Innovative Models of Collaboration to Serve Children, Youths, Families, and Communities

Students are going to school with an increasing number of social, emotional, and physical needs. These stressors are barriers to teacher success and student learning. Schools must find ways to address these concerns to accomplish their educational missions effectively. Innovative strategies for developing wrap-around services and supports for students must be developed. Schools can accomplish this by collaborating with other agencies, stakeholders, and invested parties. This article explores the roles of intraorganizational, interagency, interprofessional, family-centered, and community collaborations in addressing the co-occurring needs of children, youths, and their families and examines how schools have benefited from these collaborations. Implications for social work practice in schools and communities are discussed.