Circles of Support
New Horizons
Des Moines, IA

Contact Person:Deb Trent
Title of Contact: Program Manager

Contact Information:
1800 Grand Ave., Room 450
Des Moines, IA 50309-3382
(515) 242-7587
debra.trent@dmps.k12.ia.us

Highlights
(a) – Activities
Circles of Support is a bold new initiative to engage the community in helping families achieve self-sufficiency, supporting children to succeed in school, and to address systemic solutions to poverty.

Groups called CIRCLES link people experiencing poverty with community members who can both mentor
them and guide them in meeting their short-term and long-term economic, social and educational needs.

Using the experiences of the CIRCLES as the centerpiece, a learning agenda is created for system leaders, managers, line staff, and the public at large regarding the community and system changes necessary to help move people out of poverty and children into academic success.

CIRCLES seek to end the isolation from the larger community that holds people’s lives in poverty by providing:
 • A circle of support to a participant—individual or family—who is struggling to make ends meet financially.
 • Home-visiting and on-site connection in school buildings for families who may otherwise not access resources.
 • Wheels to Work, a car program to help family participants succeed with employment.
 • Assistance to new immigrants and children with cultural and language barriers from bilingual case managers and allies.
 • Individual and weekly group support to family participants by building relationships across race and class lines.
 • Weekly programming to provide educational resources for family participants and an enrichment program for
   their children.
 • Mentoring to help children increase their academic performance
 • Donation coordination so that students receive school supplies and clothing.
 • Computer program, which helps family participants become successful. The children succeed in school and
   the parents succeed with employment.

(b) – Outcomes
The mission of Circles of Support is to realize more positive life outcomes for families living in poverty by ensuring each child starts school ready to learn, each student graduates from high school, and each adult has the tools necessary for economic and social success. To restructure the current network of services—formal, informal, and economic—into a durable, sustainable and personal set of relationships that will promote these results for each family.

In the first year we served 25 families
 • 29 adults and 72 children

Ally recruitment
 • 67 allies

Activities
 • Weekly meetings
 • Goal-Setting meetings
 • Family Retreats
 • Ally Support meetings
 • Financial Literacy classes
 • Children’s enrichment program

Results for the first year
Financial
 • 36% of families increased earned income
 • 36% of families report their income meets their budgeted expenses
 • 12% of families enrolled in an Individual Development Account

Reduction in Benefits
 • 18% of families report a reduction in benefits
 • 36% of families receiving TANF benefits
 • 64% of families receiving food stamps

Health Insurance
 • 57% of adults are eligible for ad covered by health insurance
 • 100% of families have children eligible for and covered by health insurance

Children and School
 • 71% of children attended school 95% of the time during first semester
 • 88% of children attended school 95% of the time during second semester

Support System
 • 67% of families felt their support system had improved or maintained at the highest level since start of Circles of
   Support, this was an increase of 45%
 • 62% of families feel they make a difference to others, an increase of 50%

Safety
 • 85% of families report living in a safe home (safe meaning physically safe and rating
   4 or 5 on a likert scale of 1-5), an increase of 75%

Level
Preschool
K-4

Location
Urban

Funding
United Way of Central Iowa
Greater Des Moines Community Foundation
Making Connections/Annie E. Casey Foundation

DEMOGRAPHICS
We serve the Longfellow and Wallace Elementary Schools, in Des Moines, IA.
If a Longfellow or Wallace family who is enrolled in Circles of Support moves into
a different school neighborhood, in Des Moines, they remain in Circles of Support and we
work with them through the new school.

Data about children in Longfellow and Wallace
301 children in Longfellow Elementary
390 children in Wallace Elementary
39.4% of Longfellow students and 28.3% of Wallace students move out of the school each year.
34.3% are white
27.5% are Hispanic
24.3% are black
11.7% are Asian
2% are other

25.8% have English as a Second Language

On Standardized tests between 44 and 58% of students from Longfellow and Wallace schools score in the 40% percentile or below.
• 93.22% of the Longfellow students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
• 80.42% of the Wallace students qualify for free or reduced lunches.

Program Features
1. Outcome data system
2. School-based enterprise
3. Innovative strategies for promoting and measuring social/emotional, physical well-being
4. Family outreach
5. Community collaboration
6. Aggressive outreach
8. Positive approaches to discipline
9. Personalized planning
10. Promotes caring relationships
11. Student voice and leadership
12. Non-traditional timelines
13. Innovative academic strategies
14. Mentoring/tutoring
15. Reducing absenteeism
16. Other innovative strategies