CIS to celebrate work and support
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 4, 2015 1:46 PM
Communities in Schools of Wayne County is taking a moment this week to celebrate accomplishments and thank supporters of its programs.
Selena Bennett, the organization's executive director, has invited the public to attend the annual community partner meeting, to be held Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at Herman Park Center.
"We have been very fortunate here in Wayne County that we have been supported by city and county government as well as civic groups, organizations and individuals and we have had JCPC (Juvenile Crime Prevention Council) and United Way money," she said of the program that received accreditation just two years ago and is currently undergoing the reaccreditation process.
CIS is unique in that it has maintained non-profit status but does not solicit funds like many of its counterparts do, she said.
"We've got a lot of non-profits that do not have a solicitation license, they're not regulated with the state," she said. "We're both nationally accredited and state-affiliated. The state oversees what we do and they're our support system.
"We do not send dollars to the state or national office. We do not have to give any of our money back to them. The money that we put into this agency stays in Wayne County."
Likewise, CIS does not have to pay dues to be a member of anything, a crucial point in a climate where the public is clamoring to know where funds go, she said.
"(With a non-profit) they want to know how much goes to administration and other things," she said. "Any money that we receive goes directly to student support and that helps our students right here in Wayne County."
Communities in Schools is data-driven, Mrs. Bennett said, and the information has to be validated by the CIS state office.
"What they're calling our preliminary data will now be validated by a third-party research firm," she said. "They look up everything that we have to submit to CIS so they have it, (it's) not us saying, 'This is our success rate.'
"The third-party validates that what we're telling is truthful information, because that is the kind of information that we share with funders and we're going after dollars. We're moving more and more into an era when everything needs to be evidence-based, research-oriented."
Speaking at the partner meeting will be Dr. Eric Hall, president and CEO of the state CIS office. He will be sharing an update on happenings around the state and nationally with CIS and will likely talk about the importance of community partnerships, something Mrs. Bennett said has become a staple in Wayne County.
"We cannot run the Teen Court program without the District Attorney's office and the Sheriff's Office and all of the partnerships that run that program," Mrs. Bennett said. "We work totally in partnership with the school system.
"We work with the administrators, with what they want us to deliver. The model that we work around is called ABC Plus P -- attendance, behavior, course work and the fourth, which I really think is the hardest one, parent involvement."
While CIS provides success coaches, presently at six schools -- Mount Olive, Brogden and Grantham middle schools and Goldsboro, Southern Wayne and Spring Creek high schools -- the ultimate goal is to increase the graduation rate.
"This year it was up in Wayne County, the best it's ever been," she said. "Seven years ago when Barbara Wilkins came (as graduation coach at GHS), the graduate rate there was 47 percent. This year it's right at 79.7 percent."