School-Community Partnerships in Rural Settings: Facilitating Positive Outcomes for Young Children Who Experience Maltreatment Sara L. Hartman 1 • Jenny Stotts 2 • Jennifer R. Ottley 1 • Rebecca Miller 3 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016 Abstract Challenging conditions put young children at risk for maltreatment around the world, including in rural, southeastern Ohio. To combat these situations, several strategies are helpful in facilitating positive outcomes for young children. Specifically, when community entities and local school professionals work together, there is a greater likelihood of positive outcomes for children. This article describes meaningful partnerships that contribute to increased school success in rural settings and offers sug- gestions for developing effective school-community part- nerships in other regions of the United States, as well as in other countries. The benefits of the practices described in this article may be felt across multiple layers of a com- munity and are advantageous for all stakeholders. Keywords School-community partnerships Á Rural settings Á Child maltreatment Á Community resources Á Childhood trauma A Child’s Experience Adam is an eight-year-old boy in the third grade who grew up living with his biological parents in a rural, Appalachian community. Adam’s family values time spent outdoors. During the summer months, Adam frequents a local fishing area with his father, and he and his siblings ride their bicycles on the gravel road in front of their home. The family also spends time together watching television and playing video games. Adam’s parents are unmarried, but share a home. For most of his life, Adam has routinely witnessed domestic violence between his parents, sub- stance abuse, and varying degrees of criminal activity in his own home. His family regularly struggles to meet their basic needs, and they largely rely on government support for food, income, and housing. They have experienced utility shutoffs on multiple occasions and have been evic- ted twice. Although his parents are unemployed, his father sometimes works odd jobs for a local rental company. Occasionally, Adam rides along and helps out with the jobs. Adam’s parents were recently charged with truancy in Juvenile Court due to Adam’s school attendance. He has twenty-eight unexcused absences and eighteen tardy days at school. The family has been investigated by child pro- tective services on two occasions in the past year. Recently, after a criminal investigation revealed that Adam’s parents were involved in heroin trafficking, Adam was removed from his home. Adam witnessed the arrest of both of his parents and was transported by a child protective services caseworker to a foster home. Although he is placed in the same foster home as his sisters, he will need to attend a neighboring rural school. Adam is angry and distraught about leaving his home and is extremely nervous about starting a new school. & Sara L. Hartman hartmans@ohio.edu 1 Department of Teacher Education, Gladys W. and David H. Patton College of Education, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA 2 Department of Social and Public Health, Athens Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA 3 Athens County Child Advocacy Center, College of Health Sciences and Professions, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA 123 Early Childhood Educ J DOI 10.1007/s10643-016-0796-8