Communities In Schools of Houston announces major achievements and statistics for 2022-2023 school year in latest annual report
The educational nonprofit served more than 174,000 students on 173 campuses in six school districts, including Lone Star College
(HOUSTON, December 14, 2023) – The educational nonprofit, Communities In Schools of Houston, (CIS) served 174,256 students on 173 campuses in six school districts, including 16 Lone Star College campuses, according to its 2022-2023 annual report that was just released. Of note, 40,556 students received 305,187 hours of CIS intervention walk-in services, while 9,821 students were served through CIS intensive case-management services. Through the CIS Mental Health Initiative, 25,740 hours of mental health services were provided by CIS and/or partner agencies across 100 campuses.
Communities In Schools of Houston exists to empower every student, regardless of race, zip code or socioeconomic status, to realize their potential in school and beyond, using evidence-based and campus-based integrated student supports. To support this mission, CIS places at least one full-time Student Support Manager on each partner campus to deliver direct services and to connect students and families with needed community resources. In 2022-2023, CIS collaborated with more than 350 partner agencies to help students overcome barriers to success and connect to needed resources.
“For 45 years, CIS has worked to provide targeted services that help students stay in school, graduate on time and maximize their potential for success now and in the future,” says Lisa Descant, CEO of Communities In Schools of Houston. “We believe the 2022-2023 school year wasn’t just successful ‘by the numbers,’ but by the personal stories of lives affected by our work, including students, parents and guardians. Our programming reached far and wide in impacting lives through individual counseling, campus-wide events, provision of resources, the Mental Health Initiative (MHI) and our workforce readiness initiatives.”
In the 2022-2023 school year, the overwhelming majority of students in Communities In Schools’ programs throughout the Greater Houston area experienced successful outcomes, including:
99 percent of students in grades 7-12 stayed in school
96 percent of students were promoted to the next grade level
98 percent of high school seniors graduated
86 percent of students showed marked improvement in academics, attendance and/or behavior
68 percent rate of reenrollment, transfer and graduation for CIS college students, which is significantly higher than the national average.
Although CIS of Houston’s focus is on school campuses, 685 homes visits were conducted by CIS personnel and nearly 4,600 crisis situations were handled. CIS employs a holistic approach by serving the student and family members when a crisis arises.
Highlights from the 2022-2023 year for CIS include:
The Houston Bar Association/CIS Summer Legal Internships: Law firms, corporate legal departments and public-interest agencies provided paid internships to high school juniors and seniors in a workforce readiness program where they received mentoring, and on-the job experience for eight weeks to broaden their visions of career opportunities.
The CIS Nursing Externship Program’s two components focused on the healthcare profession:
Houston Methodist Hospital provided high school seniors with an eight-week paid Patient Care Assistant (PCA) Summer Externship program upon graduation, which required a 40-hour work week.
Smithwood Medical Institute provided an evening school program to seniors for the Certified Nursing Association (CNA) Certification, qualifying them to be employed in the nursing field.
The CIS Dental Care Program, in partnership with UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry, offered CIS students free preventative and restorative dental care and oral health presentations. This included emergency restorative care, dental cleaning, X-rays, fluoride treatment and sealants. The School’s Give Kids a Smile Day donated free dental healthcare to underserved children in the Houston community.
Descant notes that she is especially proud of the organization’s Mental Health Initiative, led by Mental Health and Wellness Director Shubhra Endley, which began in 2012 with mental health services on five campuses. This school year, the CIS Mental Health Initiative served students on 100 campuses in several school districts. “In 2022-23, we provided behavioral and mental health services to more than 7,500 students, including visits by our Mobile Mental Health Team of licensed mental health professionals who travel to CIS campuses to deliver intervention services to students and family members.”
In addition to internal interventions, CIS provided 642 students on 43 campuses with mental health services through partnerships with community health agencies. “The need for student mental health services on campuses continues to increase year over year, and today, through our expanded services, we are even more equipped to proactively address mental health issues before a crisis happens,” says Descant.
In the past fiscal year, CIS of Houston raised more than $9 million from private funding sources, which includes support from corporations, foundations, individuals, contracts, and in-kind donations. The organization is on solid financial footing due to the support of donors and in-kind service providers.
###
About Communities In Schools of Houston
Communities In Schools of Houston (CIS) is an organization that empowers every student, regardless of race, zip code, or socioeconomic background, to realize their potential in school and beyond. During the 2022-2023 school year, CIS served 173 school campuses across Greater Houston. CIS places at least one full-time staff member on each partner campus to deliver direct services and to connect students and families with needed community resources. We collaborate with more than 300 community partners each year to help students see, confront, and overcome the barriers that stand between them and a brighter future. CIS works alongside students, families, alumni, and stakeholders to create meaningful change that impacts lives today. Together, we will build an equitable path to education for future generations.