School-Linked Human Services

Since 1980, at least 8 states and more than 200 localities have been delivering a variety of health, social, and educational services to students--many of whom are at risk of failing in school or dropping out. These comprehensive school-linked programs are trying to improve the academic performance and well-being of at-risk students by addressing their many needs in a coordinated manner at schools. Some policymakers view these programs as an efficient, cost-effective way to link at-risk children and their families with prevention and early intervention services. This report (1) reviews the literature to determine the kinds of school-linked approaches involving students and their families, the relative strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, and the circumstances under which each appears most appropriate; (2) identifies the problems encountered when using the school as a hub for delivering services; and (3) determines the role that the federal government could play in promoting promising school-linked approaches.

GAO found that: (1) individual school-linked program models vary widely depending on the age group served and community attitudes toward each program; (2) similarities among many comprehensive programs include strong leadership, effective communication between program and school staff, the use of interdisciplinary teams to connect students to services, and program followup to ensure that the services obtained are helpful; (3) although school-linked programs appear to support at-risk children after they complete preschool programs and have a positive effect on student dropout rates, absenteeism, and academic achievement, they require comprehensive evaluation to determine their long-term impact; (4) policymakers' and community leaders' decisions concerning the appropriateness of comprehensive school-linked programs are based on short-term program process rather than on long-term impact data; (5) although few federal comprehensive programs exist for academically at-risk children, educators and policymakers believe that comprehensive services are necessary to address the learning problems of at-risk school children; (6) information is readily available about the problems and procedures of establishing and operating school-linked service programs; (7) some programs have avoided the potential barriers associated with in-school service delivery; and (8) the government needs to provide funding for planning and long-term program support and technical assistance for developing and evaluating school-linked programs.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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