[0:00] [music]
[0:03] Scott County providing safe, healthy,
[0:06] and livable communities.
[0:09] [music]
[0:13] » Item 6.1 is to receive information on
[0:16] Scott County delivers topic, family
[0:18] resource center. Take it away.
[0:21] >> Perfect. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair
[0:22] and commissioners. Um, as always,
[0:24] appreciate the time and opportunity to
[0:26] have another discussion before the
[0:27] board. Um, as Mr. chair stated today
[0:29] we'll be talking about the family
[0:31] resource centers or commonly known as
[0:32] the FRC's. Um in the packet it talks
[0:35] about the goal of the FRC's is to really
[0:37] strengthen a continue of access to
[0:39] services and supports in partnership
[0:41] with community- based nonprofit
[0:43] nonprofits for children and youth for
[0:45] families to thrive and prevent entry
[0:46] into involuntary systems thereby
[0:49] reducing deep end system involvement.
[0:51] Um, our F FRC started in 2021 and was
[0:54] innovative in that there were no other F
[0:56] FRC's in the state of Minnesota and
[0:57] we've now seen this start to start to
[0:59] change as other counties are coming
[1:01] online. I first and foremost want to
[1:03] thank every person who worked on the
[1:04] packet and preparing the data and of
[1:07] course thanking everybody for coming and
[1:09] being on the panel today. To start, if
[1:11] we could, I'll have our uh facilitators
[1:14] here give their names and their roles
[1:16] with the county and then the same for
[1:17] the panelists, please. Um, I'll start.
[1:19] I'm uh Katie Mico, quality improvement.
[1:22] >> Tony Winnicky, county highway engineer.
[1:25] >> Chris Loy, transformation and enterprise
[1:27] services.
[1:28] >> Jeff Smotish, director of employee
[1:29] relations.
[1:30] >> Jake Gruing, transformation enterprise
[1:32] services.
[1:33] >> I'm Judge Vra. I'm one of the uh Scott
[1:36] County judges. I'm in [clears throat]
[1:38] juvenile as well as child protection and
[1:41] then the rest of it is criminal pretty
[1:44] much and family.
[1:45] >> Um Nikki Halberg, Children and Family
[1:47] Services. Tracy Kerber. I'm a social
[1:49] work case manager on the prevention
[1:50] team.
[1:51] >> Fat Ali, interim coordinator with the
[1:54] family resource center,
[1:56] >> the Goldman Children's Services.
[1:58] >> Thank you all so much. And of course,
[1:59] commissioners, please jump in at any
[2:01] time with any questions. Um, but I'll uh
[2:03] hand it over to [cough] this question.
[2:05] [clears throat]
[2:05] >> All right. Thank you.
[2:08] Uh if you read through the packet, it's clear F FRC's are the cornerstone
[2:14] of our prevention infrastructure and
[2:16] they exemplify the culture of prevention
[2:18] that we're trying to foster here at the
[2:20] county. There are two people on the
[2:23] panel with the word prevention in the
[2:25] departments they work in. I think
[2:27] Samantha actually has the word
[2:28] prevention in her title. Nikki was uh
[2:32] foundational in really envisioning the F
[2:35] FRC with Suzanne and Barb with support
[2:37] from the board. Um that all that all
[2:40] tracks for me that all makes lots and
[2:42] lots of sense.
[2:44] My question is going to be targeted at
[2:46] Judge Verah. Um to me if you're
[2:49] >> I asked the question,
[2:50] >> right?
[2:52] >> Thank [laughter] you. respectfully if I
[2:54] can ask you if I can ask a question to
[2:56] so to me if I envision myself sitting in
[2:58] a courtroom in front of you I feel like
[3:01] it's somewhere along the way we've
[3:03] missed opportunities to prevent quite a
[3:05] few things. I I wouldn't think of the
[3:07] courtroom being where prevention work
[3:09] begins. So if you would from your
[3:12] perspective if you can share broadly how
[3:14] you how you see your work as a judge
[3:16] fitting with this and what opportunities
[3:18] if any are there for a culture of
[3:20] prevention from your seat.
[3:23] >> Well sure [clears throat and cough] I
[3:24] mean one of the things first of all I
[3:27] was a civil lawyer before just doing
[3:30] contract work. I come to Scott County
[3:33] become a judge. I've been a judge for
[3:35] nine years, so I feel like I have a lot
[3:38] of experience to speak to this because I
[3:42] wasn't in social work or or in, you
[3:45] know, public service before I came on
[3:48] the bench. But what I see, you know,
[3:52] almost everybody that comes in front of
[3:54] me is in crisis.
[3:56] um whether it's a divorce and that is
[4:00] just as much of a crisis for some people
[4:02] as it is for a criminal case. A criminal
[4:06] case, child protection,
[4:09] um juvenile cases,
[4:12] they're in crisis and they need help.
[4:16] And what I see is first of all just
[4:20] having the family resource center as an
[4:23] opportunity to say, "Have you checked
[4:26] with them? They're a one-stop shop." And
[4:29] what I love about it is it's not just
[4:31] the county resources, it's the private
[4:34] resources. You know, places like St.
[4:37] Francis Hospital or FISH or some of the
[4:41] other things. I can't even remember all
[4:43] the names of it, but I've got enough on
[4:45] my mind. I just like having the
[4:47] opportunity to say this is a place you
[4:50] can go to address your needs. It's a
[4:54] one-stop shop. You don't have to go here
[4:56] for housing, here for insurance, here
[4:59] for food help. It's like one place. And
[5:03] I love that it's at the transit center,
[5:05] which is kind of the hub of where
[5:07] everybody can go to. Um, and I've really
[5:12] seen the effects of it as well. Um,
[5:16] people know about it. You know, a lot of
[5:19] times I'll say, "Have you checked here?"
[5:21] And they'll be like, "Yes." Because the
[5:23] word has gotten out that there is a
[5:27] place that they can go to to uh find
[5:30] resources for what they need. And again,
[5:34] it's not just the criminal. It's not
[5:36] just the child protection. I know I work
[5:39] with all of these people in child
[5:41] protection, but it's the divorce cases
[5:44] too that, you know, people are just
[5:48] needing a place for it. And what I
[5:51] absolutely love is that Scott County has
[5:54] been innovative on doing this and other
[5:58] counties and other places are following
[6:01] in our footsteps and it really is just
[6:04] an amazing thing. And I just did I know
[6:08] we've been in the Star Tribune,
[6:11] not no the Pioneer Press. I pulled up an
[6:14] article. We're one of the first family
[6:16] resource centers a in the nation and um
[6:21] it really is a model and I don't know if
[6:25] the commissioners know how great the
[6:28] child protection team here is in Scott
[6:31] County but I work with them all the time
[6:35] and I work in other counties
[6:37] occasionally I go to other counties of
[6:39] the seven county judicial district. the
[6:42] people here are just so top-notch and
[6:46] supporting this program and making this
[6:48] program great. So, I just think it's a
[6:51] great idea. I'm getting on my soap box,
[6:54] but anyway,
[6:55] >> I I would jump in and say like to answer
[6:58] um to go back to your question around
[7:01] like those [clears throat]
[7:02] what Judge Frost said around those the
[7:04] families who see the judge and who are
[7:06] in child protection court are in crisis.
[7:09] And so while they may or may not have
[7:11] had access to prevention, I think the plan and the long-term safety
[7:17] planning that the child protection team
[7:19] does in coordination with their signs of
[7:21] safety practice to prevent future um
[7:24] need for child protection, whether
[7:26] that's through building resiliency
[7:28] within their family system to prevent
[7:31] future assessment or placements. break
[7:34] that generational trauma really gets at
[7:37] um the re-entry of foster care and
[7:40] ongoing need in the future for
[7:42] placement. So it it it doesn't
[7:45] necessarily may not it may start at
[7:47] court but we can see the effects when we
[7:49] have a reduction in placement numbers um
[7:52] we have a reduction in reentry and we
[7:54] have um system family systems that are
[7:56] building their resiliency that maybe
[7:58] they hadn't in the past.
