Communities In Schools, Inc.

Communities In Schools, Inc. (CIS) is a national organization that provides a flexible approach/process for states and localities interested in building school-community partnerships. Formerly know as Cities In Schools, CIS offers information, training, technical support and linkages to a national network of local, independent CIS sites and affiliates across the country. CIS encourages innovation and the sharing of best practices and awards, special grants and nationally leveraged resources to members of its network. Supported by both public and private dollars, CIS awarded more than $3.3 million to state and local programs participating in time-limited national initiatives in 1996. Grants were targeted at seeding local sites, developing programmatic initiatives and building self-sufficiency at CIS initiatives.

The more than 135 local CIS initiatives in 33 states and Washington, D.C., are governed by independent, public-private partnerships incorporated as not-for-profit (501c3) organizations. These boards adapt the CIS process to local needs by identifying and brokering community resources and raising 95-100 percent of local operating costs. At the site level, teams of assigned and relocated/ repositioned staff work with teachers, school personnel and community volunteers, which are service hubs in a communitywide support system.

The process becomes a bridge that connects schools and their communities to students and families. Across this bridge travels a variety of health, social and family services plus an assortment of other programs, volunteers, mentors and tutors. The shared mission is to bring services into schools; connect young people to caring adults; and see to it that young people stay in school, develop skills and contribute to their communities. Sixteen state CIS organizations also operate to replicate the CIS stay-in-school approach and secure state support for local programs. CIS partnerships, operating in more than 1,500 school sites, serve more than 350,000 children and their families.