Scott County's Family Resource Centers connect families to services and some fun

Hafsa Abdi chatted in Somali on Monday with a woman who stopped by the new Family Resource Center in Shakopee, explaining how to fill out legal assistance forms and where to get county housing help. Then she helped the mother set up an early childhood screening for her child.

The center, a welcoming space at the Marschall Road Transit Center, is designed to be a one-stop shop for families — a place to learn about available resources, meet up with other parents or listen to a librarian read to their children.

"I think it's invaluable because there are a lot of resources allocated by the government that people don't know about," said Abdi, a case manager with a local nonprofit who works at the center. "Somebody might come in for one thing and realize that we have resources in other departments."

Scott County became the first county in the state to create a formal network of Family Resource Centers in 2021, and the new one that debuted at the transit station this week is its fourth. It features an open gathering area, several offices, a kitchenette, a meeting space and two children's play areas.

"The very basic concept is to make it easier for families to connect with services," said Krystal Boyechko, Scott County's Family Resource Center coordinator.

The concept grew out of the county board's goal, set about five years ago, to one day eliminate the need for Child Protective Services.

It's based on a model introduced by the National Family Support Network that has been used in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Now at least seven other Minnesota counties are creating similar hubs or are interested in learning more, said Suzanne Arntson, Scott County deputy director for health and human services.

"It's a prevention-based model with the idea that we get families what they need, when they need it and at the earliest point possible," Arntson said. "It's a way to help provide services but also build community."

Scott County has three other centers — one at the Savage Library, which will likely be expanded soon, and others at the Jordan Area Food Shelf and the Jordan Community Education and Recreation Center.

State officials are also taking notice. Gov. Tim Walz's proposed budget includes spending $15 million for community resources centers, a similar idea, in 2024-2025, said Spenser Bickett, spokesman for the Department of Human Services. The idea is to make it easier for families to access social services and financial resources, ultimately building stronger communities.

The money would fund grants of up to $300,000 to community-based organizations, counties, cities, tribal nations and others to create the hubs and develop a statewide advisory group for them, Bickett said.

Early signs positive

The centers are designed to be collaborative, with the March calendar for the transit center location showing an evening devoted to "strong parents, strong families," other nights featuring open houses designed for Latino or East African families, and a morning of games and activities from the Scott County Readmobile and 4-H groups.

The upstairs meeting space might host a fathers' meet-up, a teen group or a tea circle for Somali moms, Arntson said.

Each center puts together a Parent Advisory Council to help guide it. The council's members should be parents with a wide variety of experiences, including involvement with county social services or Child Protective Services, Arntson said.

Early signs show that the centers are having a positive effect and reached more than 2,000 families in 2022, she said.

County officials have seen reduced need for Child Protective Services and increases in the number of children who receive early childhood screenings, a strong predictor of positive outcomes for children, she said.

Scott County dedicated $750,000 in its current budget to the resource centers, including the cost of remodeling the transit center and hiring staff. Most of that funding is from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars, Arntson said.

The initiative has also been funded by $385,000 from the Minnesota-based Sauer Family Foundation and $50,000 from Casey Family Programs.

"We are really excited to be supporting this work. We feel like it could be a game changer," said Colleen O'Keefe, executive director of the Sauer Family Foundation, which focuses on improving communities and children's lives.

Washington County recently received a grant from the Sauer Family Foundation to look into the idea of adding similar resource centers, said county spokeswoman Yvonne Klinnert.

Dakota County has been exploring the idea of a one-stop shop for community resources since 2019, said Nadir Abdi, economic assistance director for Dakota County, who is researching the Family Resource Center model.

Hennepin County partners with the community to run NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, where holistic family resources are provided. Officials are discussing establishing additional centers but haven't taken any action yet, said Hennepin County spokeswoman Maria Elena Baca.

At the Shakopee Family Resource Center, Alicia Brambila said it's her job to "help [families] with any barrier" to get services.

As a family development support worker, she's gotten the most inquiries so far about locating food shelves and how to access health care. There are lots of bilingual hubs that connect people to services in Minneapolis and St. Paul, but many parents don't have the transportation to get there, she said.

That's where the Shakopee resource center comes in.

"Families, they are really excited about this place," she said.