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All America City Focus: Community Partnership for Families
(Stockton,
CA) - As Stockton prepares to compete in the 2004 All America City competition, part of the City's
presentation will involve detailing how Community Partnership
for Families built a vast network to help at-risk families
build a better life.
Community
Partnership for Families is a collaboration of neighborhood
groups, faith-based organizations, schools, businesses, and
public and private health agencies. The non-profit group
became has only been in service since 1998. That is when
a group of Stockton leaders met to find a way to give needy
families access to much needed resources, like health care
and legal aid.
The Partnership
is driven by four guiding principals:
1.
Being outcome focused.
2. Treating the family and community
they serve as "partners".
3. Believing in the strength of families and communities.
4. Using the partnership to avoid duplication of services, reaching
isolated families, and providing comprehensive services to
address each families complicated needs.
To meet
these needs, the partnership decided to establish family
resource centers in high need areas throughout Stockton.
Community Partnership for Families has opened three centers
since 2001. The partnership case management division aided
109 families, including 594 children, in 2002. The number
of cases rose to 145 families in 2003. As many as 5,000 families
have utilized the resource centers in some way every year.
The founding
members included the United Way, San Joaquin County Health
Care Services, the Lao Family Community, Healthy Beginnings,
Women's
Health, and the City of Stockton. More than 150 agencies
representing every facet of the community are involved in
the Partnership's efforts at the family resource centers.
The Partnership
seeks to promote employment, financial independence and asset
development. Families seeking employment are connected
with either Worknet or CalWorks. The nonprofit also seeks
to make sure children are ready to learn in school from day
one. The drive for education has helped reduce the number
of unexcused absences for the 1365 children receiving case
management by the Partnership by 25 percent overall. In some
schools it is as much as 75 percent.
The Partnership
also pushes to reduce child abuse, neglect and domestic violence.
In 2002, interventions by Child Protective Services dropped
by 30 among families served by the Partnership. When it comes
to high risk children, those currently involved in the juvenile
justice system, the partnership has seen arrest rates drop
by fifty percent among the children they council.
For more
information contact: Angelina Campos-Rosenthal, Director
of Family Resource Centers, Community Partnership for Families.
608-0452. Florence Low, City of Stockton. florence.low@ci.stockton.ca.us, (209) 937-8279. |
Stockton,
CA 
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