Services
We have several ways of supporting schools throughout Maryland, each aligned with our framework and strategies.
The PSC partner with schools, students, and communities in several ways. View a recent description of our work: PSC Overview May 2021
Intensive Climate Cohort
The PSC supports approximately twenty-five Baltimore City Public Schools to transform their schools into places in which students, teachers, and families want to be, learn, and work. Intensive Climate Cohort (ICC) schools are grant-funded, so that all schools who need support have access to them. As part of the ICC, schools participate in a variety of opportunities:
- Monthly leadership coaching for principals and school leadership.
- Monthly training for school staff on the PSC’s core strategies.
- Modeling of strategies in classrooms, facilitation of staff collaborative planning, and mentorship on implementation of new strategies.
ICC schools go through an intensive application and interview process so that we may ensure that the PSC is the best fit to help each school create a healthy school climate. Applications to be a part of a new cohort are typically made available in March of each school year.
Next Generation Scholars
The Next Generation Scholars (NGS) Program at Social Work Community Outreach Services (SWCOS) is a Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) funded college and career readiness program. Originally, in partnership with James McHenry Middle School, NGS began as a STEM-focused after school program and summer camp with the goal of introducing middle school students to the benefits and opportunities in the STEM field and providing them with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) tools to promote positive relationships, coping skills and improve their overall well being. As our students transitioned from middle school to high school, our program broadened its scope to include college and career readiness. Now our students are receiving high school support in different forms including:
- One on one mentoring
- Monthly meetings that focus on Social Emotional Learning
- Monthly healthy relationship support, career mapping, and mental health checks.
Our main goal is not just for our students to do well academically, but for them to grow personally and emotionally so that when they enter college and/or their chosen field, they can make the impact they wish to make on the world!
Community School Supports
Community Schools are emerging across the country as a phenomenal way to transform both urban and rural schools — elementary, middle, and high — into a hub of resources for their students, families, and greater communities. The PSC supports four community schools in Baltimore City. A full-time community school coordinator at each school focuses on building connections with community partners, organizations, and companies.
Each coordinator and school, works to develop in-school and out-of-school time programs and partnerships to support families with:
- Housing
- Physical and Mental Healthcare
- Employment
- Food Security
- Academic Supports and Extracurricular Activities
Community Schools are uniquely designed to meet the interests and strengths of their students and families. The result is the creation of a more positive and engaged school community.
Check out the brief Annual Report here! —> Community Schools Update
Personalized Training Selections
Rooted in our five foundational strategies, we meet with your team to design a session that helps you to transform your organizational culture, better serve clients, and develop the members of your team. We work with schools and youth-based organizations to provide engaging training experiences that are tailored to your staff’s interests, strengths, and dynamics.
Reviews from past participants:
The PSC created a “safe comfortable and open space for learning and sharing from everyone’s different knowledge levels.”
The PSC provides “information that helps transform relationships… with staff and students professionally, and to create a collaborative culture of restoration in my family.”
Based on this training, “I will work with my supervisor to start utilizing circles during our monthly meetings internally and to problem solve with our school leaders in the same way.”
Policy Initiatives
Based on our work with schools and families, we know that systemic change is needed for children and families to thrive. To achieve transformational change, we partner with other organizations who share our vision to create schools and districts that are more equitable and less punitive. We help draft legislation, testify for state and local lawmaking bodies, and consult on both district-level and school-level discipline, equity, and school climate policies.
Check out some of our recent work and some groups of which we are a part:
