Lewis Bill Creates National Parents Corps to Strengthen Schools and Communities

Press Release

Rep. John Lewis introduced a bill last week which would establish a Parents Corps Program to create a national parents, schools, and community policing network to help promote safe schools and curb youth drug abuse and violence. The National Parents Corps Act of 2008 (H.R. 7225) is based on a proven model of successful parental involvement which engaged 8,000 parents in 19 schools with a resulting increase in school-parent communication, student attendance, academic performance and a decrease in drop-out rates and disciplinary problems.

"Young people are the strength and hope of this nation," said Rep. John Lewis. "For too long they have struggled in public school environments that are not conducive to learning. We must do all we can to turn this around. This bill invests in the resources of a school community. It offers information, education, and builds a bridge of communication between parents, schools, and other local authorities to help create an environment where students can learn. It also helps provide a support system for teachers who are confronting challenges their education never prepared them to face. Students in public schools can perform. We just need to give them the right tools to succeed in an environment where they are expected to excel. The Parents Corps can take us one more step closer to success."

Because most parents with school-aged children have limited time to volunteer, the Parents Corps Act funds the employment of a full-time professional parent who acts as a liaison with teachers, administrators, students, social workers, community police and other parents to build a strong community safety net for their children. The national program will be managed by the office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice. The federal grants authorized through this program will recruit, hire, train, and employ a full-time parent of a child currently enrolled at each participating school to:

Educate and mobilize other parents at the school to combat crime and gang activity;

Create scientific-based informational services and training for parents, counselors, and schools administrators about the indicators of youth drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse;

Work with school officials, parents, and local authorities to conduct training and workings on treatment, prevention, and reduction efforts in the schools; and

Recruit parents and volunteers to improve prevention, outreach and education.

The bill is the third piece of a four-part anti-youth violence package introduced by Rep. Lewis in this session of Congress which include H.R. 854, the City Youth Violence Recovery Act, H.R. 5637, the SAFETY through Nonviolence Act of 2008, and H.R. 7208 Teen Dating Violence Prevention Act of 2008.

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