BY KELLY URBAN
EBENSBURG — Helping kids prepare for life and the future.
That’s the message officials with Communities in Schools of the Laurel Highlands conveyed Wednesday when they launched its Communities That Care site at Admiral Peary Vocational-Technical School.
The grant-funded initiative is designed to bring school districts, local government officials, human service agencies and community partners together to work toward a common goal of finding ways to prevent youth violence, school dropout, delinquency, drug use and teen pregnancy.
It also will promote positive youth development and strong families.
Mickie Eberhart, executive director of CIS of the Laurel Highlands, said Communities that Care will provide support to the seven school districts Admiral Peary services – Penn Cambria, Northern Cambria, Portage, Blacklick Valley, Conemaugh Valley, Cambria Heights and Central Cambria.
“The key to CTC is to create prevention and intervention programs that address our community’s needs,” she said.
Brian Bumbarger, director of the Evidence-based Prevention, Intervention and Support Center at Penn State, said through his research he has seen CTC’s effectiveness.
“This is a new way of doing business,” he said. “All areas have good-hearted people who have good intentions, and now we have a blueprint that will help us move forward and achieve a better and stronger community.”
He said the EPIS Center has been studying locations that have Communities that Caresites for 10 years and found that 33 percent of students perform academically better than students who have no access to CTC centers.
“The evidence is pretty outstanding and is having an impact,” Bumbarger said. “Once this model is adopted you will see a difference in your community.”
