Family Services Collaborative of St. Louis County is starting a new initiative: Regional Resource Centers. This is made possible through nearly $1 million in combined grant funding and is aimed at strengthening family and youth support services across the region.

“We have many agencies coming together for this project in a way that we’ve never done before. We’re so excited about that, and we can do so much more together,” said Family Services Collaborative of St. Louis County Director Cassie Liubakka. “We’ll have this really strong network across St. Louis County working together to make sure that we’re able to serve families in the best way we possibly can. They’ll rely on each other to share resources and help each other out in this new service delivery model.”

In northern St. Louis County, this initiative includes nearly $700,000 in funding from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to support the implementation of three Community & Family Resource Centers and one mobile resource center to serve rural communities. Liubakka says this will help with areas that are resource deserts.

“We have a brand new RV with LSS, Lutheran Social Services, that will be going out to different communities that we heard from that said ‘we really need the resources to come to us, because we’re not able to get to all the places that we need to access those resources’,” explained Liubakka. “We’re really excited about being able to deliver on that and meet some people where they’re at. Transportation is a huge barrier for a lot of families and they can’t get to the places that they need to get to to access resources.”

Partner organizations in northern St. Louis County also include Ely Community Resource, Voices for Ethnic & Multicultural Awareness (VEMA), and Mesabi Fit.

In southern St. Louis County, $300,000 will be funded by the Family Services Collaborative of St. Louis County to enhance and expand Valley Youth Center, Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, and Lutheran Social Services as key community resource hubs.

“For us right now, it’s really taking our kid programming, bringing in the family dynamic so that families can feel safe and secure in their neighborhoods where they can find information where their kids can go,” said Valley Youth Center Agency Director Russ Salgy. “So it’s just going to be really setting us up for Valley Youth Centers for 40 years down the road.”

Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative Executive Director Jodi Broadwell says she is grateful for the grant and that it comes at a good time for the organization.

“We had just had money for this funding that ran out. So getting this grant allowed us to continue doing this work, and now we’re able to have a part-time staff on the project,” explained Broadwell. “So that’s making a huge difference in how much time that our staff can spend with families and help them connect to resources.”

These Regional Resource Centers offer free, family-centered services for those caring for youth 21 and under. Each one will have a Family Advisory Council.

“The families get together and really tell the agencies here’s what we think we really need and what we’d like the agency to do. And then the agency can help implement some of those ideas and suggestions that the families make,” explained Liubakka.

There will also be a Community Resource Navigator at each agency who will help connect them with regional support for food, transportation, and other basic needs not covered by county programs. Each navigator will also help families access services that promote healthy social-emotional development, offer safe social opportunities, and provide parenting resources.

“For us, it’s very unique that the person that we have is getting through a paid internship. This is a child who came to us when they were in grade school all the way up through college, and she’s about to become a social work degree. So it’s been really rewarding internally for us because that’s someone that we’ve worked with for so many years,” said Salgy. “But then it’s also taking a position like a family navigator position and being able to add it to our team. That’s what this grant does. It’s giving us a runway to then build the resources up so we can have a navigator after the grant is gone.”

Family Services Collaborative and Lutheran Social Services have hired Erik Mattson as Program Director to lead this initiative. He has a long career in high-risk youth and family programming and leadership and is deeply passionate about serving not just a child but their entire family. Mattson recognizes that a whole-family approach leads to the best long-term outcomes.

“This has been a recurring theme throughout my career,” said Mattson. “I am beyond excited to implement a model that prioritizes a whole-family lens in our service delivery.”

This project is being launched in partnership with Consulting Perks, supported through the Sauer Foundation, and allocated through St. Louis County.