Are there start-up costs involved in developing CIS in local schools?
Under a comprehensive approach, there need be no out-of-pocket cost to individual schools to implement CIS. The school assigns CIS site-coordination duties to an existing school employee (e.g., assistant principal or school counselor). This individual works with and is trained by the CIS local staff to prioritize students’ needs, schedule services and maintain appropriate records; that staff person assumes these tasks in addition to their other duties. A community’s short-term investment in establishing a local CIS initiative consists of primarily a local liaison, who may be paid or a volunteer, who might be temporarily released from othe duties by a local collaborator or is perhaps a retiree. Assuming donated office space and administrative support, other costs of development are regular meetings of the local steering committee and travel to CIS training. The cost to a community of sustaining a CIS collaboration varies from minimal to modest. Many local CIS operations begin – and main
