NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
27 January 2003

CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT TO RECEIVE $117,000 GRANT FROM DAUPHIN COUNTY FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS & TREATMENT & VIOLENCE PREVENTION

Harrisburg, PA—Harrisburg city school students will benefit from a $117,000 grant provided by the Dauphin County Commissioners, Mayor Stephen R. Reed and Commissioners Lowman Henry and Jeff Haste today announced. The grant monies will be used for the Harrisburg Outreach for PATHS Expansion (HOPE) program, which strives to create better social and emotional health for city school students.

The grant monies, which may be renewed for two additional years, will be used to enhance self-control, emotional awareness and engender better problem solving skills on the part of students. The program is part of the nationwide Providing Alternative Thinking Strategies(PATHS) education initiative, which seeks to prevent and reduce incidents of youth violence.

“This is an important part of our overall reform efforts of Harrisburg’s public education system,” said Mayor Reed. “It is vitally important that the many social, economic and emotional problems being experienced by some of our students be addressed in a holistic manner that transcends normal school activities.

“This innovative program has earned the distinction of being one of the top violence prevention programs in the nation, and we are delighted to be able to implement it here in Harrisburg.”

Dauphin County Commissioner Lowman Henry, who oversees the County’s health and human services agencies and who secured the grant for the city, said: “We consider these monies to be a fundamental investment in the future of our human resources. By implementing these programs now, we may be able to reduce future incidents of violent behavior on the part of our young people, as well as provide them with an expanded safety net of mental health and other services.”

The Commissioners said the County received a total of $368,000 for the Mental Health/Mental Retardation initiative, which includes program partners Penn State Harrisburg, Hempfield Counseling and the Harrisburg School District.

“In addressing the problems of our children, we must focus on ensuring that their social and emotional health is also being addressed,” said Commissioner Jeff Haste. “This money will help us in our work to guarantee that no child slips through the cracks because the area is lacking in mental health services.”

Reed and Henry said the District’s efforts will now be focused on three specific goals, including training staff, teachers, parent coordinators and mental health staff on the PATHS curriculum and its District-wide implementation; building linkages between District staff, mental health and social service workers and the community-at-large; and an intensive community outreach effort to parents, neighborhood and other civic leaders.

XXX