The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities recently honored member Seneca Family of Agencies in Oakland, California, with the 2017 Alliance Commitments Award for Partnering with Purpose in the impact area: Educational Success.
Harnessing the transformative power of deep partnerships, Seneca collaborates with 30 schools to identify and address emerging needs before students reach the point of qualifying for/requiring special education or more exclusionary educational practices or settings.
Its Unconditional Education model supplies the entire school community with the skills and tools to implement a multi-tiered system of trauma-informed academic, behavioral, and social emotional supports, devoting time and resources toward creating a culture and climate that is engaging and responsive to the needs of all students and families.
To ensure that individual student needs are addressed early, and with right-sized interventions that take the whole student into account, the model engages multidisciplinary decision-making teams comprised of school leadership, community-based service providers, general education teachers, special education teachers, support staff, families, and other key individuals.
Beyond the partnerships developed at schools, Seneca’s Unconditional Education model engages county and state systems to partner together. These partnerships allow all stakeholders, not just Seneca, to break down barriers and ensure that students have every opportunity to grow and thrive.