In the first year of the transformation, the district created a family advocate position, a person at each school responsible for building relationships with families to increase trust, identify family needs and connect them with support. In the third year of the transformation, BCPS leaders began a partnership with Communities in Schools (CIS). The CIS model utilizes school-based site coordinators (many of them former family advocates) who refer families to community resources and in turn, increases access to resources like food assistance, transportation assistance, laundry vouchers, mental health and medical services and dental care. Site coordinators were especially valuable to help the district navigate the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, delivering food to families, conducting home visits to reach students who hadn’t been engaging with remote learning, and connecting families to transportation resources.
In the 2021-22 school year, CIS distributed $48,316 worth of supplies to cover families’ basic needs and paired 59 students with a reading buddy.