History
Community of Caring was founded in 1982 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver and the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation with the initial purpose of providing a nurturing and supportive environment for pregnant adolescents and to reduce teen pregnancies. Community of Caring began as a hospital-based program in partnership with Johns Hopkins Hospital and focused on the pioneering approach of teaching universally accepted core ethical values as a means of prevention. The five core values of caring, respect, responsibility, trust, and family were identified as core to healthy human development by a group of philosophers, educators, health specialists, legal professionals, ethicists, policy makers and psychologists. They agreed that the ability to reflect upon and act upon values is essential in shaping lives, illuminating goals and guiding responsible decisions.The early success of the approach at Johns Hopkins led to the implementation of Community of Caring as a values education program focusing on prevention of adolescent pregnancy as well as alcohol and drug use. Community of Caring was implemented in five pilot sites in public schools throughout the country. Over a three- year period, pilot sites were evaluated by the Center for Health Policy Studies in Columbia, MD. Evaluation results showed that the Community of Caring program reduced the incidence of teen pregnancy and the use of alcohol in adolescents. Students in Community of Caring schools also increased their grade point averages.
The success of Community of Caring led to its rapid evolution into a K-12, whole-school, comprehensive character education program with a unique focus on disabilities. Simply stated, Community of Caring creates a school environment that helps students develop positive values by teaching values everywhere: in the classroom, hallway, cafeteria, and playing field.