Family Resource Centers Provide Essential Services
for the Community
Reno, NV (Feb. 28, 2011) - When Marietta Shaw claimed guardianship of her two grandchildren, she needed access to resources to assist them and herself in the difficult process toward achieving stability. Through the Washoe County School District's Family Resource Center program, she was able to provide for their basic needs, enroll them in school and address one of her grandchildren's hearing problems.
"I had so much assistance, I was able to feed my children," said Shaw, who received help from Alanna Fitzgerald, the director of the FRC at Wooster High School. Shaw was able to secure her grandchildren's birth certificates and got her access to a doctor to help with a hearing problem one of her grandsons was having. "I wouldn't have the children. I would have lost my car."
WCSD has five Family Resource Centers (FRCs) that provide essential services, such as food, housing resources and access to medical, dental and mental health care. By partnering with local agencies, including the Food Bank of Northern Nevada , Children in Transition and Women, Infants and Children, the District can help direct parents to essential public services for students. Through this assistance, students can come to school prepared to learn.
"The Family Resource Center is a one-stop shop for basic family and individual needs," said Joanne Everts, director of child and family services. "Welfare realizes it's cheaper for the FRCs to serve people than it is for their actual offices to do so. We're more efficient and we don't have some of the high costs that they do. We can serve the families and help them access any kind of welfare payment or food stamps before they walk in that door. So it's really important to them for the FRCs to exist."
The FRCs are located at Wooster High, Bernice Mathews Elementary, O'Brien Middle, Sparks High and Hug High schools. Services are available to anyone. School sites were chosen because of their prominence in neighborhoods.
"We found it was really great to locate near a school because that's really the center of a community," Everts said, emphasizing how important it is for the FRCs to be advocates of parents and students.
Some of the FRCs can target specific populations, such as neighborhoods that consist largely of Spanish-speaking families. District staff who operate these centers perform assessments of the family's needs and may offer resources or referrals to community programs. Referrals can be made to organizations that provide food, utility assistance, parenting education and adult literacy or education classes.
"These centers allow our families to have a safe place to go and to have resources and people they trust," said Kristen McNeill,Chief Officer of State and Federal Programs/K-16 Initiatives.
Base funding for the FRCs is provided by the state through the SB405 Community Development Block Grant, Title IV-B FRC Family Support and Preservation, Title XX, Neighborhood Advisory Boards, School Improvement Grant dollars and private money from various agencies. "With dwindling state resources, we're concerned about continuing the level of services we're able to provide," NcNeill said. "We're concerned that as the increase of need comes to our families and students, we have limited resources to provide to those who are requesting emergency services, sustenance and clothing. If funding is cut from FRCs, it will have a direct impact on our students."
