Dareen Basma & Bob Kronick 
Wicked Problems and the Community School Solution [PDF ebook] 

Dareen Basma is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and has a Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, with a concentration in Disasters, Displacements and Human Rights. Her clinical work has focused on multicultural counseling and identity development, with a specific focus on at-risk immigrant and refugee populations. She’s worked with at-risk immigrant and refugee youth within the school system, as both a mental health services provider and as a community liaison. Her research interests have focused on multicultural education, the development of multicultural counseling competencies among counseling students when working with at-risk immigrants, the development of multicultural biases among counseling students, and the systemic and structural implications that impact the work that counseling students engage in. She’s taught and co-taught a range of graduate classes including, Special Topics: Counseling At-Risk Immigrants, Multicultural Counseling, Theories in Counseling, Professional Issues in Counseling and Clinical Practicum/Internship. The subject of this text is vulnerable children, families and interventions within the community school system that work with people who have problems with their daily lives. A community school is a school that has broadened its mission and vision to meet the needs of all of its students. The community school is where health, mental health, and other services are provided, with an emphasis on prevention. The community school is a new environment where a systems approach to change is utilized. It is not a school where human services are an add-on, but one where collaboration and input from the community determines the services that are provided to the students and families. The text not only identifies critical issues that are faced in public schools and lower income neighborhoods but also workable solutions. The book integrates theory and practice to communicate to the reader what a community school looks like, the purpose of a community school, and the varying facets that are involved in developing, maintaining and growing a community school. This book adds to the knowledge base of faculty and university students, school personnel and community stakeholders, while focusing on systems theories, prevention and collaboration.Target Audience:This book is appropriate for upper level undergraduate and graduate level courses in education, sociology and political science. It can be used in undergraduate service learning courses with texts such as Experiencing Service Learning (Kronick, Cunningham & Gourley, 2011). This book can also be utilized by practitioners in the field such as teachers, principals, education school board members, social workers and community organizers.