Department of Social Services Organization

Organization: Department of Social Services of Wilson, NC

The Department of Social Services of Wilson, NC provides a wide array of social services to the public. It defines its central mission as that of "promoting safety, self-determination, and self-sufficiency for families, children, and adults through the delivery of services in a professional and caring manner" ("Department of Social Services of Wilson, NC," 2015). Services include connected in-need members of the public to childcare resources; coordinating giveaways of free food and clothing; and directing families to federal or outside resources for healthcare and other vital services. Its most recently-launched program is "Success in School," a program for teen parents designed to help keep them focused on their education even while dealing with the challenges of parenting. The focus of the program is on girls given that girls are more likely to be the primary caretakers of children amongst teen parents.

Teen parents have a much higher dropout rate than their peers that are not parents and this program is designed to address this fact. "About 70% of all students who drop out of school early, do so because of teen pregnancy. The drop-out rates among pregnant teens is 90% across the United States" ("Drop-out rates among pregnant teens," 2009). African-American and Latino-American girls are more likely to become pregnant at an early age and thus teen pregnancy also exacerbates racial gaps in achievement in education and professional advancement. "In 2012, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate (46.3 births per 1,000 adolescent females), followed by black adolescent females (43.9 births per 1,000 adolescent females) and...

The Success in School program does not specifically target girls of any racial or ethnic background but its emphasis clearly has the potential to provide critical assistance to girls from historically discriminated-against groups in the United States.
The Success in School Initiative takes a case management approach to encourage teenage mothers to keep attending school. The program is managed by a Childcare Team consisting of a team leader, five social workers, and an accountant technician. According to its mission statement, "Success in Schools is focused on strengths and intense case management to encourage, support, educate, and motivate teen parents to continue their goal of achieving a high school diploma and to gain social and work skills needed to be successful in school, work and life" ("DDS Success in School receives award," 2012). The program is holistic in its approach and provides psychological support for the mothers as well as practical assistance such as subsided childcare. The experts involved in the program combine to be able to improve both the health and the social outcomes of the involved participants. Given the deficits often exhibited by teenage mothers in both areas, a multidisciplinary approach is essential.

The program was the winner of the Crystal Star Award in 2011 for Excellence in Dropout Recovery, Intervention and Prevention. At the time of the award, the program had already made a demonstrable…