GILROY
– Gilroy’s one-stop shop for social services – the Gilroy Family
Resource Center – will work with 80 other Santa Clara County
agencies in December, trying to cast a bigger net on Latino youth
impacted by substance abuse and mental health problems.
GILROY – Gilroy’s one-stop shop for social services – the Gilroy Family Resource Center – will work with 80 other Santa Clara County agencies in December, trying to cast a bigger net on Latino youth impacted by substance abuse and mental health problems.
The Dec. 12 meeting is part of an effort launched this spring when the South County Collaborative, a collection of social service providers around Santa Clara County, won a $148,000 federal grant. The grant was earmarked for developing a system – known as a Wraparound program – to ensure that Latino families seeking social services from one county-based provider are made aware of other services available to them at agencies countywide.
After the South County Collaborative agencies reach consensus on a networking and referral system, the group will seek additional federal funds in the spring to implement the program.
“This is like a design phase that we’re going through now,” said Jerry Endres, director of the project.
At the Dec. 12 session, South County Collaborative agencies will review survey information currently being collected. The survey asks each agency to list which social service programs they currently offer, which programs require training of their staff and which programs their agency could provide training for.
“Wraparound is a concept that involves a lot of agencies,” said Sue Averett, program manager at the Gilroy resource center. “We’ll provide space for some of the programs and we’ll make referrals to the program as well.”
Endres said research has shown Wraparound programs to be an efficient social service delivery model.
“The idea behind Wraparound is to bring the child’s entire family and community together to develop a game plan,” explained Endres. “Wraparound models are being used elsewhere in the county, but the difficulty is that children and families have to be at a certain crisis level. We’re trying to bring it down to a community level and have more outreach and information provided.
“Gilroy Family Resource Center is one of those first-entry points around the county,” Endres said.
The Gilroy Family Resource Center is located at 8833 Monterey Road.
