Children’s Trust is building a plan to bring together a network of family resource centers (FRCs) in South Carolina that will unite local providers and train them on national standards that help support and strengthen families.
The Pruitt family graduates from Upstate FRC’s Family Solutions program.
As the executive director of Upstate Family Resource Center in Spartanburg, Kelley Ezell understands the core mission of helping families thrive.
Kelley Ezell
Her staff works to provide a network of support made up of collaborative partners, who guide families on their journey to self-sufficiency, resilience and strength.
“To them it means they are not alone, but have partners, support and encouragement to help them reach their goals,” Ezell said.
Recognizing the value of family resource centers (FRCs) and their family strengthening functions, Children’s Trust joined the National Family Support Network as the South Carolina representative in the fall of 2020 and has worked in the ensuing months to convene a network of current and new FRCs across the state. The goal is to train local agencies on the national standards of quality, integrate some community of practice, and prepare providers for potential funding opportunities that facilitate service provision.
As Children’s Trust builds its plan for supporting FRCs in South Carolina, it has worked with local program partners as well as other states to learn more about the landscape and how it can best support this ongoing effort.
Sarah Schiavone
Sarah Schiavone, the family resource and engagement coordinator at Children’s Trust, hopes these conversations with partners provide insight and perspective as the organization uses Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) federal funding to bring together the statewide network.
“This important work has been happening at the local level for decades,” Schiavone said. “We are excited to convene FRC partners at the state level to foster peer learning, advocacy, and create a common language and standard among this work.”
While the short-term goal of building a viable network is underway, Eric Bellamy, the chief partner engagement officer at Children’s Trust, notes the long-term goal in South Carolina goes to the heart of what can make families strong and successful: increased child- and family well-being, strong community partnerships and services, parent involvement, and equal access to services.
Supporting, Strengthening Families Through Hubs
While FRCs are known by different names across the country – whether they are community-based or school-based – their role of serving as hubs of services and opportunities is the same. With programs and activities generally provided at no cost or low cost to participating families, they work to be responsive to the specific needs, cultures, and interests of the local populations they serve. Even though FRCs don’t have dedicated federal funding, there are more than 3,000 of them across the country.
Upstate FRC staff member Narhi Gomez-Garnica helps child complete an early childhood development exercise.
Ezell, who has led the Upstate Family Resource Center since 2007, is excited that Children’s Trust is stepping forward to connect FRCs across the state.
“There is strength in numbers and collaboration,” Ezell said. “A statewide network will allow us to connect with like-minded organizations. This important connectivity will increase our knowledge of best practices and help us to gain credibility in the field of helping children and families thrive. It will provide encouragement and fresh ideas, as well as give us an increased voice to advocate for families and help them overcome the barriers that impede their progress.”
Tanzie Pack, who became a mother at age 16 and now serves as a U.S. Army reserve soldier, credits the Upstate Family Resource Center and its staff for providing the support and guidance in her life that she truly needed. She spoke in a 2020 video for Upstate FRC that highlighted its work.
“I believe that the (Upstate Family) Resource Center absolutely played a role in my success,” Pack said. “They became my backbone – my support when I felt like I couldn’t hold myself up. If it wasn’t for Liv (Hayes) and Angie (Jones), I don’t think I would be in these boots today. And man, they did a good job with me and helped me know that I can make it in life.”
Ensuring Standards of Quality for FRCs
Family support networks nationally serve as a backbone entity to leverage the collective impact of members. They create opportunities for service providers to meet formally and informally, exchange information, make connections, develop relationships, build capacity, and address challenges that no single organization could on its own.
Eric Bellamy
Bellamy and Schiavone point out how Children’s Trust is currently working to integrate the National Family Support Network’s Standards of Quality, which are designed to be used by all family support stakeholders – public departments, foundations, community-based organizations, and families.
The standards will help advance diversity, equity, and inclusion; create a common language for effectively supporting parents; gain critical input from parents to enhance services; and support providers to work with families in a family-centered, strengths-based, and multigenerational approach. Children’s Trust has seven staff members certified in the Standards of Quality and has plans to host more trainings for all stakeholders in the early fall.
Andrew Russo co-founded the Washington, D.C.-based National Family Support Network in 2011 and served as its co-chair until late 2015, when he was hired as its director. He addressed the network functions that Children’s Trust has the unique ability to provide in South Carolina: Coordinating partners to come to the table to figure out where the need is and expand possibilities; ensuring quality of practices, such as training and technical issues; working on systemic issues to address challenges faced by FRCs; and raising awareness about FRC work that has operated under the radar.
“Given that South Carolina is blessed to already have FRCs, Children’s Trust has a wonderful opportunity to capitalize on that to further support the developments of FRCs as a strong network of support for children and families,” Russo said. “Children’s Trust can make a lot of things happen.”
For more information about this initiative, please reach out to Sarah Schiavone at sschiavone@scchildren.org. Join us for an informational webinar July 21 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Registration opens July 1, and participants should pre-register via the events page on the Children’s Trust website.
