Carbon County is continuing a partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network and Panther Valley School District to provide support for students in the junior-senior high school.

Recently, the board of commissioners approved an agreement with St. Luke’s to provide a family development specialist to students in grades seven through 12 in the school district.

The agreement is in effect until June 30, 2026, and will cost the county $69,000.

Commissioners’ Chairman Mike Sofranko said that the reason for the agreement and needed services is because there was a truancy issue at the school.

“This helps to try and improve that and try to provide resources for needy families,” he said, noting that the county already spent almost $100,000 for truancy improvement in Panther Valley.

According to the agreement service terms, the health network will employ the family development specialist, who will provide services that aim to “improve educational and health services and outcomes aligning with the Community Schools model.”

The specialist will serve as the liaison between the school, students and families and guide them to various opportunities and resources.

Incoming students will complete a needs assessment that the specialist can use to determine whether that family needs additional skill-building services, such as parent engagement to improve connections related to the family self-sufficiency, school attendance and community engagement, mental and behavioral health services.

The agreement notes that the family development specialize will provide case management focusing on chronic absenteeism and measurable connections to address the students’ and families biopsychosocial needs in various areas.

They will also provide students and their families one-on-one meetings to best assess and analyze the needs and work towards improving attendance at the school.

Carbon County and St. Luke’s University Health Network has been working with the Panther Valley School District for some time in various capacities to provide additional resources in the underserved community.

The hospital has partnered with Panther Valley through its Adopt-A-School Program, providing a monthly food pantry to families in the school district, as well as community health and outreach and additional resources for physical and mental health.