Intervention and/or Curriculum
Curriculum-Based Support Group (CBSG®) Program
- A unique, multicultural evidence-based preventive intervention for selective and indicated populations. The program is designed for youth and young adults whose high-risk situations – including Adverse Childhood Experiences, attitudes and behaviors place them at elevated risk for future behavioral and health problems including substance abuse, delinquency, and violence. Kids Connection, for ages 4-12, in small groups in classroom and community-based settings. Youth Connection, for ages 13-17, in small groups in classroom and community-based setting. Kids Connection, Too, for ages 4-13, in small groups in transient settings.
- Students in school and community-based sites: The CBSG® Program intervention will occur once per week for 45-60 minutes per session during designated school days at Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary and Barbara Mann Middle School (DAEP), in Dallas ISD. A multitude of small groups and classrooms will be scheduled during students’ elective class periods to accommodate participation. Additionally, the CBSG® Program intervention will be provided weekly at Hope’s Door New Beginning Center for children and youth who are receiving support services because of Domestic Violence in their home environment.
- Children, youth & parents experiencing homelessness: The CBSG® Program intervention will occur once per week for 45-60 minutes on-site at up to 13 different partnering shelter and school sites during after-school and/or evening hours: Dallas Life Foundation, Shared Housing, Sally’s House and Ann Moody Locations, Nexus Recovery Center, Jonathan’s Place, and Mosaic Family Servies, four sites that serve children and families residing in various motels and three schools that serve children and families living in motels: Maple Lawn Elementary, George Bush Elementary and Joe May Elementary.
Play Connection Program
- Play Connection will incorporate groups of parents and children learning and growing together in fun, interactive ways. Play Connection will include five sessions for parents and five sessions for parents and children. The parent sessions will teach parents the importance of healthy play for child development and stress management. The combined child and parent sessions will provide positive family bonding experiences as children and their parents play and interact with their children in developmentally appropriate and healthy ways. Play Connection’s goals will be to: Promote Family Connectedness and Wellbeing; Increase Parents’ Skills In and Use of Healthy Play for Child Development & Stress Management; Increase Positive Parental Involvement; Increase Parent/Child/Family Bonding and to Reduce Child, Parent & Family Stress. For Parents and Children, ages 4-12, in small group settings.
- Locations/site: Shared Housing and/or Nexus Recovery Center in the Fall 2024
Classroom Connection Program
- Classroom Connection will be designed to serve an entire class of students up to 25 at a time. It will incorporate all the same core social and emotional learning (SEL) messages and promote Resiliency & Protective Factors, but will also include new units on Bullying, Self-Care, Kindness and other topics. Each individual unit can be completed within 45 minutes. After 8 units are completed, then various ‘Booster’ lessons will also be provided throughout the year in 15-minute increments. For ages 4-17, for larger groups of 20-25 students in classroom-settings.
- Locations/site are to be served in the fall of 2024 at Barbara Mann DAEP and Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary. Potentially other schools will be added.
Mental Health Fairs
- At each Mental Health Fair, Rainbow Days collaborates with other service providers to provide sessions on a variety of wellness practices, including yoga, mindfulness, meditation, journaling, dog therapy, sensory stations, coloring station, art, music and more. Youth will be able have an increased ability to handle their stress in healthy ways and share that they learned healthy coping strategies for the future.
- Our goal will be to provide one mental health fair per year to each campus. Locations/sites served in Quarters 1 and 2 include Barbara Mann DAEP, Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary, Dan F. Long Middle School, and Barbara Bush Middle School. In Quarter 4, we anticipate serving Jaycee Zaragoza Recreation Center, Youth Village and Medlock Juvenile Detention facilities, and some other community locations to be determined.
Wellness Activities
- Rainbow Days will incorporate music, art, movement, and creative forms of expression while students build relationships and connections with caring staff mentors. These activities will typically be conducted one activity per campus per semester and are designed in collaboration with the school counselor and/or principal of each campus to meet the specific needs of their students. For example, a Rainbow Days staff member is a D.J. and frequently lends his talents as a D.J. at school dances, field days, special assemblies, and activities with the kids. Our entire staff will join him and in addition to sharing music and connecting with the kids through fun games, positive messages are also shared and reinforced, – i.e. “You are special, smart, and unique. You can make healthy choices for your future. You don’t need drugs to have fun. One healthy way to de-stress is to dance.” Students will also receive educational and encouraging take-aways with tips on how to handle stress, cope with difficult circumstances and promoting self-care and positive self-image.
