Houston engaging parents and youth in dropout prevention
5/28/2010
By Tanya Tucker
The Houston/Harris County Featured Communities Collaborative conducted its local Dropout Prevention Summit titled, Parent Engagement Summit in April. The focus was to engage parents and youth in a specific school feeder pattern in order to hear voices that are often left out of the conversations around dropout prevention. In a community the size of Houston/Harris County where there are 26 school districts and 1.9 million children and youth, it was important to capture the needs and voices of a single feeder pattern community.
Held at Wheatley High School, the 250 participants included parents, grandparents, teachers, youth, youth service providers, corporate volunteers and all of the agencies that make up the Featured Communities Collaborative. Parents, grandparents and youth indicated that they felt empowered and left with information that would help them reach their educational goals. More than twenty-five “vendors” provided content based support and information in many instances providing one on one contact. The goal is to replicate the event in other feeder patterns throughout Houston/Harris County.
America’s Promise Alliance began its relationship with Houston/Harris County when it was first recognized as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in 2005. Shortly after that designation the Gulf Coast region was hit with hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Houston became a refuge for many of the storm’s evacuees and America’s Promise Alliance provided support for Houston’s Kids over a two-year period to support the displaced young people who lost the supports provided by their homes, schools, neighborhoods and communities. Houston/Harris County was designated a 100 Best community three times for their tremendous commitment and work to support children and youth through the power of partnerships and collaboration.
The Joint City/County Commission on Children (JC4) now assists in the coordination of the various Alliance initiatives in the Houston/Harris County community. These initiatives have assisted in bringing attention to efforts currently underway in the community and have connected partners to eliminate duplication and strengthen services to youth and families.
The Houston/Harris County Promise Zone collaborative focuses its work in the South Region of the Houston Independent School District (HISD); Harris County Precinct One Commissioner El Franco Lee and the JC4 guide the initiative. Using Commissioner Lee’s long standing youth initiatives as a base for this effort, the collaborative is working with the school district and area youth-serving agencies to identify gaps in service and promote collaboration within the region to enhance the Five Promises for children, youth and families.
The core activities range from child protective and mental health services to after school care and tutoring to teaching outdoor skills and conservation. At the end of the first year, more than 5,000 children and youth participated in Promise Zone activities and programs.
Through their Promise Zone and Featured Community efforts, Houston/Harris County continues its commitment to collaboration and efforts to tackle the dropout crisis in a family-driven and community-centered way.