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Question:
Hi there, I am working with a charter school and advocating for them to hire an in-house community psychologist at each of their campuses. Do you have any suggested resources that point to the value and potential benefits of this investment? I need some support to make my case! Many thanks in advance.
Answer:

Hi Natalia,
It is amazing that you hope to hire on site community psychologists for your charter schools; what an innovative way to address youth and community needs. One of the best ways to provide support for the community and charter school's needs is through a needs assessment that documents the specific needs of the charter school and broader community. Interviewing key stakeholders and community members will help build an argument for hiring community psychologists as you discover the key roles they could serve both in the school and broader community. Chapter 2 in the tool box addresses some of this process:  https://ctb.ku.edu/en/assessing-community-needs-and-resources. 
Additionally, youth asset building is at the heart of community psychology and could be a major initiative of a school based community psychologist. Here is a link from the toolbox to developmental assets: https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/overview/models-for-community-he...
I applaud your work and wish you the best in making your case to hire school based community psychologists.
I hope  this helps. 
In community,
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Question Date: Mon, 10/11/2021