RELEASE: January 21, 2005

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DHS grants $5M to expand prevention services for students

Part of child welfare reform efforts to reach adolescents

TRENTON – Commissioner James M. Davy today announced $5 million in grants to expand school-based prevention and support services proven to help students stay in school and avoid violence, substance abuse and pregnancy.

The School Based Youth Services program, which provides a variety of counseling and social services at 44 sites in or near secondary schools, is being expanded to 11 more high schools and eight middle schools, Commissioner Davy told the students and program supporters who filled the Trenton Central High School community room for the press conference.

“This program helps our teenagers and preteens to value education and to value themselves,” said Acting Gov. Richard Codey. “They learn skills that lead to employment and develop lifestyles that are mentally and physically healthy.”

“We need to help more of our youth think twice before engaging in risky behavior that can rob them of their future,” Commissioner Davy said. “I am pleased to be expanding this successful program and intervening earlier because the program casts such a wide safety net that catches so many teens before they fall through the cracks – to drug use, to teen pregnancy, to sexually transmitted diseases.

The SBYSP at Trenton High has been credited with helping many students stay in school, resolve family problems and resist the temptations of inner-city youth.

“The program gave me hope. I wouldn't have been able to stay in school,” one young mother told the crowd, praising the program's daycare that allowed her to attend classes.

Grants of $250,000 will help support each of the new high school programs in 2005, while $170,000 will go to each of the new middle school programs. Each recipient also receives $50,000 in one-time start-up funds.

The agencies and school districts that run the program must work collaboratively with the school district and a wide array of social services in the community.

SBYSP sites address the core services of health, mental health and vocational assistance. They also provide crisis counseling, after-school activities and other supportive services that can be tailored to meet individual student's needs. The services are delivered in ways that don't make the students feel threatened or stigmatized.

“This is really one-stop shopping that breaks down barriers and bureaucratic roadblocks that often prevent adolescents from getting services,” Commissioner Davy said.

“Many of the youth served through the School Based Youth Services Program would be lost. The program provides them with positive role models, cultural and educational exposure that fosters leadership and a desire to give back to the community,” said Jeanette Page-Hawkins, Director of the Division of Family Development at DHS.

  “The School-Based Youth Services Program is a unique and proven initiative that recognizes that kids can't succeed in the classroom until we address problems they're facing outside the classroom,” said Robert Guarasci, director of NJ Community Development Corps, which manages the new SBYSP site at Passaic County Technical School . “It is the single most important program that any school can implement to ensure the academic and emotional growth of students.”

“The School-Based model just plain works,” agreed John Surface, director of program development at Family Connections, which is the managing agency for the SBYSP at Orange High School and also manages the new sites at Orange Middle School and Columbia High School . “It gives teens a range of positive alternatives to replace their high-risk behaviors. We see this every day at our Orange High School program – kids turning away from drugs, from unsafe sex, from gang involvement, getting better grades and choosing new, healthy activities and role models. Now, with this expansion into both Orange Middle School and Columbia High School , we will more than triple the number of youth we can reach with these crucial services.”

Expansion of the SBYSP is part of an historic and sweeping effort to reform the state's child welfare system.

Founded in 1988, New Jersey 's SBYSP is a nationally recognized model that has been duplicated by other states and received widespread recognition.

Evaluation by the Academy for Educational Development showed students who received SBYSP services thought more about their future education, had less anger and depression, less destructive behavior, more positive involvement with family and friends and were less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease or become pregnant.

Last year, 22,938 students received direct personal help or help in group sessions; 16,249 students had 127,729 individual sessions concerning mental health, substance abuse, employment or behavioral difficulties; and 82,912 students attended SBYSP social events and activities.

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