[8:02] I have a question that kind of um goes
[8:05] off of something that Judge Bra said. Um
[8:07] when when speaking of the family
[8:09] resource center in Shakipi, I was a
[8:11] little surprised on page seven to see
[8:13] that there are multiple locations of the
[8:15] family resource center. So I was
[8:18] wondering um do they do the same things
[8:21] in each of the centers or are is it more
[8:24] targeted to the community that they're
[8:26] in or can you talk a little bit about
[8:28] what happens at the other locations?
[8:30] Sure, I can speak to that. Um, so our
[8:33] Shaka Pee location is the um is at our
[8:37] Mertz um transit building connected to
[8:40] the integrated health center. That is I
[8:43] would consider our primary location
[8:44] where we do a lot of programming. We
[8:47] offer the food distribution comes there.
[8:49] We have Wick and Portico as well as
[8:52] other programming and parenting classes.
[8:54] Our Savage location is housed in the
[8:57] library. Um, Wick does go to those every
[9:00] um, Tuesday. And then our Jordan is at
[9:03] the Jordan area food shelf. And then
[9:05] Bell Plane is also in our library. Okay.
[9:11] » Um, so my [clears throat] packing number
[9:13] is a little bit off. Sorry about that.
[9:14] So page six. So Jake, great uh, opening.
[9:17] So I appreciate it the response kicking
[9:18] us off here. So that was that that's
[9:20] fantastic and things are going really
[9:22] well. you can see in that first uh
[9:23] performance measure on on page six that
[9:26] shows that success. But then going to
[9:28] page seven, can you talk a little bit
[9:31] about the outreach and kind of the
[9:34] correlation between the monthly
[9:35] attendance and outreach and what does
[9:37] that outreach what does that engagement
[9:39] look like?
[9:40] >> Yeah. So you'll notice on page seven um
[9:43] our outreach really stopped um January,
[9:47] March through this year and in Bell
[9:49] Plain in April. So, we had a dip in
[9:52] numbers. When you look at page seven,
[9:54] this um this chart shows a dip in
[9:58] numbers and I would contribute that to
[10:00] the what was happening in the community
[10:02] at the time early January. Um Operation
[10:04] Metro Surge, we heard feedback from um
[10:07] community members that they they didn't
[10:09] feel safe coming into like a a community
[10:14] place at the time. And so that really
[10:16] impacted our engagement both in
[10:19] um families coming and seeking resources
[10:22] as well as participation in programming.
[10:24] We also had um transitions and changes
[10:27] both internally and externally with our
[10:30] um staffing which caused us to have to
[10:34] pause our bell plane um staff and also
[10:37] had cause us to pause our outreach so
[10:40] that we could prioritize and focus on
[10:42] how do we keep the the facility open?
[10:45] How do we continue to serve the people
[10:46] that walk in? Um, we were able to
[10:49] partner with the libraries and they
[10:50] offered support in maintaining community
[10:53] outreach if somebody stopped in and we
[10:55] offered virtual connection. But really
[10:58] those zeros in both the bell plane and
[11:00] outreach was due to um both the
[11:03] community um situation at the time at
[11:05] the beginning of the year and a lot of
[11:07] staffing changes that caused us to
[11:08] prioritize how we just keep our door
[11:11] open to serve families with open hours.
[11:14] Thank
[11:14] >> you.
[11:26] All right. I have I have another
[11:28] question.
[11:29] >> Um [clears throat]
[11:31] Evan, can you go to page four?
[11:37] So, the closing sum, I think there's a
[11:40] one-s sentence paragraph in the closing
[11:42] summary that addresses [snorts]
[11:46] the Minnesota African-American Family
[11:48] Preservation and Child Welfare
[11:49] Disproportionality Act. And I think I
[11:53] understand what that paragraph says that
[11:56] moving forward with the implementation
[11:58] of that act, integration of FRC's and
[12:00] child protection will be crucial to
[12:01] support the new active effort
[12:03] requirements through the provision of
[12:04] culturally specific services for
[12:06] populations disproportionately
[12:07] represented in the child protection
[12:08] system. Could somebody maybe dumb that
[12:12] down for somebody like me and anybody
[12:14] who is not as familiar with that act and
[12:16] what the implications are for the FRC?
[12:20] >> Yes. Um I think for us there's there's a
[12:22] couple of layers as we look at
[12:24] implementing um the act in 2027. Um
[12:28] first and foremost I think when we look
[12:29] at our um data for family resource
[12:31] centers, we've really seen an increase
[12:33] in our um bipok populations. like we
[12:36] have built trust in our community with
[12:39] um our East African and our Hispanic
[12:41] populations and those are um categorized
[12:44] in the Minnesota African-American Family
[12:46] Preservation Child Welfare
[12:48] Disproportionality Act as the population
[12:50] that is going to need the most active
[12:52] efforts. Um so we see our prevention
[12:55] services as really being able to serve
[12:57] that community and serve that community
[12:59] well and and be trusted um in those
[13:02] services. And that also I think when
[13:04] Ramsay and Henipin piloted um the
[13:07] implementation of the act in 2026,
[13:09] they've really talked throughout this
[13:11] year about how important the prevention
[13:12] services are. Um how like that has been
[13:16] a little bit of a missing piece,
[13:17] especially Ramsay has talked a little
[13:18] bit about that. Um and it with our
[13:21] services established, it really sets um
[13:24] a place for community to come get
[13:26] resources first to try and help them
[13:27] stay out of our child um protection
[13:29] system. Um, additionally, I think as a
[13:32] third layer, like we have really seen a
[13:35] decrease in our child protection
[13:36] assessments and our child protection
[13:38] case management. So, um, financially
[13:40] like we've been in a good place to
[13:42] maintain staffing or even reduce
[13:44] staffing when most other counties are
[13:46] looking at increasing staffing um, for
[13:48] implementation of the act.
[13:52] So, thank you [clears throat] Evan for
[13:53] going to slide eight and now on on page
[13:56] 12
[13:58] based on your description of what the
[14:00] act the expectations will be for us. Um,
[14:05] this the data in the packet leads me to
[14:07] believe we're already we're already on
[14:09] the right track. We're already moving
[14:12] toward a lot of the outcomes that the
[14:14] act seems to want counties in the state
[14:17] to achieve. Is that is that what you see
[14:19] in the data as well?
[14:20] >> I think we feel fairly confident that
[14:22] we're in a good place. Like we're still
[14:24] going to have to continue to make some
[14:25] changes. We're going to have to do some
[14:26] additional work. We want to assure like
[14:28] services are sustainable in our county
[14:31] and that we have these resources for
[14:32] families. But I think um we as a child
[14:35] protection team and a prevention team
[14:36] see our county is in a pretty good place
[14:38] for implementation.
[14:40] [snorts]
[14:41] >> And I think we've really seen child
[14:43] protection numbers go down at the courts
[14:46] quite a bit. I mean, since I started,
[14:49] um, we used to have four judges that did
[14:52] child protection, we're down to three.
[14:55] And the our basically our case loads in
[14:59] child protection are manageable. We can
[15:02] spend a lot of time with the families,
[15:04] which is makes a big difference. Um, I
[15:08] went to a national conference
[15:11] uh in Minneapolis. I think it was March.
[15:14] And there was a judge there from Nevada.
[15:18] And she said that she only had I think
[15:22] it was like every 15 minutes she had a
[15:26] new family that she had to address in
[15:28] child protection. And we usually have an
[15:31] hour to deal with a family where you
[15:34] know the they may start talking with the
[15:36] workers and their attorneys and then
[15:38] they come into court and we address how
[15:41] things are going. So we have the time
[15:43] and I I just I think the numbers are
[15:45] going down and a lot of that has to do
[15:48] with prevention beforehand before you
[15:51] have to remove the kids from the home.
