The Stark County ESC’s iCARE Initiative (CARE Team) is a comprehensive, holistic, county-wide system of care composed of a team of school administrators, school counselors, teachers, nurses, resource officers, intervention specialists, homeless liaisons and other pertinent educational staff, as well as, family support specialists/ liaisons, community school worker and school-based mental health professionals. Each CARE Team meets regularly to develop strategies and align resources to promote physical, social, emotional, and intellectual support for all students to be successful.
CARE Teams support the non-academic strategies in the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. This framework helps educators provide academic and behavioral strategies for students with various needs. Some students need a little extra assistance in meeting academic and behavioral goals, and it is in Tier 2 that these individuals receive that help. A subset of students has significant challenges that do not respond to the interventions and supports in Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 3 gives these students individualized support and can include assistance from outside agencies such as school based mental health counselors and prevention specialists.
CARE Teams support the MTSS tiers by helping schools organize levels of support based on intensity so that students receive necessary instruction, support, and interventions based on need. As such, student identities are not based on tier levels. Instead, individuals are identified as students in need of support. CARE Teams help educators, students, and families develop and implement necessary non academic interventions and strategies to provide students with the assistance they need to prosper in a school setting.
