordinate with Promotoras. “Case management programs such as FASST face challenges in identifying, mobilizing and sustaining informal resources to support families,” said CFS’s Dr. Mario Hernandez, principal investigator of the RAICES project. “The Promotoras model will provide a more culturally competent way to link and engage Latino families with FASST and schools.”

Anticipated outcomes of the RAICES model include improved cultural competence of the school system and the mental health system through integration of Promotoras with FASST teams, increased employment opportunities through recruitment of Promotoras within targeted communities, increased connection to schools of targeted Latino parents, and improved school progress of at-risk Latino students.
RAICES will be coordinated and managed by CFS staff, in collaboration with Catholic Charities, the Hillsborough County school system, the Hispanic Services Council and the FASST team operated under contract with the Children’s Board by the Northside Mental Health Center.

The Promotoras model will help to ensure that social and cultural characteristics of the Latino community can be drawn upon to improve and provide the appropriate health care services. “Latino families are the largest growing segment of our county population,” said Luane Panacek of the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County. “The lack of outreach to Latino families with culturally competent services continues to be a critical need. We look forward to continued collaboration with both RAICES and FASST to support the needs of our Latino community.”

For additional information, contact RAICES project director Linda Callejas at 813-974-4651 or callejas@fmhi.usf.edu.

The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) is a department of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. The faculty and staff of CFS are committed to enhancing the development, mental health and well-being of children and families through leadership in integrating research, theory & practice.

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