[15:54] if you can make it work, get the, you
[15:56] know, however it may be. If you have a
[15:59] parent that can take over while another
[16:01] parent gets into drug treatment or
[16:03] something like that. [snorts] So, the
[16:05] numbers have really been going down.
[16:07] [clears throat]
[16:09] >> Nikki, can you talk to slide 12? I mean,
[16:11] I look at that one and I know our
[16:14] numbers are smaller than either
[16:15] [clears throat] Henipin or Ramsay,
[16:17] right, in the BIPO, but when I look at
[16:19] those percent decreases,
[16:22] that's tremendous work in bringing those
[16:24] disparities much closer together, which
[16:26] is ultimately what this act is about.
[16:28] Correct.
[16:28] >> Correct. Yep. And I think we we see that
[16:30] in our utilization in our family
[16:32] resource center. We see that in our
[16:34] educational and truency work as well.
[16:36] And really like when when we talk about
[16:38] the families that are in our court
[16:40] system, it's the prevention work has
[16:42] really been about how do we just shift
[16:43] everybody upstream. So we're still going
[16:46] to have these difficult cases, right?
[16:48] But we've we've also um cut cut our
[16:51] county attorneys from two to one in in
[16:53] our child protection cases. So it's
[16:55] really about how do we move everything a
[16:56] little upstream? And we've seen that in
[17:00] our our disparities um data of like how
[17:03] do we move those families a little bit
[17:04] more upstream and out of our system.
[17:07] >> Are we allowed to make comments, Katie?
[17:10] >> Of course.
[17:10] >> Is that okay? [laughter]
[17:12] >> Just so yeah, this is not a question. I
[17:14] think it's something that that here in
[17:16] Sky County easily goes without saying,
[17:18] but it probably never should go without
[17:19] saying. We didn't need the state to tell
[17:23] us that this was the right work to do.
[17:25] Suzanne and Barb and Leslie and the
[17:27] board and everybody at the table was
[17:29] looking at the data, seeing the
[17:30] disparities and put that work in motion
[17:34] long before a state mandate came down
[17:36] and said these are these are the
[17:38] outcomes. This is the work you need to
[17:39] do. Um just feel like it's important to
[17:42] call that out every time that happens,
[17:44] but especially here um because the
[17:46] results really speak for themselves.
[17:51] Maybe following [snorts] up on
[17:52] [clears throat] that on page 15.
[17:55] So with that said, obviously this really
[17:58] shows a great tenure.
[18:01] How does this compare with other
[18:03] counties like percent of population or
[18:07] any other measure? Um how does that
[18:11] compare?
[18:13] >> So go ahead. I was just going to say our
[18:16] out of home placement is the lowest in
[18:18] the state from any county
[18:19] percentage-wise. Um, and again, it's really that shift of how do we how
[18:24] do we continue the funnel where, you
[18:26] know, our prevention work serves all of
[18:28] our community and we continue to move
[18:30] people to the top of the funnel so that
[18:32] we continue to make the bottom of the
[18:33] funnel less and less, which is our court
[18:35] involvement and our odome placement.
[18:37] >> I would add to that it's the it's the
[18:40] culture of prevention within child
[18:41] protection. And it's thinking outside of
[18:43] the box instead of going straight to a
[18:46] formalized placement either through
[18:47] court or through a voluntary placement
[18:51] agreement. It's how do we how do we
[18:53] maintain safety for the children in the
[18:55] home while being creative and
[19:00] reducing the need for a placement that
[19:02] we know can be traumatic for children in
[19:04] and of itself. So, it's that
[19:06] preventative work that goes into the
[19:09] assessment, the case management case to
[19:12] continue to keep that child out of home
[19:14] or in the home in preventing an out of
[19:16] home placement.
[19:21] » Um, if we could go to page 10, there is
[19:24] a chart that talks about the parent
[19:26] support outreach program. So, I'm
[19:28] wondering if you could just talk to me
[19:30] about like to those who don't know, what
[19:32] is that program and then how do you see
[19:33] it connecting to [clears throat] the F
[19:34] FRC? Okay. Um, I do the parent support
[19:37] outreach program and what it is, it's a
[19:39] voluntary program for families who have
[19:41] at least one child who is age 10 or
[19:44] younger or maybe they're expecting their
[19:46] first [clears throat] child and they
[19:47] have two or more stressors or risk
[19:49] factors. Um, and the way I see it
[19:52] connecting to the F FRC is I I pretty
[19:55] much bring information about the family
[19:58] resource center to every family that I'm
[19:59] working with at a minimum. just letting
[20:02] them know that they exist and that
[20:03] they're there and what they can find
[20:05] there. But then when I do my meeting
[20:07] with them, we do an intake and I learn,
[20:10] oh, this specific need has has come up.
[20:13] So then when we're [clears throat] going
[20:15] through the calendar, I'm like, you can
[20:16] come on this day and this specific
[20:18] person is there to address exactly what
[20:20] you're talking about. Um, sometimes it's
[20:23] me picking them up and bringing them in.
[20:25] Sometimes it's we are just meeting there
[20:27] so I can just introduce them to the
[20:28] space and then we always do a lap around
[20:30] and they grab whatever resources that
[20:32] they want. Um lots of families are
[20:34] looking for that social connection and
[20:36] so we're talking about all of the
[20:37] activities that they can do there that
[20:38] they can bring their kids that it's you
[20:40] know such a nice space. So it's it's
[20:44] just embedded in my work and I'm telling
[20:45] every single family that does the parent
[20:47] support outreach program about the
[20:48] family resource center and I've really
[20:50] seen it
[20:52] do really really cool things for
[20:53] families. So
[20:55] >> yes
[20:55] >> and sorry [clears throat] at the family
[20:57] resource center when Tracy brings
[20:58] clients or families in her we're able to
[21:01] address the basic needs like housing,
[21:03] health insurance, providing a safe space
[21:05] for the kids to play and then Tracy can
[21:07] stay with the family or the parents and
[21:09] work through some more like other
[21:11] services or other needs that they need
[21:13] to address. So we meet their first Maslo
[21:16] hierarchy of need and then Tracy can
[21:18] provide the rest. So that's like the
[21:20] relationship between the family resource
[21:21] center and her program.
[21:23] Thank you both. I appreciate it.
[21:28] » So the data in the packet and the
[21:31] narrative itself, it's like it's all to
[21:33] me paints a very good picture of the
[21:36] work that's happening and that that
[21:39] seems to be accurate. We had Wilder here
[21:41] a couple weeks ago and they presented on
[21:43] their return on investment findings
[21:45] which was really I think a conservative
[21:47] estimate of the ROI
[21:49] um not capturing the the broadest
[21:52] possible impact of the F FRC.
[21:55] I don't see anything in here that like
[21:57] data wise that says something's going
[21:59] really poorly. So is there anything from
[22:03] your perspective that is not going well
[22:05] that would be an opportunity for
[22:06] improvement if you were here a year from
[22:08] now or two years from now that you'd say
[22:10] we really want this aspect of our work
[22:12] to look different. We know we can do
[22:14] better.
[22:18] I think um you know when I think back
[22:20] about when we started in 2021, there's
[22:22] always a piece of that because our
[22:24] community changes and so how do we
[22:27] continue to like work with our community
[22:28] about what new issues emerge? Um I think
[22:31] that like we've got some opportunities
[22:34] um for some additional peer support for
[22:37] people that are struggling with
[22:38] substance abuse. Like some of those
[22:40] things I think that we could continue to
[22:42] build on. Um, I think that right now
[22:45] we're in a a little bit of a challenging
[22:47] space with a a possible um discussions
[22:50] around transition. So, I think we've got
[22:52] some staffing um opportunities that we
[22:55] can clear up. And then I think we would
[22:56] [clears throat] certainly like to go
[22:57] back to um additional outreach um and kind of adding some of the
[23:03] additional services that you
[23:04] [clears throat] might be a need.
