Albany, GA, July 21st, 2021; Funded in part by Albany State University’s Stronger Together SWGA Project, Communities In Schools (CIS) of Georgia Teen Journey’s goal is to assist teen parents in Dougherty County with the completion of their high school education and delay additional pregnancies, while simultaneously strengthening their connection with their children, families, and community. CIS site coordinators will pair new mothers and/or fathers with mentors to support and uplift them during their journey.
Stronger Together is a community partnership serving as an innovation hub to create systems within the community that will affect change to improve positive outcomes. Albany State University will serve as the fiscal grantee to Communities In Schools of Georgia, provide faculty expertise and dedicated project staff. Ongoing planning, analysis, evaluation, and reporting will be used to document the success and profound impact of the CIS Teen Journey program.
Communities In Schools (CIS) of Georgia provides services in five of the lowest performing schools in the Dougherty County school district. Introducing Teen Journey will allow expand the CIS Model to additional Dougherty County schools, thus reaching more total students and connecting with more teens who need help to stay in school and achieve their dreams. CIS site coordinators will identify parenting and expecting teens through school system connections and walk by their side as they complete high school. They will also pair new mothers and/or fathers with mentors to support and uplift them during their journey. While there are other local programs being implemented that provide teen parents with immediate needs like food and shelter, CIS Teen Journey is unique in its focus on the overall goal of helping them finish high school, thus providing success for life.
There will be virtual, face to face, telephone calls, and social media connections between the CIS site coordinator and their students so they can be adaptable and creative in building relationships, and connect with students where they are most often, and how they are most comfortable. Face to face home visits will be the foundation of the site coordinator, student, and family relationships whenever possible.
Communities in Schools is one of 13 partners who have joined together to help young parents be the architects of the future for Southwest Georgia- we are Stronger Together
—Dr. Peter Ngwafu, the Principle Investigator for the Stronger Together grant.
