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Teaching the ‘Whole Child’ Involves
Community Support Systems at Peoria
Public Schools Wraparound Center
By Mary Schaefer
IASA Director of Communications & Marketing
The need to create a Wraparound Center that offers a one-stop
shop for Peoria Public School students and area families to
receive therapeutic support and access to community resources
and intensive support services was reinforced for Derrick Booth
last year.
Booth, Peoria’s Director of Social and
Emotional Learning, attended a court hearing
with a young 12-year-old student who had an
issue with substance abuse.
The problem that became clear at that
hearing, Booth said, was the child’s mother
had no way to transport her child to court-required substance
abuse classes nor get herself to family counseling classes as
they were way across town. The services were available, but
simply weren’t accessible to that family.
“After court was over, I had a discussion with the
probation officer about occupying space within the
Wraparound Center,” Booth said. “Peoria Juvenile
Probation now has two officers located in the
Wraparound Center on a full-time basis. If a student
needs to visit a probation officer they can do so here
and access any required treatment classes here, and
the parents can go to parenting classes here on the
same day.”
Located inside Trewyn School in Peoria, the Wraparound
Center opened its doors in October 2018 to help
residents in the most economically distressed 61605 zip
code area of Peoria. The Wraparound Center is under
the direction of Peoria Public Schools Office of Social
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