Overview
Safe, Supportive and Healthy Schools offers the training, technical assistance and resource coordination to help districts keep students safe, supported and healthy (including being drug-free).
School Improvement and academic achievement cannot occur if students are faced with significant barriers to learning. Children who are ill, are abusing chemicals, are afraid or feeling unsafe, are experiencing problems at home and in other relationships cannot reach their potential. Safe, Supportive & Healthy Schools Program strives to assist schools, students and their families to remove these barriers by providing consultation, technical assistance, staff development, resource coordination and school-community linked services in the area of:
- Health Education Curriculum
- School Climate
- Safe, Supportive & Healthy school programming
- Violence prevention programs
- Sexuality and AIDS education
- Positive youth development
- Emergency Response and Crisis Management
Bully Free Schools
Crisis Response Manual
Safety & Violence Prevention
Optimum learning cannot occur when students and staff are not safe or feel unsafe. Schools spend a great deal of energy, time and resources to keep the school community from harm. A variety of alliances with the community maximize this effort. Key to school safety is adequate response to crisis.
Student Survey & School Data
Good program planning begins with data. The Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth (MiPHY) is an online student health survey offered by the Michigan Departments of Education and Community Health to support local and regional needs assessment.
Michigan Model Curriculum
The Michigan Model is a K-12 comprehensive health education curriculum. The program includes teacher training, a skills-based curriculum, material distribution and technical assistance. It covers timely topics such as alcohol and smoking prevention, violence prevention and character education.
Student Assistance
A Student Assistance Program is a process that provides the mechanism for addressing high-risk behaviors of students which interfere with academic and social development. The objective of the program is to assist, refer and support children and youth who are experiencing or at risk for problems such as alcohol and other drug use/abuse, depression, grief and loss and/or other health related issues. The program links the school system with community agencies and resources to provide assistance.
School Health Resources
National and State Standards
Local districts are free to develop health education curricula which meets their needs. There are also several commercial curriculum available as well as the Michigan Department of Education-promoted Michigan Model Curriculum. Quality programs are based on established state and national standards.
Reproductive Health-HIV/AIDS Education
Michigan law mandates that each school district teach about HIV/AIDS prevention, appoint a sex education advisory committee, appoint a program supervisor and other mandates the Macomb County Reproductive Health Supervisor is included here.
Legal Obligations
Health, sexuality, communicable disease, including HIV/AIDS, violence and substance abuse education.
Web Resources
Parent Trauma Resource Center
The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC): The Parents Trauma Resource Center is an excellent tool for parents and caregivers to easily find detailed information about grief and trauma in English, Spanish and Arabic. Included in this site are:
- Information describing typical grief and trauma reactions and the difference between the two.
- Ways parents can help their child, as well as help themselves.
- Ways to deal with specific concerns, like behavioral problems, sexual abuse, war, terrorism, and more.
- Specific information for all age groups – infants, toddlers, children and adolescents.
- Specific detailed activities for parents to use to engage their children and to help calm their anxieties.
- Recommended books and resources on grief and trauma.
- Helpful links to other websites for specific information