[23:07] I think I'll follow up on on J on uh
[23:10] page 13 kind of a followup to that. So
[23:13] this is number of initiated child mal
[23:15] treatment assessments and investigation.
[23:18] Obviously it's trending really well. So
[23:20] the question kind of similar is in an
[23:24] ideal world. Okay. What do you suggest
[23:27] to improve this trend or the rate of
[23:28] this trend? Let's say the goal is zero.
[23:32] So it's trending downward. So, what do
[23:34] you suggest to continue that downward
[23:36] trend or the or a greater rate of this
[23:38] trend?
[23:40] >> I what initially comes to mind for me
[23:43] when we look at um page 13 is I come
[23:47] from the lens of as you're talking to
[23:49] mandated reporters and they're making a
[23:51] child malreatment report. It's that
[23:53] ongoing education of mandated supporting
[23:56] and how can they fit into the prevention
[23:58] puzzle. I think our school districts um
[24:01] hospitals do a really good job of having
[24:04] a different lens since starting this
[24:07] culture of prevention, but it's that
[24:09] ongoing education for all mandated
[24:12] reporters to
[24:14] be able to connect families rather than
[24:16] make a child protection report that
[24:18] enters them into the system regardless
[24:20] of whether that report is screened in or
[24:22] screened out. they're they're then in
[24:25] the system instead of possibly having
[24:28] preventative resources or places to send
[24:30] families that would prevent them from
[24:33] making a mandated report.
[24:35] >> Can one of you build on that? Because
[24:38] having sat in some of those school
[24:39] district meetings early on, [cough]
[24:42] [clears throat] it seems to me that that
[24:43] was part of the culture, right? we get
[24:46] to seven unexcused versus preventing
[24:48] seven unexcused or we wait till the
[24:51] behavior gets to the point where we call
[24:53] in child protection. So, how have you
[24:55] built that partnership? What are you
[24:57] doing to keep that going?
[24:58] [clears throat]
[24:59] I think one of the things I see within
[25:02] my work in our screening department is
[25:06] ongoing conversations with schools when
[25:08] they call because we have the same
[25:10] reporters call whether it's our
[25:13] staff or the dean of students
[25:15] [clears throat] call to make reports.
[25:16] It's the ongoing relationship and the
[25:19] ability to challenge um in a friendly
[25:23] way, right? the ability to have an open
[25:25] candid conversation about what the
[25:27] report is, what have they tried, or to
[25:29] say, "This may not meet criteria for a
[25:31] child protection response, but we want
[25:33] to partner with you in a voluntary way
[25:35] through child welfare." Um, or through
[25:38] our prevention with St. David's or
[25:40] Catalaso and Treehouse. Um it is I think
[25:44] time time has really being consistent in
[25:48] the response and our screening decisions
[25:50] around how we are how we are being
[25:53] mindful of each report and if it meets
[25:56] criteria and it has to be assessed that is one thing and then having that
[26:01] worker connect with the um mandated
[26:05] reporter or other professionals in that
[26:07] child's life to have the conversation
[26:09] about further resources or the future
[26:12] plan that would that's more preventative
[26:14] focused to engage them in what the plan
[26:17] would be in the future rather than
[26:19] having child protection be that initial
[26:21] response.
[26:23] >> I think additionally like we've changed
[26:25] our narrative a bit around with schools
[26:27] and with some of our providers our
[26:29] mandated reporters around you know get the family to us and we can help
[26:33] them. And I think we've shifted that
[26:36] more to like we've implemented mandated
[26:38] supporter training and our mandated
[26:39] reporter training to really talk to um
[26:42] our mandated reporters around how they
[26:44] can support families without having to
[26:46] get them to us. And I think the family
[26:48] resources center is has been crucial
[26:51] because it's a place they can send
[26:53] people. The schools know like if a if a
[26:55] child needs a jacket, they don't have to
[26:56] wait until it's cold and call on this
[26:59] family. They can they can get a child a
[27:01] jacket at the family resource center.
[27:03] they have a place to go. Um, which I
[27:05] think has been imperative in in them
[27:08] being able to support the families
[27:09] they're working with. I think the other
[27:12] piece to to the question was um I think
[27:16] our family resource centers have been a
[27:18] little bit unique. A lot of family
[27:20] resource centers kind of have this, you
[27:22] know, whole level of prevention and
[27:24] we've been really um particular about
[27:26] how do we engage our child protection
[27:28] team and when we started it was really
[27:30] well by the time they're in child
[27:31] protection like prevention doesn't
[27:33] matter anymore. It's too late and it's
[27:35] not. And so how do we continue to work
[27:37] with child protection around the issues
[27:38] they're seeing with families and
[27:39] continue to support families in a
[27:41] preventative way even when they're in
[27:43] our deepest system.
[27:45] And I'd like to say just a couple things
[27:47] just on what Nikki said about when I
[27:52] think about what I've seen in the child
[27:54] protection area in the courts.
[27:58] Um there [snorts] was a really dark
[28:00] period during CO where people were not
[28:04] you know we were doing Zoom hearings and
[28:07] child protection. People were not going
[28:10] out in the public. people were not
[28:11] meeting and that one- on-one contact,
[28:16] you know, being able to go to the family
[28:17] resource center in person, talk to a
[28:20] person, have them point in the them in
[28:23] the right direction. I mean, I think we
[28:26] lost a lot of families during COVID
[28:29] where that, you know, we need each
[28:31] other. We need to appear in person. I
[28:34] mean, I'm like a closet introvert,
[28:37] even though I'm a judge, but I need
[28:40] connection with people, and Ron knows
[28:43] this. I ins we insist on criminal cases,
[28:47] people come to the court in person. I
[28:49] won't sentence a person unless they're
[28:52] there in person. And it's really
[28:54] important. And so just having, you know,
[28:58] a call to say, "Oh yeah, go to this
[29:00] place and you can find resources versus
[29:04] coming into [clears throat] a physical
[29:06] location and actually talking to people
[29:09] and having a face-to-face conversation
[29:11] is so important. I've just seen that in
[29:13] the courts." So
[29:16] >> I think I I might just add from a
[29:18] structural standpoint, even just the
[29:20] integration. And so Samantha is our in
[29:22] child protection intake screening
[29:23] supervisor and prevention supervisor. It
[29:26] was an intentional piece of how are we
[29:28] structurally organizing the connection
[29:30] between prevention and deep end service
[29:34] um to to be able to integrate that
[29:36] upstream um focus regardless of where
[29:39] someone's positioned outside the system
[29:41] or within the system. And I think in
[29:44] terms of this data on page 13 um we we
[29:48] continue to hope that we will see a
[29:50] decrease but it uh the goal is always
[29:53] going to be zero but more most
[29:55] importantly are we servicing the right
[29:58] kids and families in the right spot. So,
[30:00] can we secure safety and prevention
[30:04] services outside the child welfare
[30:06] system? And if we can, and I think this
[30:08] demonstrates that over time, that we
[30:10] were servicing families that maybe
[30:12] didn't need to be [clears throat] in the
[30:13] child protection system. We know about
[30:16] 60% of Minnesota child protection cases
[30:18] are related to neglect, often the result
[30:21] of pover impacts of poverty. And so, can
[30:23] we meet that need outside the child
[30:25] protection system? And then we have
[30:27] better ability to meet the needs of our
[30:29] really deep and most serious that may
[30:32] need the help, support, and expertise of
[30:34] the child protection system.
[30:38] I think in some sense this has kind of
[30:40] been answered through a multitude of
[30:41] questions, but just wondering if you
[30:43] could talk about what opportunities you
[30:46] look forward to to continue to make sure
[30:48] you're casting a wide net in and like
[30:49] everybody that you can help that you're
[30:51] finding them and getting them to the F
[30:53] FRC.
