Human Services and the Full Service School: The Need for Collaboration

Abstract

Human Services and the Full Service School: The Need for Collaboration, edited by Robert F. Kronick. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 2000. 112 pp. $18.95, paper. Reviewed by Jean A. Patterson, Wichita State University. This edited volume is composed of nine rather disparate chapters, not all of them directly concerned with the topics indicated in the title: human services, service and collaboration. The editor, Robert F. Kronick, is a professor of counseling, deafness, and human services at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and thus provides a perspective from a discipline other than public education. However, should be noted that Kronick also authored six of the nine chapters and was a contributor to a seventh chapter, which does limit the book to his unique perspective on human services and service as well as the other topics addressed in the book. The main theme of the book is a critique of the existing human service system, which is typically comprised of public agencies such as health, social welfare, mental health, and juvenile court, for its fragmented approach to addressing children and families' problems. Kronick and his contributors argue for genuine collaboration among these and other public and private agencies and suggest that school-linked or school-based services offer a viable alternative to the current piecemeal approach to service provision. They also call for collaboration among university programs that prepare students for various education and human service jobs. Teachers and other education professionals are currently not expected to understand the inner workings of various human service agencies that students considered at risk might encounter during their school years. Likewise, little meaningful communication occurs between human service providers and educators and, with few exceptions, their professional preparation takes place in different arenas. Joy Dryfoos, who articulated the concept of full service schools, was cited as influencing many of the ideas discussed in the book. Dryfoos contributed a case study, which provided an excellent illustration of and analysis of a service school. As described in this volume, service schools provide an array of human services at or near the school building. Services are determined by school and community members. They should be content-specific and responsive to needs rather than simply offering what the system already has available. I was especially pleased to see James Comer recognized for his influence on the evolution of such ideas as service as I believe the research community has often undervalued his work. However, the broad themes of human services, service and collaboration as they relate to changing the service system were not explicitly carried throughout the book's chapters. In addition to Dryfoos' case study, I believe the strength of the book lies in its first three chapters. Written by Kronick, these chapters provide a conceptual framework for service schools and argue for stronger collaboration between schools and human service agencies. In this introductory section, Kronick has attempted to bridge the gap between schools and other human service agencies by proposing that we view schools as part of the larger system of services, and not as separate entities. Kronick questions the relationship between schools and larger society, which was evident in his mantra, it is no longer a question as to whether the school will be a parent or not, is, will be a good parent, which was repeated frequently throughout these three chapters. Strategies identified in this section for accomplishing the authentic collaboration needed between schools and human service agencies are contained in numerous other publications about agency-school collaboration, however, they are worth repeating as a gap continues to exist between what we know and what we practice. …