Agency Collaboratives

Business/Industry/School Partnership Program (BISPP)
Child and Adolescent Service System Program
Montgomery County Association for Excellence in Service (MAX)
Montgomery County Child Care Consortium
Montgomery County Housing Coalition
Montgomery County Infant Health Advisory Council
Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board
Norristown Area Communities That Care for Youth
Norristown Family Center (NFC) Collaborative
Norristown Weed and Seed
Southeast Region Children's Team
Teen Parent Task Forcent Service System Program

 

BISIPP

The Business/Industry/School Partnership Program (BISPP) was established in 1987 with the mission to develop a mutually beneficial collaboration between area businesses and industries, and the Norristown Area School District. It's an independent non-profit organization whose goals include:

• Monitoring and improving the development of quality educational programs to enable students in grades K-12 to understand society and to function as productive members.
• Planning and/or upgrading activities that will increase awareness and understanding of educators and business/industry people toward each other and the work that they do.
• Maintaining the promotion of programs that raise the level of student understanding of Helping coordinate exchange programs among businesses/industries and the School District.

BISPP formed the Norristown Education Fund (NEF), a local education fund initiative, to work in collaboration with the Norristown Area School District (NASD) in obtaining funding for the expansion and creation of innovative educational programs and school reform efforts. NEF is not intended to replace public funding for schools, it is meant to supplement district funds by supporting key education initiatives that will serve to leverage improved school achievement and broader reform, such as quality early learning and school readiness programs, standard-based curricula and enhanced teacher training.

To learn more about BISPP contact:

John Rule
BISPP President
Miller, Turetsky, Rule, and McLennan
3770 Ridge Pike
Collegeville, PA 19426
Phone: 610-489-3300
Fax: 610-489-1157

          

CASSP

Child and Adolescent Service System Program (CASSP) is a branch of the Montgomery County Office of Mental Health that monitors and supervises the children's mental health system. It is a state - wide initiative that is implemented locally to guarantee that children's services meet certain standards.

There are six CASSP Principles that guide service delivery to children and their families. They are:

• Child-centered: Services meet the individual needs of the child, consider the child's family and community contexts, and are developmentally appropriate, strengths-based and child-specific.
• Family-focused: Services recognize that the family is the primary support system for the child and participates as a full partner in all stages of the decision-making and treatment planning process.
• Community-based: Whenever possible, services are delivered in the child's home community, drawing on formal and informal resources to promote the child's successful participation in the community.
• Multi-system: Services are planned in collaboration with all the child-serving systems involved in the child's life.
• Culturally competent: Services recognize and respect the behavior, ideas, attitudes, values, beliefs, customs, language, rituals, ceremonies and practices characteristic of the child's and family's ethnic group.
• Least restrictive/least intrusive: Services take place in settings that are the most appropriate and natural for the child and family and are the least restrictive and intrusive available to meet the needs of the child and family.

For more information about CASSP contact:

Eva Marie Kundrack or Claudine Pecherek
Montgomery County Office of MH/MR/D&A
Human Service Center
1430 DeKalb Pike
PO Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
Phone: 610-278-3642
Fax: 610-278-3683
Website: www.montcopa.org/mhmrda

                                

MAX

MAX is an alliance of mental health, mental retardation, and drug and alcohol provider agencies collaborating to enhance our effectiveness, pool our resources, and improve communications. Our initiatives include:

• Providing education and information to elected officials to further the best interests of service providers and the individuals they support.
• Cultivating and managing relationships with county officials to maintain a forum in which providers have input into decisions, policies, and procedures that impact services to those we support.
• Developing strategies for staff recruitment and retention, salary guidelines, and transportation matters; and offering educational workshops to agencies, professionals and consumers on a variety of topics.

For more information about MAX contact:

Deb Kunsch
President
MAX
PO Box 382
Norristown, PA 19404-0382
Phone: 215-822-6417
Email: maxassociation@aol.com

 

MontCo Child Care Consortium         

The Montgomery County Child Care Consortium is a group of concerned individuals who live and/or work in Montgomery County that would like to see improvements in early child care, school age child care and education for our children. Membership in the Consortium is open and voluntary, new stakeholders are always welcome. The Consortium’s steering committee consists of about 20 dedicated individuals who helped guide the planning process for improving child care. Current members include parents, caregivers, public officials, social service providers, school district representatives, and college educators.

A Montgomery County Early Care and Education Needs Assessment is the result of an eighteen-month planning process ending in June 2002 and funded by the Department of Public Welfare. This report includes information from surveys conducted with parents, school districts, and other stakeholders as well as information from data sources, such as the census. The report includes recommendations for improvements in child care in Montgomery County.

The Consortium and its partners are currently working to follow through with the recommendations in the report, such as working to improve school readiness in children entering the Norristown Area School District.

The Montgomery County Early Care and Education Needs Assessment can be downloaded from:

www.montcochildcareconsortium.org

To learn more about the Montgomery County Child Care Consortium contact:

Toscha Blalock
Coordinator
Montgomery County Early Learning Centers
201 Sabine Ave.
Narberth, PA 19072
Phone: 610-617-4550 ext. 3045
Fax: 610-617-3550
Email: tblalock@melc.org
Website: www.montcochildcareconsortium.org

 

MCHC          

The Montgomery County Housing Coalition (MCHC) was established in 1989 to address the critical lack of affordable housing for low and moderate income households in Montgomery County. It brings together a diverse group of people from community-based organizations, community leaders, businesses, human service organizations, government agencies, financial institutions, builders, and clergy once a month. The Housing Coalition is a model of private-public sector partnership on behalf of affordable housing. The networking that occurs at each Coalition meeting is the most important aspect of the Coalition. Communication is facilitated and partnerships, cooperation, and joint ventures are nurtured, with the common goal of reducing barriers to affordable housing. Throughout its history, the Coalition has also solicited support from county, state, and federal representatives for housing initiatives. In turn, county agencies and the Montgomery County Commissioners have turned to Coalition members for advice and recommendations concerning housing and related human services.

