×

Kids in Crisis: Parkersburg middle school tackling increasing student needs

Van Devender requests county social worker be placed at school

Photo by Michael Erb Van Devender Middle School Principal Darlene Parsons, left, and special education teacher Summer Showalter, right, stand in the school’s dedicated student food pantry and clothes closet.

PARKERSBURG — Representatives from Van Devender Middle School and Wood County Schools say they have requested a county social worker be placed at the school where more than a quarter of Vandy students are in foster care or receiving services through the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

The numbers, while not unique to Van Devender, illustrate a growing need in the area as schools struggle to provide services to an increasing number of children who find themselves in difficult or traumatic situations at home.

Principal Darlene Parsons said public schools in recent years have evolved from being solely places of education to becoming sanctuaries for at-risk children.

“It’s not just during the school day. There are times we’ve attended a family funeral or dropped food off at their house,” she said. “We want the students to feel safe and cared-for when they’re here, and even when they go home. We want them to know there are adults here that care about them.”

Van Devender serves nearly 400 students in grades 6-8. Of those, 42 are in foster care and another 59 are in youth services, meaning they receive services and monitoring through DHHR.

Photo by Michael Erb Boxes of clothes sit on shelves in Van Devender Middle School’s clothes closet. Officials say in recent years public schools have evolved from being solely places of education into being sanctuaries for at-risk children and providing social services. Wood County Schools is asking state officials to consider placing social workers at some Parkersburg schools.

“That’s 26 percent of our students,” Parsons said. “We have some students who bounce in and out of foster care, so that number does fluctuate.”

Parsons said those numbers do not fully reflect how many students at the school are in non-traditional living situations, such as living with extended family, in multi-family dwellings, or who are in danger of losing housing.

School counselor Christy Bixman said often officials don’t know these kinds of details until they’re hearing from the students themselves.

“When I meet with students, that’s usually one of the first questions I ask, who do you live with and where do you live,” she said. “They’ll just start telling you everything. If you didn’t ask these questions, you’d never know. “

Van Devender is the only Title I middle school in Wood County, with nearly 90 percent of its students qualifying for free- and reduced-price meals due to family income, which is the marker used to identify at-need children. The school has a dedicated food pantry and clothes closet, as well as partnerships with outside agencies and community groups to provide school supplies and hygiene items for students.

Vandy also serves children in the Gutske Shelter in Parkersburg, which is operated by the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, as well students who are in other temporary housing programs.

“We do have a population of students that stay in local shelters, about 5-10 at any given time,” Parsons said, as well as students who move between other people’s residences, sleeping on couches or floors before moving on to another temporary residence.

The school also has a small transient population where families move into different districts within Wood and neighboring counties as they gain and lose housing. Parsons said it is not uncommon to have students leave the school for weeks or even months and then return.

“It’s really hard to build those relationships when you only have them for a short time or they come here in the middle of the year,” she said.

Students without “fixed, regular and adequate housing” are identified as homeless under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Those students qualify for transportation and can remain at their “home” school regardless of where they live in the county in order to maintain some consistency in their lives and education. But families have to provide information in order to be recognized under that classification and receive those services, and some children in foster families do not qualify for free transportation because they already receive services through the foster program, Parsons said.

Bixman said while some agencies do alert the schools concerning the needs of incoming or existing students, there is little consistency.

“I wish there was a database so we could better identify those that need help,” she said.

Julie Bertram, director of health services for Wood County Schools, said she, Parsons and local representatives of DHHR have been in talks to place a social worker at Vandy to better serve the school and its community.

A memorandum of understanding for placement of social workers at Vandy, Parkersburg High School, Jefferson Elementary Center and McKinley Elementary School was rejected at a higher level by DHHR, she said. Bertram sent a letter of appeal last week.

“I sent a letter explaining our position and asking if they would consider placing one social worker as a pilot position,” she said. “Now we are just looking at piloting one school and proving to DHHR it would be a worthwhile program.”

Wood County schools already provide on-site mental health services through a partnership with Harmony Mental Health, Wellspring Family Services and Westbrook Health Services, Bertram said. Each school has a dedicated space for those services, whether it is an existing classroom or new space built to be a therapy room, she said.

“It’s just one of the programs we’ve been working on for expanded school-based mental health,” she said.

Bertram said similar arrangements could be made for a social worker.

Parsons said not only would a school-based social worker help the students and families in the Vandy community, it also would free up administrators at the school who spending increasing amounts of time dealing with out-of-school issues which affect in-school behavior.

Parsons said she and Bixman make referrals on a regular basis, and school teachers and staff are mandatory reporters, meaning state law requires them to report any concerns of abuse or neglect.

But Parsons stressed the purpose of involving outside agencies is to help, not hinder, those in need.

“We’re doing it to make sure families are getting the services they need,” she said. “We always try to let the students know we’re here to help.”

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today