Newsletter: January 2003: Adopt-A-School and the Next Generation

Ms. Noel came to discuss HRA’s new Adopt-a-School program, implemented with Mayor Giuliani’s Commission to Combat Family Violence. The program places domestic violence counselors in public schools to educate the students and faculty about teen relationship abuse, and to counsel students affected by the abuse. It was piloted in 1999 at five Bronx schools, and expanded in the fall of 2001 to a total of twenty high schools citywide, with five schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, four in Queens, and one in Staten Island.

The Adopt-A-School program’s proactive approach aims to stop domestic violence in the next generation by creating partnerships between schools and community-based domestic violence organizations. Each organization provides relationship abuse services to the school community by assigning a full-time social worker, the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP) Coordinator, and by providing additional referrals and administrative support. Each school must support the program by housing RAPP, and creating a High School Official Prevention Program (HOPP), overseen by a member of the school staff. Under the direction of the principal, the HOPP Partner helps customize the program with existing instructional and support services. The partnership ensures that the program’s implementation is congruent with identified resources and environment of each school.

Ms. Noel was joined by Robin Ratner of Safe Horizon, who oversees her organization’s three Adopt-a-School RAPP programs. Together, they answered some of our questions about the day-to-day functioning of RAPP programs.

Programs’ ongoing outreach efforts work to get reluctant high school parents involved in PTA (Parent Teachers Association) meetings – the Bronx programs have had significant success. To reach students, the programs develop presentations in appropriate classes that promote utilization of specific skills. For example, going into an English class can allow students to use their writing and comprehension skills to begin to contemplate issues surrounding date rape. In some cases students can apply to assist the program on various projects over the summer break.

We applaud the efforts of HRA and the Adopt-A-School programs, and we encourage them to partner with their local rape crisis programs for information and resources.

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