Check out the latest from FACT!
THE FACT team has been busy meeting with leaders and influencers across the region and we have a TON of great news to share! We thought it was time for an update. Let us know if we can answer any questions and give us your feedback and thoughts
LOCAL UPDATES
The Honorable Duncan Beagle has given his support to the FACT Community-Based Care project. Having judicial support for a CBC model is vitally important for success.
Dr. Bobby Mukkamala has agreed to consult with all 30 of the county's pediatricians to work on ways to provide more comprehensive care and explore trauma informed approaches to providing services to our child welfare population. Read more about Dr. Bobby here.
We have 3 retired school superintendents within the county who are now committed to utilizing an active resource, the Mobile Education Lab (MEL), for the purposes of education in the neighborhoods to include tutoring, mentoring, homework assistance, etc. Read more about the MEL here.
Additionally, there is a huge push to massively infuse social workers in schools. This provides us with an opportunity to advocate for specialty focus on social workers who are providing mobile support for our foster youth.
We have met with and advocated for the Flint and Genesee Group(formerly known as Genesee Chamber of Commerce) to assist with some of their resources for job placement assistance to our families.
STATEWIDE UPDATES
We submitted a supplemental request for $1.3 million in February. We have been asked and responded to queries and provided support documentation. We connect frequently with our champions in state government, Senate Minority Leader, Jim Ananich (link), and Senate Majority Leader, Mike Shirkey (Link).
We completed a Concept Paper to further strengthen the request. This is in the hands of our Board President and former State Senator Phil Pavlov who is acting as our liaison with the state government.
Our BIGGEST NEWS (and most recent) is that we have been singled out in the supplemental budget that is going through Legislation. Line 307 earmarks $750,000 for Ennis Center “to implement a community-based care project for families”. We think we have support in both houses to get through. See the Supplemental budget here. This is part 1 of the supplemental request referred to in the first bullet.
As an adjunct to that, we have been working to find new bipartisan support in both houses. Bob Ennis gave testimony at the State’s Health and Human Services Joint Appropriations Subcommittee meeting this week. Bob was able to address his concerns AND drop hints about our CBC project. See the video here.
We have met with Director Starling of the MDHHS Child Services Agency and his team on two occasions. We had a brief 30-minute introduction to the community-based care model. A follow-up meeting involved Director Starling's staff from other departments including Tim Click and Nancy Rostoni who are entrenched in prevention/preservation, etc. They were interested in our concept. We are scheduling follow-up calls currently. Here is a link to Director Starling’s profile.
NATIONWIDE UPDATES
Our MOST EXCITING NEWS is that we have been provided a verbal commitment by Dr. Jerry Milner and David Kelly Family Integrity and Justice Works (FIJW), a division of Public Knowledge, to work with FACT on the condition we secure the supplemental request. This is a huge opportunity for federal support and resources for this project.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
That is a great question! Glad you asked!
Contact Legislature!
We will be drafting a letter that you will be able to send to show your support. While we do have a TON of momentum and support, more is better! We can help you make the connections! Stay tuned!
Make Connections!
Help the FACT team connect with more people in our community! Let us know if you have an idea of people that should hear the FACT CBC model! Contact us at info@mi-fact.org if you have any thoughts!
Always Innovating!
Ever get a moment of brilliance? Get an idea? Run into something that needs to be fixed? We do too. We run into something almost every day. Send us a note, we are already creating our network and working toward the future.
Helpful links