[30:56] Um, I would say this really speaks to
[30:59] the cultural navigators that we have at
[31:01] the F FRC location right now. We have
[31:04] Somali speaking and Spanish speaking
[31:06] cultural navigators both employed by the
[31:09] county and via community organizations
[31:11] like Micasa, CAP, Community Resource
[31:14] Center and 360s. Um, and having somebody
[31:18] who looks like you and most importantly
[31:19] speaks your language is very helpful and
[31:22] it allows families when they walk in or
[31:24] if they do call to have somebody that
[31:26] they can be a bit more honest with than
[31:28] they would be with like us who look a
[31:30] bit more government and serious. And it
[31:32] also allows them to be more open and um
[31:35] seek other resources that they might not
[31:37] be aware of. For example, we have the
[31:39] Mikasa food distribution and families
[31:41] come in for food and then multiple uh
[31:45] different kinds of families come in for
[31:46] food and then while they're there, they
[31:48] realize, oh wait, I can get questions
[31:50] about housing, about preschool, about
[31:52] health insurance, or even like a place
[31:54] to take my kids over the summer for
[31:56] summer camp. Um, I would like to see the
[31:59] cultural navigation piece um, expanded
[32:02] to include Asian-American community and
[32:05] the um, Native American community. And I
[32:07] would also like to see languages like
[32:08] Swahili, Cameron, Vietnamese, and all
[32:11] those implemented too as well. And I
[32:13] think that's a really good growth
[32:14] opportunity that allows us to expand our
[32:17] net and get everybody that would need
[32:19] the family resource center.
[32:22] And I think additionally like it's our
[32:24] outreach, right, and how we're planning
[32:25] programs [clears throat] for to reach
[32:27] every individual in Scott County. Um I
[32:30] mean I think we see people that are
[32:31] really struggling. We also see people
[32:32] that are really doing well and they just
[32:34] want a place to come and do an activity.
[32:36] [clears throat] So I think it's it's
[32:38] that that wide net
[32:41] >> to the judge's point of community, a
[32:43] place for community.
[32:44] >> Absolutely. It's just so important. And
[32:46] then the one thing about getting the,
[32:48] you know, the numbers to zero. And this
[32:50] is where my, you know, experience as a
[32:54] judge is, [clears throat]
[32:55] you know, there's always going to be
[32:56] cases involving sexual abuse, physical
[33:01] abuse that may not be related to
[33:03] poverty. We see those cases. And you
[33:06] know, good families, you from the
[33:09] outside, they look fine. They don't need
[33:11] resources, okay? But there's something
[33:14] going wrong seriously in that family.
[33:16] And that's where the, you know, the
[33:18] mandated reporters that the kids from
[33:21] the schools are able to report that.
[33:24] has nothing to do with the family
[33:25] resource center. But I don't think the
[33:27] number is ever going to go to zero
[33:29] because it shouldn't because I want to
[33:31] make sure that, you know, that schools
[33:34] and people, teachers know when that make
[33:39] kids feel comfortable to disclose if
[33:41] that is happening. So, I don't know if
[33:43] it'll ever go to zero is what I'm
[33:45] saying. A
[33:45] >> and with that, like that's where our
[33:47] child protection team wants to spend the
[33:48] most time, right? Like that's where if
[33:50] we if we get those cases lowered, we we
[33:53] get our case loads lowered, like those
[33:55] are the families that we can spend the
[33:56] most time with,
[33:57] >> right?
[34:00] » All right. I have another question. Um
[34:04] Nikki, you touched on this a little bit,
[34:05] the transition that's being considered
[34:08] for moving from the county operating the
[34:12] service to a community provider really
[34:15] operating [snorts]
[34:16] the service. And based on everything
[34:18] you've said, the panel here has said,
[34:20] all the data, it again seems like it's
[34:24] going exactly the way we want it to.
[34:28] um which maybe makes that it could make
[34:30] it a difficult transition to to let that
[34:32] go and trust a community partner to
[34:34] deliver that [clears throat] maybe to
[34:35] the same level even more effectively
[34:37] than the county has been providing it.
[34:40] What going forward
[34:43] would you have us do and us like as a
[34:46] Scott County I'm saying that in two ways
[34:48] as a Scott County resident as a Scott
[34:50] County employee what would you have us
[34:52] do to ensure the ongoing success of
[34:55] this? So you, Suzanne, Nikki, everybody
[34:57] at the table, you have ready access to
[34:58] everybody here, all 42 business units in
[35:01] the county. It's easy for me to bump
[35:03] into you in a meeting and then we can
[35:04] talk about what can the library do to
[35:06] support the F FRC or what can our
[35:08] volunteer coordinator do to support the
[35:09] F FRC?
[35:11] If those are not the right connections
[35:13] from a staff standpoint, what can the
[35:16] rest of us do to to make sure that
[35:18] fabric that your folks have so carefully
[35:21] and thoughtfully woven of that culture
[35:23] of prevention, how do we make sure that
[35:26] stays strong and stays connected to a
[35:28] community provider? So, that's one. What
[35:30] would you have us Scott County do? And
[35:32] then what would you have us as residents
[35:34] do to make sure the community provider
[35:36] has the support it needs? Um I so I I
[35:40] think it's it's it's a complicated sort,
[35:42] right? We we want to make sure with any
[35:44] community or organizations we're aligned
[35:46] with what our values are for the family
[35:48] resource center. Um and our family
[35:50] resource center has really been built on
[35:52] our community organizations, our
[35:53] nonprofits, our community, our parent
[35:56] advisory committee and our county
[35:58] services. So I think from a county
[36:00] perspective like it would be important
[36:01] for those services to continue to be
[36:03] present at the family resource center
[36:05] even when a community provider um may be
[36:07] leading the work. So our housing
[36:09] support, our library support um you know
[36:13] all of those services, their financial
[36:15] assistance, all of those things that are
[36:16] present today um we would want them to
[36:19] continue with a community organization.
[36:22] Um we we are hopeful to to really walk
[36:25] through together of a transition. So, we
[36:27] would want to work with our community
[36:28] about what they continue to value in our
[36:30] family resource center, our parent
[36:32] advisory committee about what they see
[36:34] as important, our together with Ken
[36:36] steering committee around what what are
[36:38] really the the values and the things
[36:39] we're doing that we want to see a
[36:41] community provider continue to do. Um,
[36:44] you know, we we've been really proud of
[36:46] the work and connecting it to our our um
[36:50] child protection assessments. Um, we
[36:53] also know like the community has a voice
[36:55] in this and how do we continue to
[36:56] respond to that and make sure that we're
[36:58] doing what the community also is asking
[37:00] of of our family resource center.
[37:06] » I know we look a lot at our child
[37:08] protection [clears throat] outcome and
[37:09] that tells us a lot about how well the
[37:11] FRC is doing. Are there any other areas
[37:13] that you see positive outcomes occurring
[37:15] in due to the impacts of the FRC?
[37:22] So, I think I mean we've heard from
[37:24] other departments, you know, we've
[37:25] worked with child support and we hear um
[37:27] from child support like they've had some good opportunities at our family
[37:31] resource center. Um I think that like
[37:34] we've we've seen some outcomes with our
[37:36] housing services and our prevention
[37:38] culture and housing and having housing
[37:40] present at the family resource center.
[37:42] Um I think that we're hopeful and and
[37:46] it's a really difficult thing to
[37:48] evaluate, right? But um how are we
[37:50] making sure that we're reaching families
[37:52] that are feeling like they've gotten
[37:53] what they need at the family resource
[37:55] center? And I think this coming year
[37:56] could be a year um that we take a look
[37:58] at like some of that survey data. I know
[38:00] a couple years ago we did um like 50
[38:03] cups of coffee with our community. So
[38:04] how are we hearing back from them about
[38:06] whether or not this is working?