- One wellness activity per semester at each campus or site. Locations/sites served in Quarters 1 and 2 include: Louise Wolff Kahn Elementary, Barbara Mann DAEP, and Hope’s Door New Beginning Center. We provided a, You’re A STAAR assembly at Charles Gill Elementary in Quarter 3 and will be providing fun and games for Career Day at two campuses in May: Ben Milam Elementary and Thomas Tolbert Elementary.
Spring Break Camp
- We took children from 9 shelters (Shared Housing, Nexus, Family Place Ann Moody site and Family Place Sally’s House site, Dallas, Life, Interfaith, and children living at Budget Suites and Candlewood Suites motels) to several different excursions in Quarter 3 including Sea Quest, where children interacted and fed multiple sea animals and learned about ecosystems and habitats, participated in a culinary cooking class, Sci-Tech Discovery center where the child engaged in a interactive science, math and technology museum, Nash Farm where children learned about farm life in the 1800’s and learned about livestock and agriculture, participated in a steam engine railroad ride, and finally participated in indoor skydiving where the children learned about physics and art wind tunnel with a flight instructor.
Kid’s University
- Healing through STEAM – Each summer, Rainbow Days will provide a STEAM-based camp for homeless children held at the University of Texas at Dallas. At Kids University, children will take fun, interactive classes on science, technology, engineering, art, math, career choices, dance, construction and much more. One class that will be offered each year is a class for them to interact in a positive way with police. Local police officers will come and talk to the kids, allow them to ask questions and sit in the patrol car and turn on the siren. For the population served who is often afraid of police, it is important for them to gain a different view of the police and to interact with them in a positive way. Through Kids University, children will learn how to set goals for the future and are exposed to a variety of different disciplines to help them discover their strengths and unique talents.
- Kids University will be held at UT Dallas in June.
Camp Bravo
- Building Confidence and Healing through Nature – Each summer, Rainbow Days will provide a recreational outdoor camp experience filled with traditional camp activities such as swimming, team building, rock climbing, sports, science, and arts and crafts.
- Camp Bravo will be held at a local church in July (Lovers Lane United Methodist Church or Northway Christian Church.
Outdoor Camp
- Building Confidence and Healing through Nature – Each summer, Rainbow Days will provide a recreational outdoor camp experience filled with traditional camp activities such as swimming, team building, rock climbing, sports, science, and arts and crafts. This year Rainbow Days is teaming up with KidVenture whose goal is to help build the self-esteem and self-worth of every child through all camp interactions. By providing a purposeful curriculum and activities aimed at serving the whole child we are excited for the children to be exposed to the healing power of nature and physical activity. For many children, this is the first time they have ever been outside the City of Dallas. The camp will promote mental, physical, and emotional wellness and builds self-confidence for children to try something new and overcome their fears.
- Outdoor Camp will be held in partnership with KidVenture in Little Elm, Texas in August.
Mentored Events
- Throughout the year, Rainbow Days will take children on healthy, fun kid-friendly day-long outings to allow them to expand their horizons, experience something new in the community, increase their self-confidence as they learn a new skill and form relationships with caring adult mentors. One example of these events is a gymnastics day at WOGA in Plano where they are paired one-to-one with high-school aged gymnasts and get to learn and practice every apparatus in the gym, enjoy lunch and a variety of team-building games. The goal of these events will be to increase children’s perceived well-being, reduce stress, improve their confidence, and improve their sense of belonging.
- Mentored Events will be conducted quarterly, 4-6 events per year. The children will participate in exploring the arts by attending ballet and dance performances. With a combination of music, dance, storytelling and visual arts, ballet is a feast for the senses. The universally understood language of movement transcends age and cultural barriers, making it a wonderful learning experience for parents and children. In quarter 2, we took the children to the ballet.
Ages
- 6-18, parents/caregivers
Population Served
Proposed
- Children & Youth who are living in low-income, marginalized communities, including homelessness & poverty
FY24 Q1
- Pregnant women and women with dependent children
- Persons experiencing homelessness
- Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Question (LGBTQ+)
- Persons involved in child welfare system
FY24 Q2 & FY24 Q3
- Persons experiencing homelessness
- Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Question (LGBTQ+)
- Persons involved in the justice system
- Persons involved in child welfare system
City or Counties Served: Dallas (95%) and Collin (5%) Counties, city of Dallas (90%), and surrounding cities Addison, Plano, Richardson, Garland, Carrollton (10%)
Region: Region 3
