Scott Family Net

Advisor Meeting Minutes

01-06-05

 

Present:  Linda Schwichtenberg, Molly Kalow, Lisa Treml, Libby Bergen, Steve Brown, Sara Stack, Sharon Diedrich, Tim Bell, Anne Runck, Becky Colley and Wanda Houska

 

Partner Check Ins

 

Jordan – Christmas basket program didn’t serve as many families this year, but the individual family needs were greater.

Belle Plaine – The district received numerous calls from community members asking to ‘adopt a family’ for the holidays.  A coordinated system to facilitate this will be considered for next year.  The district staff holiday party also included donations for local families.  Two of the portable classrooms lost heat for two days.  Luckily the 5th graders were on a field trip one of those days.

CAP – over 1000 families were served in the Hope for the Holidays project.

Public Health – has been working with local police and the state on bioterrorism preparedness.  Coordination of the flu shot distribution was challenging; there are still vaccinations available.  Linda distributed data on alcohol related fatalities and serious injuries.  She is also attending a meeting that will review the results of the most recent student survey.

CSEC – There are now chemical health specialists in all Scott County school districts.  The specialists are meeting monthly with Monique from Solace Academy.  It was noted that this group should also be connecting with public health.  Anne and Linda will facilitate this networking.

CMH – Truancy/Minor Parent programs will have a new staff person.  An application has been sent for the Mental Health Center to be part of the CTSS (Children’s Therapeutic Support Services)

CAC – staff has been overwhelmed with holiday programs and activities

Prior Lake-Sav – district has a referendum vote on February 15th.  There has not been much noticeable ‘talk’ either for or opposed to the building plan.  Projections indicate that Five Hawks Elementary will be 300 students over capacity in 2 years.  All buildings within the district have defibulators available and staff trained in how to use them.  Medical Emergency Response Teams are in place throughout the district and have been running practice drills (MERT Alerts)

Shakopee – There has not yet been a referendum question developed, yet overcrowding is a serious issue.  The district registered 100 more Kindergarteners than projected this year.  Elementary students are adapting well to the continued increase in diversity.

MRVSEC – is working on building capacity within their districts.  Sara is also involved in planning a Week of the Young Child event in Prior Lake.

 

Resource Coordinator Meeting

 

Sharon has made a few contacts for a presenter from the Russian community to be a part of the next meeting.  She is unsure of their presenting abilities and therefore has not yet secured anyone.  The group decided that in this case, a panel format to the meeting would be the best option.  There are many Russian dialects so having multiple perspectives would be beneficial.  Shakopee and Belle Plaine also have liaisons with this culture.  Libby and Lisa will follow up with them. Tim and Sharon will lead the meeting planning.

 

 

Annual Report

 

The group went through some of the questions that need completing for the annual collaborative report to the state.  Most of the inquiries need further thought and input from agency staff.  Wanda will email the information to the Advisors and partner input will be compiled at the February Advisor meeting.  Steering will also be asked to respond to many of the same questions. A broad collaborative view allows for a much more comprehensive response.

 

Grant Ideas

 

Wanda distributed a list of grant possibilities that she has researched since November.  She reiterated the importance of partner input, and the necessity of knowing what partners need and how best to meet those needs.  It is much more productive to find funding for a plan, than to make a plan to meet funding guidelines.

 

General grant ideas generated include:

Early intervention with ELL students and families – This would involve parent education and resources for students and families.  Possible partners include schools, ECFE, CAP (Head Start) and libraries.

Anger Management – support groups are needed at the elementary level and there is not enough staff to facilitate them.  Groups would be most beneficial if they catered to a particular gender, age and/or culture.  Libby knows of an organization in St Paul that addresses anger management issues within the Hispanic community.  She’ll send this info to Wanda.

The VIP program did well addressing this also.  Funding for the program was lost.  Wanda will meet with Steve to discuss how the program was run in the past and what modifications are needed to successfully reinstate it.  Steve currently has a staff person that is interested in leading such a program.

Truancy – Diversion and early intervention issues need to be addressed.  It is up to parents to ensure their child’s school attendance until age 12, then the school and county can start holding the student accountable.  It was suggested to coordinate a county-wide team whose primary concern was developing the means to get truant students to school.  This team would also be involved in follow up and working with family issues.  We could look for funding streams that link truancy with specific areas such as immigration or chemical abuse.

Minor Parenting – Getting girls to available services is currently a barrier in Scott County.  Statistics show that many adults currently receiving human service support became parents as teens.  We could also look into data that may link the issue to cultural background.

 

Closing

 

Next meeting will be February 3rd from 9-11 at CAP.  We will be going through the annual report information so PLEASE bring input from your organization.