[38:11] [clears throat]
[38:12] And I I might just add um I think
[38:15] Nikki's um point of the community like
[38:17] this was really communitydriven. And so
[38:19] this idea I think Jake you referenced
[38:22] sort of the the work at the onset. This
[38:25] work about um how do we serve and reach
[38:27] kids and families differently came from
[38:30] community connection. It came from
[38:31] community conversation. And what we
[38:34] heard is how do you find a place where
[38:36] um essentially it's a one-stop shop.
[38:38] Parents talked about the difficulty if
[38:40] you don't have transportation. How do I
[38:42] get to one place for one service and
[38:44] somewhere else for a different service?
[38:46] And so this is about um this if we are
[38:49] successful in a transition to a
[38:51] community provider, it is about
[38:54] government taking a new and different
[38:55] role. [clears throat] Um and so it is
[38:57] opportunity and sure is it can be scary
[39:00] in that. Um, but we have an opportunity
[39:02] to hear from community and we have since
[39:05] 2017ish and we will need to continue and
[39:09] that voice of community probably gets
[39:11] even more important as we approach the
[39:13] transition for how is it going, what
[39:15] does community need and how do we
[39:17] leverage our parent advisory council as
[39:19] parents with lived expertise to say how
[39:22] is it going and increase sort of our
[39:24] sharing of power with them as we move um
[39:27] to a new uh evolution of the F FRC
[39:29] service delivery.
[39:33] I think that's thank you Suzanne for
[39:35] that. I think that connects with
[39:36] something else I was thinking about like
[39:37] as time goes on as this evolves and
[39:40] changes and and hopefully transitions to
[39:42] more comm community even more community-
[39:44] based what kind of data would you all
[39:45] like to see or would you like to collect
[39:47] in the future to know it's having the
[39:49] impacts um that it should or that you
[39:51] expect?
[39:54] Maybe it's more about that survey data
[39:56] or
[39:56] >> I think um you know this this recent
[39:59] return on investment like it I think it
[40:01] gave us a small picture um and I think
[40:03] those are discussions we'd also like to
[40:05] continue to have with a community
[40:06] organization. We absolutely would want
[40:09] to continue to provide um or you know
[40:12] get data around our child protection
[40:14] team like are those cases continuing to
[40:16] stay low? Our out of home placements
[40:18] continuing to stay low. how is that
[40:20] family resource center still serving the
[40:21] people to make sure that we're getting
[40:23] those families upstream and not in our
[40:25] deep end systems? Um, and then I think
[40:27] we would probably want to work with our
[40:28] community organizations around what's next. Like are we are we seeing
[40:33] higher graduation rates? Are we seeing
[40:34] kids flourish in school? Are we seeing
[40:38] less crime? Like what is the big picture
[40:40] for family resource centers?
[40:44] Any
[40:47] other questions from my co-f
[40:49] facilitator?
[40:49] >> Well, I have an offbook compound
[40:51] question that I've been dreading asking,
[40:53] but so again, listen to the presentation
[40:56] reviewing the presentation. Uh there are
[40:59] I'm going to use my own terms, right?
[41:01] There are there's a reconceptualization
[41:03] of of prevention, right? You mean the
[41:05] prevention that spectrum is is longer.
[41:06] You've made that point. And we have
[41:08] different inputs in the system. You've
[41:09] got more generalized outreach to
[41:11] families who who fire risk factors.
[41:13] You've got education to mandatory
[41:15] reporters which again is another input.
[41:17] You've got uh your honor uh there
[41:20] suggesting the family resource center
[41:22] will reach a certain point. Does this
[41:24] group even anecdotally have a sense of
[41:26] in those three phases if you take my
[41:28] arbitrary uh you know breaking up of of the in of the inputs if you will. Is
[41:33] there a place where it's stickiest? Is
[41:35] it a place where it's most effective?
[41:37] I.e. early prevention if you're just
[41:38] reaching out to the families maybe they
[41:40] don't uh engage in the services or show
[41:43] up uh you know to to to leverage some of
[41:45] these events I noticed the there the
[41:46] drop in outreach there was a drop in
[41:49] attendance but that also that correlated
[41:51] with some other things happening in
[41:52] society so again even just on a sort of
[41:54] anecdotal level is there a point in the
[41:56] process where a specific type of
[41:58] outreach or engagement is most
[42:02] >> successful or or has the most engagement
[42:04] back from the individual if that's
[42:06] making sense
[42:08] Um so the return on investment study
[42:11] would show that that initial engagement
[42:14] where you're having the intake you're
[42:18] meeting that basic need whether it's
[42:20] those concrete supports or the warm
[42:22] connection to a service has the most
[42:24] impact.
[42:24] >> Yeah. No no and I'm sorry it's was a
[42:27] very again a rambling uh compound
[42:29] question. Yeah. Obviously that's where
[42:30] the greatest return on investment is.
[42:32] But is there a greater amount of sort of
[42:34] attrition out because it's not at a
[42:36] point where something might be mandatory
[42:37] or there might be another consequence.
[42:38] Do we have any sense of you know right
[42:40] once we really we get our hands on
[42:42] someone in the system they don't trip
[42:44] back out they they maintain uh
[42:46] engagement with the program or again is
[42:48] that a data point we might want to
[42:50] >> um
[42:51] >> yeah I think we could certain go ahead.
[42:53] >> Go ahead. So, I think we certainly um
[42:56] probably need to take a look at like the re-engagement of families who might
[43:00] have the most difficult situations and how do we continue to support those
[43:05] families. I think when
[43:06] >> um our doors opened, we we had some of
[43:08] that and because of some staffing
[43:10] challenges like we've lost a little bit
[43:12] of um that
[43:14] >> like walking along with a person a
[43:16] little bit um for a longer period of
[43:18] time, right? Um, so like families are
[43:21] still able to come back, but how do they
[43:22] have that personal connection?
[43:24] >> Um, and I think really when you talk
[43:25] about like this the sticking point, um,
[43:29] I think we try and catch all of those,
[43:31] but you're always going to have places
[43:33] where you can continue to do more,
[43:35] right? But I think about like our
[43:36] father's programming where it's a
[43:37] community, anybody can join and we go to
[43:41] the Scott County jails. And so, um, some
[43:43] of those sticky points I think we've
[43:45] tried to
[43:46] >> to reach. Um, but I think the the
[43:49] outreach is a place that we've seen like
[43:51] when we have our our events, our our
[43:53] back to school, like it's it's we know
[43:56] like um you know having some of those
[43:59] things or giving kids backpacks isn't
[44:00] necessarily going to prevent child
[44:02] protection, but it really offers a
[44:03] family a place to go and they really
[44:06] it's about getting that word out so
[44:07] families know that they have somewhere
[44:08] [clears throat] to go for whatever they
[44:10] might need.
[44:11] >> Well, that's thank you very much. It's good to to know or hear that that
[44:14] broadspectctrum outreach is is having a
[44:16] return. Um and because another
[44:19] anecdotally in my own experience, right,
[44:20] the further upstream you go, the greater
[44:22] your your attrition rate because people
[44:24] don't there isn't necessarily a sense of
[44:26] urgency. So that's a wonderful bit of
[44:27] information. Thank you.
[44:29] >> Okay.
[44:31] >> I just want to give an opportunity if
[44:32] there if anybody had anything else that
[44:34] they thought of uh maybe a answer to a
[44:37] question that was asked earlier that you
[44:38] want a moment to address it.
[44:44] All right. Well, then
[44:46] >> I want to add something, Katie, before
[44:47] we jump on. I usually don't do this, but
[44:51] Suzanne, was it like 10 years ago Nikki
[44:53] was sitting on one of these panels as a
[44:56] social worker?
