By Mary Wysocki and Terry Cox / For The Herald
Family Resource Centers are grass-roots, neighborhood-based organizations that provide a single-entry point for families to access direct services and referrals. These centers utilize a family-centered approach, tailoring support and aid to the family and its members based on their needs, strengths, goals and unique circumstances. This approach to care helps to strengthen the resiliency of the family unit and its members.
Sky Valley Community Resource Center in Sultan; Familias Unidas & Everett Community Resource Center in South Everett; North Counties’ Family Services in Darrington and Stanwood Camano Community Resource Center in Stanwood are just a few of the Family Resource Centers serving Snohomish County residents.
The centers are more than a physical space or program. Often, they are a caring point of contact for the family to seek direct assistance from the center while also linking them to other supportive community services. FRCs provide a safe environment for residents who have been alienated and marginalized, build trusting relationships, and give hope to families as they navigate and access support services.
The resource centers support their local communities by:
• Preventing children from entering the over-burdened state foster care system;
• Providing child-care and job-training services to support the economic self-sufficiency of the family and increase the economic viability in the community;
• Reducing the use and reliance on county and state social assistance programs or services;
• Increasing the educational success of children to become thriving and independent adults.
For every dollar spent by taxpayers on Family Resource Center there is a savings of $4.93, according to the National Family Support Network.
Recently, an resource center staff member shared a compelling story of family impact, hope and success.
“For the last two years, an un-documented family has lived in fear of deportation for the mother and her four children. These fears prevented the mother from getting any resources as the family stayed ‘under the radar.’”
When the mother came to the Family Resource Center and saw that it was a safe environment, she shared her circumstances. The family struggled with getting basic food needs met; they lived in isolation as the mother did not have a driver’s license; the youngest daughter had behavioral issues due to an undiagnosed developmental delay; and the two older daughters were failing school as they struggled with learning English as a second language.
With the support of the a center family advocate, this family received wraparound supports including food stability, emotional support for the mother to advocate for her daughter to get a developmental disability assessment, academic tutoring for her older children, and help getting a driver’s license; including driving lessons from center staff. Now, a year later, “this family is mobile, connected to their community; mom is working, and the children are thriving academically and socially.”
Unfortunately, the pandemic has resulted in many families experiencing more hardships and challenges than ever before and because of this, the need for help navigating social services, rental assistance, gas vouchers and other basic needs has increased significantly for Family Resource Centers statewide.
For many years, the resource centers in Washington state have not had the sustainable funding necessary to support the most vulnerable and marginalized residents. While some grants covering operational costs are available through public and private sources, the majority of funding comes directly from the communities in which the centers are located. In addition, centers lack the infrastructure and staff capacity to pursue grants while serving those most in need simultaneously.
In the 2022 Legislative Session, there is a nudget proviso that requests $5 million from the operating budget to administer grants to strengthen and sustain existing family resource centers and increase capacity statewide in those counties that do not have this important resource for their most vulnerable residents.
Please contact your local legislators and let them know that you support the $5 million budget proviso for Family Resource Centers that will help build up our local families, our local neighborhoods and ultimately strengthen our communities.
To find your state legislative district go to app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder.
Mary Wysocki is coordinator for the Snohomish County CORE Collaborative. Dr. Terry Cox is acting chief executive for United Way Snohomish County.
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