Services for Students and Children: Collaborative Partnerships for the Delivery of Supports and Services
The Services for Students and Children Policy in the Guide to Education states:
School authorities will work together with members of the community to meet the needs of students and children who are “at risk” or who have special needs.
Alberta Education deems students and children to be “at risk” when they face learning challenges for a wide range of reasons. It is particularly important to support these students through the provision of supports and services that allow the student to reach his or her full potential. This means school authorities, families and community organizations must work together to ensure that student needs are met.
The “community” here includes anyone who has an interest in the students in a school. This might be students, families, school councils, operators of Early Childhood Services programs, Alberta Health Services, Children and Family Services Authorities, and other agencies, organizations and associations. “Working together” means bringing multiple levels of government, private, non-profit and volunteer services together to minimize duplication and improve access for, and responsiveness to, children and families in need. Examples include information-sharing procedures, co-location of staff, and joint service planning and delivery agreements (informal or formal).
Alberta Education and its partners have engaged in many collaborative projects and initiatives where school authority staff participation has been required to support children and youth who may have “at risk” factors or special needs. Collaborative partnerships are demonstrated through work under Student Health and the Children and Youth with Complex Needs Initiative. In addition, Success in School for Children and Youth in Care: Provincial Protocol Framework, Mental Health Capacity Building for Children,Youth and Families in Schools, Alberta Mentoring Partnership and Alberta’s Bullying Prevention Strategy demonstrate the province’s leadership in this area. A variety of resources to support cross-sector collaboration and partnerships have been developed including Transition Planning Protocol for Youth with Disabilities, Guidelines for Supporting Successful Transitions for Children and Youth and Information Sharing for Human Service Providers in the Alberta Public Sector.
