Have you ever experienced a time when you needed help but were unsure where to go? Most of us have.
We are blessed to live in one of the most desirable places in the world, yet many of our local families struggle with basic needs, tortured by difficult choices from one week to the next. These hardships impact every family member, but especially the children, as lack of options cements poverty and learning deficits that define a lifetime.
In Sarasota, luxury condo towers sell out multi-million-dollar units immediately, while less than five minutes away, one-third of children live below the poverty line. Community leaders believe a new Family Success Center will reverse this reality.
Across the U.S., public and private partnerships are joining forces through “place-based” initiatives like resource centers that help families overcome barriers to social mobility.
Urban Institute defines the place-based model as an approach that aims to improve the quality of life and access to opportunity. While Sarasota has many social services and resources, access for families that would most benefit from existing programming remains problematic.
Just this year, Sarasota’s poorest zip code had one of the highest child removal rates in the three-county region served by the Department of Children & Families in the 12th judicial district circuit.
Other social and economic barriers are equally staggering: African-American infant mortality remains 4 times higher than average, and a majority of 8th graders from low socio-economic families read below grade level. To learn more, visit www.flhealthcharts.gov.
According to the National Family Support Network, a Family Resource Center (FRC) is a community hub of support, services, and opportunities for families that:
► is multi-generational, strengths-based, and family-centered, is responsive to community needs and interests
► provides support at no or low cost
► builds communities of peer support for families to develop social connections that reduce isolation and stress
The primary goal of the Newtown Family Center is to build self-reliance by delivering the tools that empower families – supporting them to become strong, healthy and prosperous. The most significant outcome reported by FRCs across the U.S. is a dramatic reduction in child abuse and neglect cases.
Spearheaded by Thomas and Geri Chaffee, the founders of Dreamers Academy, the Family Success Center will be located on Leonard Reid Avenue, between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Myrtle St. The location is highly accessible and in the middle of three Title I schools serving 2,500 pre-K through 8th grade students.
The 40,000-square-foot center will have permanent spaces to deliver programming from Sarasota County’s existing social service organizations, including a full-service medical clinic, parenting classes, education and literacy programming, food distribution, pharmacy, job training support, and tuition-free early learning for children under 5 years old.
What would an investment in this Family Success Center do for Sarasota? Reviewing centers operating in similar markets, the ROI averages $5 of social return for every $1 spent.
The author Nathan Scott (right) toured the Family Resource Center Central Tampa with Glenda Taveras of Children’s Board of Hillsborough County (left) and Program
Director Tyheshia Scott (center).
In my role with the Family Safety Alliance, we closely monitor evidence-based models in Tampa, Gainesville and Plant City. Statistics for FRCs show a 63 percent reduction in child abuse cases, a 50 percent reduction in out-of-home placements, and a 26 percent lower rate of child abuse investigations, saving the child welfare system approximately $3.65 for every $1 invested.
Additional outcomes include gains in economic self-sufficiency, health, social support, family functioning and resiliency, and children’s education success (National Family Support Network). For more information, email Geri Chaffee at geri@pdo.org, as she is coordinating the efforts.
Nathan Scott is the Child and Family WellBeing System Coordinator for Florida Department of Health. He is also the staff coordinator for the Family Safety Alliance. He can be reached at Nathan.Scott@flhealth.gov
