United Family Strengthening Partnership

United Family Strengthening Partnership
Life Skills Training for Kids & Families

Financial stability comes from having an income that is adequate to pay for today’s necessities
and to save for the future, but too many working parents don’t have the resources they need to
obtain work, to earn enough to provide for their families, and to achieve good health.

PROBLEM
On any given night, over 400 Mercer County families are living in shelter and housing programs, most of them children. Many families lack the resources to care for themselves and do not know how to find the services they need. Where do families turn for help?

Why?
Most people do not know how to access services like housing, emergency assistance, counseling, or crisis response to domestic violence. Low income families struggle in silence, lose their homes to foreclosure, and often lose their children because of their social, economic and emotional problems. Often when they do call for help, they are told they are not eligible, put on waiting lists, or just given the “run-around.” It is our children who suffer as they fail to reach their potential in school and in the community without responsive, coordinated supports. In the Latino community, domestic violence is a silent problem that keeps families from achieving stability, well-being and self-sufficiency.

Solution
Eight community based agencies joined together to increase the capacity of families to care for themselves and to improve their emotional and economic stability. Consumers can access all eight agencies just by contacting one of the partners for services, with no referral or wait for services.

Initiative Partners:
 

·         Family Guidance Center – mental health/substance abuse counseling, and credit counseling

·         Catholic Charities El Centro – domestic violence counseling

·         Womanspace – domestic violence crisis, shelter and counseling services

·         CASA – court appointed special advocates for children and families

·         PEI Kids – sexual abuse counseling and court services

·         CONTACT of Mercer County – after hours crisis hotline

·         HomeFront – transitional housing and emergency food for homeless families

·         Rise of Hightstown – emergency assistance and case management

·         UWGMC- provides leadership, accountability and funding

Results Over the First Two Years

·         102 families received emergency and transitional housing services

·         3,250 Latino individuals received specialized crisis intervention, shelter, counseling and education services

·         373 individuals and families received counseling and support services

·         296 individuals received domestic violence counseling and support

·         Cross training and coordination of staff led to increased effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery

Why Invest in United Family Strengthening Partnership?
 

·         Family Benefit: Collaboration allows “one-stop shopping” for individual and family services. “No wrong door” approach improves consumer access, screening/assessment, and case coordination and follow-up, and prevents duplication of services.

·         Employees Benefit: Employees who volunteer through their workplace report more positive attitudes toward their employer and their co-workers. Further, those who volunteer are more positive about their own physical and emotional health than non-volunteers.

·         Companies Benefit: Top-level executives recognize the bottom-line value of corporate citizenship because it enhances a company’s reputation and image, is valued by customers and helps recruit and retain employees.

·         Community Benefits: Savings of over $74,000 per foreclosure, an 80% success rate in preventing foreclosures. Savings of over $112,000 per child placed in foster care rather than residential care. $1.9 million in in-kind services from over 1,000 volunteers providing over 78,000 hours of service.