CIS of Atlanta Partners with Fulton County

ATLANTA - Communities In Schools (CIS) of Atlanta, the nation's first dropout prevention program, was recently awarded $92,000 by Fulton County Commissioners as part of the Fulton County Community Services Program (CSP) 2017 Funding Program. The organization was chosen and scored based on requirements met in the grant application process, and was evaluated by the CSP Evaluation Committee composed of 33 evaluators, which included 12 internal county staff and 21 external subject matter experts. CIS of Atlanta's funds will go towards three Fulton County schools, where the CIS program was recently added, including Heritage Elementary, Woodland Middle School, and McNair Middle School.

"It's all about the students, their needs and making sure they succeed in life," said CIS of Atlanta's CEO Frank Brown. "We're thrilled to see our organization growing and increasing our wrap-around services. We're currently supporting more than 60 schools and are looking to expand that number."

The CSP funding supports delivery of the community-based services to Fulton County residents in the areas of Children and Youth Services; Services for People with Disabilities; Economic Stability/Poverty; Homelessness; and Senior Services. CIS of Atlanta is one of 71 nonprofits that received funding, all who will be required to provide performance data demonstrating how they have maximized investment of taxpayer dollars in service to Fulton County residents. Staff from the Department of Housing and Community Development will conduct site visits to monitor the contract compliance of operations, programming, and services. CIS of Atlanta site coordinators began working and providing wrap-around support in the Fulton County schools this month, with a first goal of building strong relationships with students, parents, educators, and community members. The site coordinators are located in the school building, where they are able to identify barriers that prevent students from succeeding in school and address those barriers by mobilizing community resources to meet students’ needs – all while empowering students to realize their potential. “Every kid deserves a chance and our site coordinators are there every step of the way to show them that they are capable of achieving anything,” Brown says.