Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority
601 East 66th Street
Suite 101
Savannah, GA 31405
P.O. Box 14317, Savannah, GA 31416
Phone: 912.352.7054 ~ Fax: 912.352.7451
Edward Chisolm, Executive Director
Savannah Promise Neighborhood
UPDATE! Savannah was not selected as a Promise Neighborhood grantee for 2012; however, we will launch the Savannah Promise Neighborhood in January using the local partners and their commitments toward this initiative. You will be hearing from us!
COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
The next meeting of the SPN Oversight Planning Committee will be announced at a later date.
Emory University School Health Clinic
The requirements for this planning grant have been met. A business plan was completed and is in the stages of being reviewed before it becomes officially authorized. Check this site later for additional information.
Childhood Development Associate (CDA) Program
We are proud to announce that a CDA graduation ceremony was held on November 19 at the First Assembly Church in Garden City. Program participants are now in Phase 2 of the program which should conclude this spring.
YFA Collaborative Meeting
AUTHORITY MEMBERS --
The next collaborative meeting will be FEBRUARY 14 at 4:00 p.m. at the Lewis Cancer Research Pavilion in the 2nd Floor Training Room. Topic Area: TBD
Teen Maze Event-2012
The Teen Maze event for this year will be held March 26-29 at the National Guard Armory. Target population will be first time 8th graders. There will be four event tracks. The goal of the event is to eliminate barriers to students not graduating fom higih school, nd to expose them to career information.
Update on RFPs for St. Pius
Requests for Proposals were solicited for use of the St. Pius facility. The RFP Committee has reviewed the RFPs and will make a recommendation to the Authority Board.
Savannah Receives IBM Grant
The City of Savannah recently received an IBM KidsSmart grant that awarded YFA 30 Young Explorer Little Tikes units to be placed in SCCPSS Pre-K and lower grades classrooms and across selected community centers and child care facilities. YFA was pleased to partner with the SCCPSS on this. This is great news for our early learners and complements our Savannah Promise Neighborhood work. THANK YOU City of Savannah and IBM!
Caring Communities ~ System of Care (SOC)
Overview
In 2009, the Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority, through the City of Savannah, was awarded a grant from the Georgia Governor's Office for Children and Families (GOCF) to implement a prevention and early intervention program for students in kindergarten through 5th grade who are at-risk for out of school suspensions, or have already been suspended or expelled from the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS). The initial grant award for the 2009-2010 program year was $325,000, with two additional years of funding with a cash match requirement. We are currently in Year-2 of the grant, and have applied for possible funding from GOCF for Year-3.
Agency Collaboration
Collaboration is achieved through governance in the System of Care Advisory Board, which includes the Chatham-Savannah Youth Futures Authority, State Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disability, and Addictive Diseases (MHDDAD), Department of Family and Children Services, Chatham County Juvenile Court, Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, SCCPSS, Ash Tree Organization, City of Savannah, Savannah Impact Program (SIP), Gateway Community Service Board, Georgia Family Connection Partnership (GaFCP), Adult Probation Office, and Pardons and Paroles.
Offer Description / Justification
Funding from the GOCF grant addresses the Education strategy area to "Improve School Performance" specific to students in kindergarten through 5th grade and their families/caregivers. Students are targeted at two schools: East Broad Elementary School and the Scott Alternative Learning Center. Improving School Performance is approached through a reduction in suspensions & expulsions, academic improvement, increased attendance, and a reduction in disciplinary referrals. During Year-1 of program implementation we proposed serving a total of 40 families, with 34 families actually being served, resulting in our achieving 85% of the goal for that year. Currently in Year-2 we are serving a total of 36 families. With numbers near the 100% mark, we expect to exceed our Year-2 goal by the end of December 2011. Over the course of the grant funding, a total of 120 children and 180 caregivers will be served.
The GOCF grant is currently in its Year-2 award, with the City of Savannah being the recipient. YFA, along with the System of Care Advisory Board, is working diligently to raise funds for program sustainability for Year-3. Thus far, the System of Care approach has shown its effectiveness in meeeting the performance indicators as evaluated by EMSTAR Research, Inc., which serves as our local evaluation and data collection team.
Evaluation
Access the Program Year-1 Evaluation report.
View updated SOC Evaluation Outcomes document
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SOC Concluded its 1st Fundraiser!! Drawing was held on July 11. Congratulations to Deborah Laster of Albany, GA ~ Winner of the 7-Day Luxury Vacation!!!!
Many thanks to those who helped support this effort!! We were able to generate $2,240 to help sustain the SOC program!!
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SOC Savannah receives visit from Georgia's First Lady!
Georgia First Lady, Sandra Deal, visited Savannah on October 26, 2011 to meet with the Mayor of Savannah and SOC program staff.
 | From left to right: Morris Brown, Linda King, Edward Chisolm, Sandra Deal, Kathy Jo Ballard, Mayor Otis Johnson, Timeka Grubbs-Perry |