Getting Ready to Provide School-Linked Services

This article contends that school-linked services and education reform efforts are integrally related. Successful implementation of school-linked services requires new roles and responsibilities for all levels of school personnel. Drawing on general experience and citing specific examples from the New Beginnings experi­ence in San Diego, the article outlines these new roles and responsibilities for school superintendents, board members, principals, and teachers. It describes the plan­ning process involved, a process that includes an initial feasibility study and commu­nity needs assessment; a definition of the scope and purpose of the collaboration; and the formation of a strategy for redirecting funds and establishing financial linkages among agencies. A key element in implementing school-linked services is involving middle management, which serves as the link between a change in policy at the executive level and a change in action. Successful efforts also require increased parent involvement and parent education at the schools, as well as increased efforts by the schools to reach out and support families. The implementation of school-linked services calls for increased accountability to mea­sure whether the services meet defined goals. Toward this end, schools need to prepare to monitor outcomes on a long-term basis.

This article was originally published in the Future of Children by Princeton University and Journal Storage (JSTOR).