7/21/2007 8:33:00 PM
New Prescott organization is reaching out to troubled students
Effort aims to head off school tragedies
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PRESCOTT - Teen suicides, school massacres, child abuse - these stories litter the media around the country.
Yet, even with all of the criticism and questions, no one has stepped up to truly solve the problem and make a difference. That is, until a few months ago.
It all began here in Prescott, with the formation of a new non-profit called SAVE-Prescott.
SAVE, which stands for Students Against Violence Everyday, began with collaboration between local residents John Vallentine - a former broadcast journalist - and attorney Chris Kottke.
The program, which is ramping up for the school year, will use donated work from local health care professionals, primarily in the mental health sector, to help "at risk" or "in need" children before something catastrophic happens. It also helps children who have lived through a traumatic event, such as the sudden death of a classmate or friend.
At this point, SAVE is focusing on the Prescott schools - primarily in Prescott Unified School District. However, Vallentine said he hopes it will spread to other districts around the area, state - and eventually across the nation.
The network begins in the classrooms with the teachers. If a teacher notices one of his or her students feeling troubled, that teacher tells the school's SAVE coordinator. The school coordinator calls the main referral coordinator of the entire SAVE-Prescott program, who then turns to a list of health care professionals willing to donate their services.
The main referral coordinator will match that child with one of the professionals on the list. Thus, the child and his or her family members get free help for as long as they need.
SAVE promises never to assign more than one child to each professional. In addition, The Daily Courier regularly will print the name of every health care professional who signs up for SAVE.
The goal of the network is prevention, targeting the problem at its core - in the home.
"I thought it was an incredible idea," SAVE-Prescott's main referral coordinator, Ann Chavez, said. "It makes so much sense because there's kids that don't have insurance, and there's kids that don't qualify for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, and they can't get help."
Chavez, a social worker at Miller Valley Elementary School, said SAVE targets those children who fall through the cracks.
"I think there's a tremendous need (for SAVE)," said Yavapai Superior Court Judge Robert Brutinel, who also is on the SAVE board of trustees. "I see a lot of kids in the juvenile court system."
Once children end up in the juvenile court system, most receive help, but not before. "If you want to get your kid help, you have to get him arrested. That's not the way it should be," he said.
Currently, more than 400 children throughout Yavapai County are in foster care, Brutinel added. In addition, drug offenses are the most common juvenile offenses in the county. He thinks SAVE will reduce these numbers because of its preventative nature.
Along with Vallentine and Kottke as co-founders, Brutinel as judicial liaison, and Chavez as the resource coordinator/liaison, the following are on the SAVE-Prescott Board of Trustees: PUSD Supt. Kevin Kapp; Lara McRuer, community resources, recruitment; health care providers Kent Mattern, Gayle Gregory and Marilyn Clark; and Daily Courier Managing Editor Tim Wiederaenders, news media.
"The convincing factor was the fact that the idea would help kids who are definitely in need of help," Kapp said. "And the other convincing path is it would give schools more tools to either get the kids on a positive path or keep kids on a positive path."
Kapp said when children are happy, they learn better. Until SAVE, he said no one has ever tried to create an organized network for the children.
"It's so simple, but no one's ever thought of it," Vallentine said. "We have taken an overworked, underpaid segment of our community - the health care providers - and taken another overworked, underpaid segment of our society - that's the teachers - and made this work.
"I believe this will shoot across the country like fire," he continued.
Currently, SAVE is looking for people to volunteer their time or services. Those wanting to help or to acquire more information may visit www.saveprescott.org.
Contact the reporter at slopatin@prescottaz.com
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