[44:57] >> I think you're right. And you could see
[45:00] then her [clears throat] interest in not
[45:03] siloing, broadening. You can't do this
[45:07] alone. I sat there and was just amazed
[45:10] at your thought process and now I sit
[45:12] here and watch today what you have
[45:15] helped do and your research and your
[45:17] support for putting this program in
[45:20] place to help our residents. Just kudos
[45:23] to you and your commitment to the people
[45:26] of Scott County and using and breaking
[45:30] that down and broadening and bringing
[45:32] people together. Just outstanding data,
[45:35] outstanding work.
[45:38] Thank you.
[45:40] >> Thank you, Administrator Vermillion.
[45:41] We'll turn it back to Mr. Chair and the
[45:43] commissioner for any I would like to
[45:45] start off and I know the board will have
[45:47] comments or questions and stuff, but you
[45:49] know, over the time that I've been a
[45:50] commissioner, um the county I think has
[45:53] struggled with community engagement.
[45:55] we've tried to figure out how to provide
[45:57] more outreach, more connection,
[46:00] more involvement with the community and that's been a theme that we've
[46:03] worked on and had, you know, success
[46:07] come and go or or, you know, levels of
[46:08] success. And I'm wondering, and I'm like
[46:11] Jake, I think I need something
[46:13] simplified for me. I think it's mo maybe
[46:15] it's a rhetorical question for this
[46:17] morning, but I'm wondering um you know
[46:20] the family resource center to me seems
[46:22] like a portal of to the community, a
[46:24] connection, a connection with the
[46:26] community. And I my what I need
[46:28] simplified eventually is why would you
[46:30] want to have a nonprofit run this? Why would you want to give up this
[46:36] direct county engagement with the
[46:39] community and have someone else which
[46:42] you may or may not be happy with over
[46:44] the time you know and you give up
[46:45] control you give up the the portal the
[46:48] connections so anyhow that could be
[46:51] rhetorical for the future but I don't
[46:53] know if it needs to be answered today
[46:54] but that's my question I would be very
[46:56] and I'd be very cautious on on
[46:59] giving it up okay you I commissioner
[47:02] record. Did you Oh, well, I I said it
[47:05] was rhetorical, but if you want to
[47:06] answer that, [clears throat]
[47:07] >> I I think um for me, like my first
[47:09] reaction is I don't I don't know that we
[47:11] want to give it up. I think we want to build it stronger for our
[47:14] community. You know, I think that when
[47:16] we saw a metro surge in January, it was
[47:18] really a little bit of an eyeopening. We
[47:21] are still a county service, right? And
[47:24] so families, I think, still find some of
[47:26] those opportunities and they get a
[47:27] little hesitant around, do I really want
[47:29] to go to a county building? Um, so I
[47:31] think we want to continue to provide
[47:33] those services and make that connection
[47:34] to the county and and have that
[47:37] opportunity, but we want to give our
[47:38] residents and our community an
[47:40] opportunity to feel safe, to feel
[47:42] comfortable, to feel like they can ask
[47:43] for whatever they need um and not have
[47:46] that that government feel of like, oh, I
[47:48] don't know. And and I think as a team,
[47:51] we struggled a little bit during that um metro surge because we we had to
[47:57] balance both, right? like how do we
[47:58] serve our community and how do we follow
[48:00] laws and how do we how do we react to
[48:02] some of those things? And so I think
[48:04] some of those um make it difficult for county government to continue to to lead and how do we how do we walk
[48:12] along together um to get both of those
[48:15] needs met? And Mr. Chairman, I I would
[48:18] go back to the original discussions
[48:20] which goes all the way back to Pam
[48:22] Selvig and Chris Harter. And it was
[48:24] really the county board who talked about
[48:26] collaboration [clears throat] and
[48:28] community-led
[48:29] and alignment. So we're we're not
[48:32] walking away from it. We're still
[48:34] providing the infrastructure, the
[48:36] capital, and we still have to provide
[48:38] some financial resources to make this
[48:41] work. But it was really about aligning
[48:43] and who was in the best place to do some
[48:45] of this community and that engagement
[48:48] and outreach. And it really came from
[48:50] the discussions with the county board as
[48:51] we were formulating this and where it
[48:53] was going to go. It was aligning those
[48:55] to best who could lead and then we are
[48:58] still at the table.
[49:00] >> Okay. Well, you made a case for not
[49:03] doing it, I think, this morning. And and
[49:06] um you know, I I'll just think of I
[49:09] won't name the categories, but I think
[49:10] there's other categories and not really
[49:13] related to this at all where we've said
[49:15] we're going to kind of shift this over
[49:17] to someone else or some other way to do
[49:19] this. And then our mindset became
[49:22] gradually we don't do that, they do
[49:24] that. Um, and I, you know, there's some,
[49:26] I think there'd be some of that if you
[49:28] had a nonprofit, but I I know you you
[49:31] have to be somewhat vitally or you need
[49:33] to be vitally connected. I get that part
[49:36] of it, but again, I'll go back to Jake.
[49:38] I I need it simplified for me. Okay, Mr.
[49:42] Chair, if I if I might. Um, I think the other piece though, Family Resource
[49:46] Center is a national model and really
[49:48] Scott County has done it different,
[49:50] which doesn't mean right or wrong. It
[49:52] but we did do it different. the vast
[49:54] majority of family resource centers
[49:56] across the country are operated by
[49:59] community organizations. So, we are sort
[50:01] of the unique piece. Um, and I and and
[50:04] so is there fear? Sure, there's fear.
[50:07] Like I I will be the first to say we've
[50:10] invested a lot of time, energy, sweat,
[50:12] tears, relationships into the
[50:14] development um of what the family
[50:17] resource center is. Um, and also I think
[50:20] there's an opportunity that we just
[50:22] simply have a new role within it where
[50:24] maybe instead of the driver, we're
[50:26] co-pilot or we're the backseat driver.
[50:28] Um, but we're not the sole driver. And
[50:30] so this is just an opportunity to I
[50:32] think reframe it and to be in alignment
[50:34] with really um what the evidence of the
[50:37] model demonstrates is that um broader
[50:40] impact both reductions in our deep end
[50:42] as well as other um impacts like
[50:44] self-sufficiency and education and
[50:46] literacy over time. And so I don't I
[50:49] think it's critical. We're not walking
[50:50] away. I don't I don't think it is at all
[50:53] about that. Is about how we reinvision
[50:56] sort of our role with a community
[50:58] organization.
[51:01] » Thank you. All right. Other comments
[51:03] from board members.
[51:04] >> Thank you. Um thanks for the
[51:06] presentation and first off I just want
[51:08] to say thanks to everybody here in the
[51:09] room and and those who worked on this
[51:12] initiative earlier who aren't with us
[51:14] anymore. Uh, thank you because I I think
[51:17] early early on the board was involved in
[51:20] talking about this and it all it always
[51:24] was our lane here is to have better
[51:27] outcomes for children and and not have
[51:31] them need the deep end services. And I
[51:33] just really thank you for keeping the
[51:34] eye on the prize there because it's
[51:36] shown that that we can do that and we I
[51:39] think we can use that lesson as we look
[51:41] at other things the county needs to do
[51:44] and make sure we're keeping that
[51:46] long-term outcome in mind. I also at
[51:48] least my memory is that some of the
[51:50] reason um the transition to a community
[51:53] partner was looked at is because I think
[51:54] this board said you must [laughter] um
[51:57] or really encouraged it because of
[51:58] funding and things like that. So, I
[52:00] appreciate Commissioner Alwark's
[52:02] comments and and Suzanne talking about
[52:04] how
[52:06] maybe we don't even call it
[52:07] transitioning anymore, but it's a
[52:09] reframing and I hope we always will be a
[52:12] key partner on those outcomes because I
[52:15] think the Family Resource Center can
[52:17] achieve outcomes that maybe aren't in
[52:19] our government lane, which is great, and
[52:22] allowing other folks to accomplish them
[52:23] while we stay in our lane um is
[52:26] [clears throat] good. So, my comments
[52:29] really were about potential, I don't
[52:32] want to say even transitioning, but
[52:33] reimagining and and broadening of the
[52:36] family resource center. Just a couple
[52:38] things. I I would love a couple comments
[52:41] on no matter how that happens, if it
[52:43] happens,
[52:45] what part of the partnership will the
[52:47] county hold on to tight to make sure
[52:49] we're achieving those those outcomes?
