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Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Section 1. Background

In an effort to address the issue of bullying, the Highmark Foundation through its Healthy High 5 Initiative, has partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and the Center for Safe Schools (CSS) to provide grant funding to support expansion of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) in Pennsylvania. This public/private partnership enables the CSS to increase technical assistance supports and offer mini-grant funding to implement the research-based Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in a limited number of schools within the Highmark service region. Grant funds will be awarded through this grant application process.

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program has demonstrated significant results in decreasing bullying behaviors.  The OBPP is a comprehensive program designed to impact the school climate through changes at the school level, classroom level, individual level, and community level.  Prior to completing the grant application, potential applicants are urged to connect to the official OBPP website and view the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Overview Video: http://www.olweus.org/public/index.page

The issue of bullying is one of five components of the Highmark Healthy High 5, a five-year, $100 million initiative of the Highmark Foundation aimed to reverse the current trends in children’s health. The goal of Highmark Healthy High 5, through the support of bullying prevention programs and initiatives, is to help reduce the incidences of bullying in schools and to help children and adolescents lead happier, healthier lives.  For more information, view the Highmark Healthy High 5 website at: http://www.highmarkhealthyhigh5.org/index.shtml

 

 

What is PA Cares?

Using the Highmark Foundation grant funding, the Center for Safe Schools administers the PA CARES (Creating an Atmosphere of Respect and Environment for Success) initiative. This program strives to help school personnel strengthen their efforts to eliminate bullying behaviors and provide safe and nurturing learning environments. The PA CARES initiative provides bullying prevention readiness tools, technical assistance support and resources to selected schools across the Highmark regions of Pennsylvania over a three year period. From the applications received in response to this announcement, the CSS will select up to 35 schools to receive PA CARES initiative funding during 2010. Schools will be selected through a competitive grant process and all applications will be screened for eligibility before being reviewed by a team of individuals designated by the Center for Safe Schools. Selected schools will be expected to fully implement the OBPP for at least three years and participate in training and evaluation activities conducted by the Center for Safe Schools for a period of at least three years.

 

 

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