PIRC Directory - PIRCs in MI: Michigan State PIRC (Life Services System Of Ottawa County Inc.)

Michigan State PIRC

Holland, MI

11172 Adams Street
Holland, MI 49423

Web site: http://www.lifeservicessystem.org

Director:
Ms. Deanna Depree

Phone: 616-396-7566 ext. 116

Evaluator: Deborah Willis and Sally Stinson

Life Services System’s Parent Center has been in existence since 1995 providing information and direct services to families in Michigan. Utilizing our Communities In Schools (CIS) structure, combined with our existing Parents As Teachers (PAT) network of services, Michigan State PIRC will assist schools and agencies across Michigan in providing services to parents that lead to improvements in student academic achievement and strong partnerships.

The continuum of services provided for parents includes (1) PAT, which addresses the needs of parents with children age 0-5 and provides parents with information and support pertaining to their child’s development and preparation for school, and (2) CIS, which addresses the needs of parents with children grades K-12 and provides parents with information to support their child’s education and promote academic achievement.

Goals:

Implement successful and effective parental involvement policies, programs, and activities, state-wide that lead to improvements in student academic achievement.
Strengthen partnerships between parents and educational professionals (teachers, principals, administrators, and other school personnel) to meet the educational needs of children and improve the working relationship between home and school.
Coordinate with and provide comprehensive training, information and support to local educational agencies, schools and organizations that support parent education and family involvement.
Enhance the developmental progress of children assisted under the program.

Objectives:

Increase parents’ awareness of educational issues.
Increase the number and types of partnerships between parents and schools.
Develop and sustain partnerships/networks with other organizations, agencies, and schools.
Coordinate and integrate early childhood programming with school-age programs.

Strategies:

LSS will become Michigan’s PIRC and all programs will operate under that umbrella.
Establish a secondary (satellite) site for the PIRC on the opposite side of the State (east side) to serve the Detroit area.
Establish regional parent resource centers throughout Michigan, utilizing the existing CIS structure.
Work with the satellite site, regional parent resource centers, and existing PAT sites to provide comprehensive parental assistance/involvement programming throughout the State of Michigan.

Early Childhood Model
Parents As Teachers

Major Activities
Parents As Teachers model for pre-school children - parent educators provide child development information to parents through home visits, screenings, and referrals to other needed resources. Parent/child interactive playgroups are held in schools or community settings.

Communities In Schools model for school age children - local CIS sites identify, develop, and sustain partnerships with other organizations, agencies and schools to more effectively provide support to parents and their children. Parents receive information and support to participate effectively in their child’s education and to understand Michigan's accountability system, the opportunities for supplemental services, and public school choice .

Connect PAT programs with the CIS in-school structure to provide a continuum of services for parents.

How the Work Plan Meets the Needs of Parents
A focus will be placed on serving parents of children in schools in need of improvement (rural and urban) and areas of high concentrations of low income, and also providing these parents with information on local and state report cards, schools of choice and supplemental services

Free Webinar Series

The U.S. Department of Education and its partners invite you to view the archive for the webinar, Bringing it All Together: Family and Community Engagement Policies in Action, which took place on November 16, 2011.

This is the ninth and final webinar in the series, Achieving Excellence and Innovation in Family, School, and Community Engagement.

Funding for this project is provided by the U.S. Department of Education, contract number ED-04-CO-0039/0001. The content herein does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education.