The Bridges Program
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Goal
BRIDGES will provide educational and behavioral/emotional assessment and then provide support and capacity building for students, their families and their schools, enabling them to transition to an appropriate educational setting.
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Overview
The BRIDGES Program is a school-based assessment/intervention program in the Wake County Public School System for children who are experiencing academic, emotional and/or behavioral difficulties that are interfering with school success. The goal of the program is to provide educational and behavioral/emotional assessment, and then to provide support and build the capacity of each student by teaching prosocial and academic skills, enabling them to return to an appropriate educational setting. Providing support and capacity building helps the student to learn more successful behaviors that can generalize to other educational settings and to the community at large.
As well as providing academic, behavioral, and social skills instruction, BRIDGES offers support and capacity building for families through conferences and collaboration with other agencies, family counseling, and parent group meetings as appropriate. Families are strongly encouraged to become involved with the BRIDGES team. The aim of family involvement is to enhance and strengthen family life and problem-solving skills in order that the student receives supports necessary to be successful in the home, school, and community.
BRIDGES also offers support and capacity building for base schools in the form of regularly scheduled meetings, visits to BRIDGES and base schools, substitutions in teachers' classrooms (so that teachers may attend meetings and visit students at BRIDGES), crisis intervention, and consultation services which may include modeling, co-teaching, etc.
BRIDGES reflects the belief that stronger connections between family, school, and the larger community, particularly among educators and health and human service providers, are essential to the success of students and their families.
Students Served
BRIDGES targets students in elementary (1st - 5th grade) who are experiencing difficulty in academic, emotional, and behavioral adjustment in their current school programs. BRIDGES also serves as a step-down for some students from residential programs such as hospitals, Wright School, etc. Common student characteristics may include; low academic performance, lack of intrinsic motivation, poor self-esteem, high absenteeism, aggression, inappropriate/irresponsible behavior, and poor self-control.
Eighty-nine percent of students served 1999-2000 school year had mental health diagnoses. Diagnoses included: Depression, Bipolar, Oppositional/Defiant, ADD, ADHD, Autism, Impulse Control Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dysthymic, Seizures
BRIDGES has identified three groups of students that are referred:
- Regular education students in crisis: i.e. emotional distress, suicidal, school anxiety/refusal etc.
- Special education students in crisis: may have crisis in the home that is affecting behavior significantly i.e. death, illness, abuse etc.
- Students who need long term intensive intervention
Objectives
- To provide each student with academic, social, behavioral, emotional, and environmental assessments that result in individual strategies and plans for school success.
- To provide each student, his /her family, and school support which can take the form of phone calls, meetings, counseling, etc. in order to help the student achieve school success.
- To provide each student with a maximum number of growth opportunities to build their capacity for success by helping them develop appropriate social skills, responsible behaviors, and increased academic skills.
- To provide each student with a successful transition to an appropriate school setting by providing support and education to the student and school community.
Number of students
Bridges can serve 32 elementary students at one time for an average stay of 60 to 90 school days.
Location
The BRIDGES Program shares space wih Mt. Vernon Redirection at 5418 Chapel Hill Road in Raleigh.
Referral/Intake Process
Students can be referred to BRIDGES by parents, school personnel, or agency personnel working with the student. The referral packet requires information regarding the student's background and prior history of learning and behavior strengths/weaknesses. School concerns and expectations, as well as parental concerns and expectations, are solicited in the referral process.
The referral is reviewed by a committe consisting of the following members:
- A representative from Guidance and Social Work.
- A representative from Special Programs.
- A representative from Bridges.
- A representative from the Mentaul Health School Based Team.
- A rotating principal.
A representative from the referring school will be invited to present the student to the committee.
Transitioning
One of the main objectives of the BRIDGES Program is to facilitate a successful transition for students to an appropriate school setting by providing intensive supports and education to the student and school staff. The idea that BRIDGES is a short term program is stressed from the first meeting. A service plan is developed when a student first comes to BRIDGES with goals for the student and adults involved to work towards. This plan is reviewed on a regular basis. Once the team, consisting of parents and other pertinent persons, determines that a student can transition to another educational setting, decisions are made (in a meeting held at the receiving school) regarding the following:
- The length and type of transition in order that the transition be as beneficial as possible for the student and the school,
- The type of support needed for the student and receiving school by the BRIDGES staff and other involved agencies,
- The roles of staff members involved in the transition, and
- The specific transition plan designed to meet each student's needs.Liaisons are mainly responsible for seeing that the transition takes place successfully. They are available for crises, check-ins, etc. Meetings are held to monitor progress, communicate information, problem solve, etc.
Program Components
Assessment services may include:
- Formal psychological evaluations
- Formal and informal academic evaluations
- Student and parent interviews
- Evaluation of behavior and social skills
Activities which support and build capacity are determined by the individual's strengths and areas of need. They may include but are not limited to:
- Creating a sense of classroom competence
- Social skills training that generalizes to other settings
- Problem solving strategies
- Crisis intervention
- Brief individual therapy
- Brief family therapy
- Psychoeducational resources for parents
Other activities which may provide support and build capacity in members of the student's community may include:
- Regular conferences to share information, strategies and evaluate progress
- Collaboration to problem solve specific issues
- Observations and feedback at BRIDGES and at sending school
- Identifying ongoing community-based services and advocating for the needed resources
The Role of the Parent
The BRIDGES staff is committed to establishing relationships with, and providing support to, families based on respect and compassion as well as on an understanding and accommodation of different styles of social interaction and respect for a family's culture and experiences.
Parent/family participation in BRIDGES is critical to the success fo each student. Collaborating with families and facilitating access to needed services is crucial to achieving the goal of implementing appropriate, integrated/collaborative services. Parents and guardians are encouraged to visit the program, attend meetings, participate in BRIDGES activities, and assist the student in generalizing new behaviors to other settings. Parent participation is often difficult due to issues such as lack of child care and transportation. The staff is committed to providing and/or locating resources that will enable all families to be involved with the program.
Family involvement is fostered through a wide variety of activities:
- Staff communicates on a daily basis through the behavioral point sheet.
- Frequent phone calls are made to report successes/difficulties.
- Meetings are held on a regular basis to discuss progress and to modify/change service plans and IEPs.
- Parent support and education groups are established based on the stated needs of the families involved with the program.
- Home visits are conducted.
- Monthly Open Houses are held to encourage school visitations.
The BRIDGES' Staff:
- 4 Teachers/Counselors
- Social Worker
- 4 Classroom Teacher's Assistants
- Psychologist
- 2 Liaison Teacher/Counselors
- Lead Teacher
- Program Facilitator
- 2 Crisis Assistants
- Office Manager