[52:52] And then for especially for my district,
[52:54] for district one, really seeing the um
[52:56] work to get those resources out to the
[52:59] rest of the county, not just our primary
[53:00] location, has been really important. And
[53:03] just wondered if anybody could comment
[53:05] on kind of long-term thoughts about that
[53:09] because I I know it takes a while. It
[53:10] takes a while to get people to
[53:12] understand it's it's a worthwhile place
[53:14] to go to to get resources, can help,
[53:16] especially when it's, you know, two
[53:17] hours on Wednesday and two hours on
[53:19] Monday or whatever. But what's the the
[53:21] long-term thought about that? So, thank
[53:23] you.
[53:25] >> I think our long-term thought is really
[53:28] ho how do we how do we continue to
[53:30] expand that to areas that are most
[53:32] reachable for families? Like, do we do more working with our schools and
[53:35] have um traveling for things like that
[53:39] so we can make sure that we're
[53:40] consistent. We're getting the word out.
[53:42] And you know, unfortunately with like
[53:44] some of the staffing issues we've had,
[53:45] those are the the locations that
[53:47] sometimes suffer the most um because we
[53:49] want to make sure we're available to as
[53:51] many people as we can be. Um but I think
[53:53] it would be reimagining how are we still
[53:55] available in those communities
[53:56] consistently and how are we doing some
[53:58] of that outreach to make sure we're
[54:00] reaching the community.
[54:05] » Oh, go ahead.
[54:07] I [clears throat] just want to also say
[54:09] how much your work is appreciated. I
[54:11] think Nikki, you mentioned that you've
[54:12] cut that in half pretty much the uh
[54:16] cases coming to my office which allowed
[54:18] me to reallocate some resources in my
[54:20] office. Um so it's really appreciate the
[54:22] great work that you guys are doing and
[54:24] uh we can keep the lawyers out of your
[54:26] way and let you guys do your do your
[54:28] job. Um it's been working out great and as you know we're there if you need
[54:32] us. But uh excellent excellent work by
[54:35] your group
[54:36] >> and and our lawyer is pretty great,
[54:38] [laughter]
[54:42] » Commissioner Bear.
[54:42] >> Thank you. [clears throat] Yeah, this feels like I mean we've we've
[54:45] talked about this. We're going to
[54:46] continue to talk about it and rustle
[54:48] through it uh in a good way, which is great. This just feels like I
[54:52] mean there are good results. Um,
[54:55] and it potentially is changing from what
[54:58] we originally envisioned and maybe not,
[55:01] but it does feel like, and I hate to be
[55:03] cliche, but what does it say? You know,
[55:04] good is enemy of great. It feels like we
[55:06] could be at a spot to where we're
[55:08] satisfied. Good things are happening.
[55:10] It's not a bad It's really not bad. Um,
[55:14] but it does also feel like this is just
[55:16] something that could be even better,
[55:19] which I think we all want. But are we
[55:21] willing to risk? because it's good. It's
[55:24] good right now. And government tends
[55:25] just generally tends to be okay. We got
[55:28] something good. Let's just kind of stay
[55:31] and cuddle that when it's like, well,
[55:33] maybe one more step and we can be great.
[55:35] But but but yeah, there's a lot of
[55:37] butts. And it just feels like this is
[55:38] that
[55:40] um that it could be great, could be
[55:43] better, and not to say that it's not
[55:45] good. So, I want to be clear it and and
[55:48] it's fall and you know this has been a
[55:51] baby that's you have all seen grow up
[55:54] and oh it's going to get on a big yellow
[55:56] bus and go to kindergarten. I don't
[55:58] know. Um it's my baby. Like I get that
[56:02] too. But it does just feel like
[56:05] it's it's it's ready for this. Like I've
[56:07] always been bullish and now lately I've
[56:09] said still bullish but it's tarnishing a
[56:12] little bit. And not because it's bad,
[56:14] because it's good, but because I feel
[56:16] like we need to take some steps to make
[56:18] it greater, better. I don't think the
[56:21] county would ever
[56:23] completely step away from this and here
[56:25] you go, whoever, if you can find someone
[56:27] to do that. Uh, it always felt like, and
[56:30] boy, this will really date me, but felt
[56:32] like a mall concept where Scott County
[56:33] would always be an anchor tenant to
[56:36] whomever, uh, the multitude hopefully
[56:38] would be that would be in this. It's got
[56:41] to be a better analogy these days. Malls
[56:43] are dying. But of this mall of different
[56:45] storefronts of of the main street, a
[56:46] main street of just different storefrs
[56:48] that's going to meet people where
[56:50] they're at, different nonprofits that
[56:52] are with us today in the county or yet
[56:55] to be uh met and introduced to
[56:57] throughout the country or the world that
[56:59] are doing things like this. So that's just my not caution, but just my
[57:05] encouragement is that
[57:07] I do believe this county is bold, is
[57:10] willing to take calculated risks, to be
[57:13] um to venture away from good and risk
[57:17] being great. Um I I just hate to see
[57:21] programs and I'm not saying that this is
[57:22] there but it could be where it just
[57:25] becomes good and governmenty that the
[57:27] next group at this table you know adds
[57:30] something or you and it just never quite
[57:34] got to its potential.
[57:37] So that's just my encouragement, not
[57:40] caution, but just encouragement that we
[57:44] look to what we originally had talked
[57:46] about, understanding things change, but
[57:49] could this be even better? And are we
[57:51] willing to take that risk? And I think
[57:53] we are. So
[57:56] thank you for all the great work that's
[57:57] happened. I mean, great work has
[57:58] happened. And I again, I want to
[58:00] clarify, I'm not saying that good things
[58:01] are not happening. Good things are
[58:03] happening. and it just feels we're
[58:06] almost there.
[58:08] >> So, Mr. Chairman, your staff in the work
[58:10] session on the budget is making that
[58:13] recommendation to make the next step
[58:16] that we would be one of the elements of
[58:19] the first stop shop of the F FRC. We're
[58:21] still going to be there. We're still a
[58:23] tenant. We are still a financial backer
[58:25] of it. But the recommendation in the
[58:27] next budget is to move forward.
[58:32] » And Mr. Mr. Chair, if I might um offer a
[58:35] comment in response to Commissioner
[58:36] Wcman's um I think question around like
[58:39] what's our vision for if there is a
[58:42] transition, what role do we play in
[58:44] that? And I think as we have talked
[58:46] about that internally like we are
[58:48] prepared, we've got um I'll I'll name
[58:50] her Samantha would be identified as sort
[58:52] of that bridge. And so walking closely
[58:55] alongside a partner if it's six months a
[58:58] year with intentional steps around
[59:01] transition. Ultimately we want the
[59:03] community provider right to own that and
[59:05] we want to help support it. But I do
[59:07] think there will be um close integration
[59:10] as we walk through any sort of a
[59:12] transition in the upcoming year.
[59:19] » All right. Any additional comments or
[59:22] questions? I don't know. I I I want to I
[59:24] guess say a little bit more. I if we
[59:27] have a nonprofit that's chomping at the
[59:28] bit and they are going to do a fabulous
[59:30] job and make it better, I would who
[59:31] would um stand [clears throat] in the
[59:34] way with that, you know, but if we're
[59:36] trying to talk somebody into taking it
[59:38] and we're uncertain of how they're going
[59:39] to do, that's another thing. Um so um
[59:43] any I just have caution there. Um
[59:47] anybody else? Okay. Well, thank you.
[59:50] for your work. Uh, it's vital
[59:52] and you're doing a good job and thank
[59:55] you very much. Yeah.