Strengths-Based Partnerships: A School-Family-Community Partnership Approach to Empowering Students

Abstract

When school counselors team and collaborate with school personnel, families, and community members to foster strengths-based partnerships, they are able to implement classroom, schoolwide, and community-based programs and interventions that support and empower children and families. Strengths-based partnerships utilize the assets found in schools, families, and communities to create strengths-enhancing environments, promote caring and positive adult-child relationships, strengthen children's social support networks, foster academic success, and empower children with a sense of purpose. This article describes a case example of a strengths-based approach to school-family-community partnerships that a school counselor in a Title I elementary school is implementing to empower low-income children and families of color.