When Stark families, educators, social service agencies, and community partners come together to focus on the needs of children in our community, effective solutions are found! Over 20 years ago, leaders in the Stark community worked to design a comprehensive, proactive approach to support students with severe, pervasive or chronic barriers to learning. The result is our current
iCARE Team Initiative.
iCare is a system of learning supports that ensures all students and families have an equal opportunity for success by providing community and school resources, strategies and practices.
Kay Port, iCARE Director, shared:
"CARE Teams provide a valuable safety net for students and families of our community facing any degree of non-academic barrier. Through the support and collaboration of our county agencies, CARE Teams partner with schools to address student needs and implement appropriate supports in a timely manner."
CARE is an acronym that represents the guiding principles of this work:
Coordination of county resources and services;
Alignment of program models and resources to avoid the duplication of services;
Resources that braid and blend both fiscal and in-kind services to promote a comprehensive system of care and support;
Engage, empower and educate our youth (pre K-16), families and community to equip them with skills for life long success and learning [1].
