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OPEN HEART - OPEN MIND EXPANDS TO SERVE MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS  
Partnership with Children's Open Heart - Open Mind program has experienced continuous growth since its formal introduction. From serving 100 children in one school in 1992 to providing services for almost 5,000 children in eight schools in 2002, Open Heart - Open Mind has undoubtedly made a significant impact on the lives of many New York City elementary school children. Now, as Open Heart - Open Mind enters its first middle school, IS 258, the program is expanding and adapting to serve older children, adolescents.
IS 258, located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community of Brooklyn, serves 725 6th-8th graders, many of whom are experiencing chronically low achievement. The New York State Education Department designated IS 258 as a School Under Registration Review (SURR) in February 2002. Of the 725 students in IS 258, 427 attended summer school as a result of failure to meet promotional criteria. Children and youth in the Bedford Stuyvesant community, in which school is located, are at multiple high-risk for experiencing emotional or mental health problems, as large numbers are in foster care, have exposure to community violence, parental unemployment, substance abuse, and compromised states of health and wellness. As it enters its first middle school, Partnership with Children plans to implement the core components of its highly successful Open Heart - Open Mind program while utilizing the expertise of its Life Steps staff on the unique issues affecting New York's adolescent population. Partnership with Children will provide individual, small group and full classroom counseling to IS 258 students, as well as sponsor several school events (e.g. talent shows, art exhibits, etc.), host parent events, support a student government body, provide professional development for teachers, and compile a directory of mental health services and protocol for use beyond the project. Through these interventions, Partnership with Children hopes to achieve its goals of engaging staff and students in a successful mental health and wellness promotion initiative, implementing changes within the school environment to support the mental health of low-income minority adolescents, and providing mental health treatment and support services that are culturally and socially compatible with the needs of students and their families. If the past holds any clues for the future, Partnership with Children will be a presence in many more of New York City's middle schools soon. | |||||||||
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