How We Partner with Professionals

Wediko believes that children can be successful when all of the important adults in their lives work together.  Collaboration and cooperation with families, schools, agencies, and educational consultants is the cornerstone of the Wediko approach to improving the lives of children.  We measure our success by the success of children and teens in their homes, schools, and communities.  Partnerships are essential to every Wediko program.

Wediko School

Collaboration with families, sending schools, educational consultants, and community agencies is a key concept of the Wediko School.   Home visits, phonecalls, and family therapy help maintain and build the relationships that were important before placement at Wediko and that will be crucial in the transition home. Efforts to keep the students connected to their families and when appropriate home communities are vital.

Wediko Summer Program

Beginning with the application process, Wediko wants to hear from schools, families, agencies, educational consultants and mental health professionals about their experiences with the applicant. Families are included in the treatment plan, starting with the interview and continuing through the summer with participation in family meetings.  Treatment summary reports are provided to assist with the transition to home and school. Research done over the past three years has focused on linking summer changes to success at school and at home. Read more.

School-Based Services

Wediko works to instill the hope that difficult situations can get better.  Clinicians and consultants look for strengths and possibilities, they believe in working with everyone who plays an important role in a child’s life, and they draw on the richness of agency resources for help if they become stuck or discouraged.  Wediko partners with schools for short-term projects, such as professional development workshops, or longer-term projects, such as whole-school change. 

Wediko believes that no two requests for service can be treated in the same way.  As soon as an institution asks for Wediko’s help, the process of listening to concerns, identifying areas of strength, and tailoring a menu of services begins.  An ongoing process of planning, reviewing, and revising is essential to helping schools respond to the shifting demands of the school environment.  Wediko promotes no “off the shelf” curriculums or packages; however, our staff have been trained in some commonly-used programs and models in an effort to understand what programs are in place in schools. 

Short-term contracts are often the entry point for Wediko (e.g., a comprehensive assessment of a student).  We also have the capacity to partner over the long haul, if needed.  As clinical consultants, we want to be there not only to offer solutions to an immediate problem, but also when a teacher gets stuck with a student, or when the number of students sent to the office begins to increase again. We believe that helping children to be successful is a long-term commitment—a commitment already made by the scores of dedicated teachers and administrators with whom we have worked.