LANSING – National, state and local leaders will gather May 20 for an in-depth assessment of School-Community Partnership models, such as Metro Detroit’s Promise Neighborhoods, their impact to reduce child poverty, and how to multiply them.

School-Community Partnership models are the Obama administration’s bold bid to break the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty characterizing so many communities. Key to this effort is the U.S. Department of Education’s launch in April 2010 of the Promise Neighborhoods program as the first federal initiative to put education at the center of comprehensive efforts to fight poverty. Last year, the Department awarded $10 million to 21 applicants for efforts to support planning of cradle-tocareer services designed to improve educational outcomes for students in distressed neighborhoods.