The Pickens County School system hosted a workshop for all school counselors and social workers as well as community agencies to whom schools may refer students/families in need. The session was titled “Pickens County Schools Community Collaborative Workshop”.

The setting was the Pickens County Board of Education building last Thursday, September 5. The group consisted of several school employees as well as representatives of 21 county agencies. Whitney Carnes, Pickens County School Social Worker, and Jackie Childers of Pickens County Family Connection welcomed the group while Superintendent Dr. Lula Perry made the introductions.

There was a resource table for literature on all represented agencies for schools to take to make their referrals. Each agency was given the opportunity to make a presentation outlining what services they offer so the schools could make appropriate decisions about what agency would best serve a particular student and/or family.

Dr. Perry held an interactive exercise in which all parties could pick from a list of 20 which problems they felt were most prevalent in Pickens County. The top three were parenting skills, dysfunctional families and child abuse/neglect. Others with high scores included poverty, substance abuse, and transportation.

Agencies who participated included ACES; Appalachian Children’s Center; CARES; Chattahoochee Technical College, Adult Education; Community Resource Center; DCFS; GA HOPE; Good Samaritan Health and Wellness Clinic; Health Department; Joy House; Life Prescriptions/Recovery Resource Center; North Georgia Community Action MATS; North Georgia Mountain Crisis Network, Inc.; North Georgia Pregnancy Center; Pickens County Family Connection/Community Resource Center; Pickens Family Partners/Prevent Child Abuse Pickens; Ruth House Ministries; Recovery Center/Coalition for a Drug-Free Pickens; Saint Vincent de Paul Society; Thrift Store; and Timothy House.