Over the past few years, the most visible achievement of the Coalition has been leadership in the “Homeless Continuum of Care” process. The Homeless Continuum of Care refers to the entire range of needs and services around homelessness, from homeless prevention to shelter, transitional housing, affordable rental housing, and home ownership. Through committees, the different populations of people who make up the homeless are identified, along with the types of supportive services needed. The purpose of the continuum of care process is to ensure access to resources and to prioritize needs so that homelessness is alleviated and ultimately ended.

To learn more about the Housing Coalition contact:

Karen Kispert
MCHC President
Indian Valley Housing Corporation
PO Box 64183
Souderton, PA 18964
Phone: 215-723-8750
Fax: 215-721-3357
Email: ivhc@netcarrier.com
Website: www.housingcoalition.org

          

IHAC

The Infant Health Advisory Council is a volunteer collaborative of health care and social service providers in Montgomery County that have come together to assist the Montgomery County Health Department in its efforts to improve infant health. The Advisory Council was formed in response to the publication of several disturbing articles published in April 1999 describing the high rate of infant mortality in Montgomery County, particularly in Norristown.

Infant mortality and infant health are highly complex problems. Issues such as housing, safety, nutrition, poverty, transportation, employment, education, immigration, violence, tobacco and substance abuse are some of the factors that contribute to this devastating problem. These issues require a wide continuum of expertise as well as a thoughtful examination of how to address the most important infant health priorities.

Several accomplishments of this group in conjunction with the Health Department are the referral guide entitled the "Montgomery County Parent and Infant Resource Guide". Over 50,000 copies have been disseminated throughout the area along with yearly updates. This guide is also available on the County website at www.montcopa.org/hhs/services.htm.

The Health Department also has received two grants for pregnant women. The Prenatal Service Program offers free prenatal care for those who do not qualify for medical assistance due to income and are under 200% of poverty level or have been rejected by medical assistance because of undocumented residency status. The other program is the Nurse/Family Partnership, a free intensive home visiting program for first time at risk pregnant women in their 12th to 28th week of pregnancy. Families develop confidence and skills for parenting and economic self-sufficiency by volunteering to work with a nurse home visitor until the child turns two.

For more information about the Infant Health Advisory Council contact:

Barbara J. Hand
Infant Health Coordinator
Montgomery County Health Department
1430 DeKalb Street
PO Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
Phone: 610-278-5117 ext. 124
Fax: 610-278-5167
Website: www.montcopa.org/hhs/services.htm

          

MontCo WIB

The Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board (the WIB) are county residents from industry, education, and social service agencies who were appointed by the County Commissioners to plan and to provide oversight of the County’s workforce development resources and programs. Some of the main responsibilities of the WIB include:

• Strategic and operational planning and policy and development
• Approval of Skill Training Providers
• Chartering of the CareerLink Operator
• Approval of providers of literacy and career assessment services
• Budget preparation and oversight of various funding
• Design and approval of programs to assist economically and educationally disadvantaged youth
• Oversight of welfare-to-work initiatives

For more information about WIB contact:

Gerald J. Birkelbach
Executive Director
Montgomery County Courthouse
PO Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
Phone: 610-278-5950
Fax: 610-278-5944
Email: gbirkelb@mail.montcopa.org
Website: www.montcopa.org/wib

 

CTCY

The Norristown Area Communities That Care for Youth (CTCY) is a risk –focused approach to reducing adolescent problem behaviors through community mobilization and planning. Citizens and community leaders in the Norristown Borough, East Norriton township and West Norriton township worked together and conducted a comprehensive risk assessment. As a result of this risk assessment they identified three priority risk factors that can lead youth in the greater Norristown area to adopt problem behaviors and are using these risk factors to guide them in choosing programs. These risk factors are:

• Family Management – Families with economic stress, marital problems, poor communication skills, and family history of problem behavior, have a more challenging time working through the pre-adolescent and adolescent stages without tremendous turmoil or negative outcomes. Poor family management practices include a lack of clear expectations of behavior, failure of parents to monitor their children, and excessively severe or inconsistent punishment.
• Favorable Attitudes Toward the Problem Behavior – During the elementary school years, children usually express anti-drug, anti-crime, and pro-social attitudes and have difficulty imagining why people use drugs, commit crimes and drop out of school. However, in middle school, as others they know participate in such activities, their attitudes often shift towards greater acceptance of these behaviors. This acceptance places them at higher risk.
• Early and Persistent Antisocial Behavior – This risk factor includes persistent anti-social behavior in early adolescence, such as misbehaving in school, skipping school, and getting into fights with other children. Both boys and girls who engage in these behaviors in early adolescence are at increased risk.

The Norristown Area CTCY also works to enhance the protective factors that can shield youngsters from problems. Protective factors, like individual characteristics, bonding, healthy beliefs and clear standards, are aspects of adolescents’ lives that counter risk factors or provide a buffer against them. A key strategy of CTCY is to enhance the protective factors that promote positive behavior, well being, and personal success.  CTCY programs attempt to identify and reduce or counter the risks present in the community, home and school and improve the protective factors in the lives of area youth. To find out more about the Norristown Area CTCY and their current programs contact:

Angela Bell, Esq.
Coordinator
Family Services of Montgomery County
3125 Ridge Pike
Eagleville, Pennsylvania 19403
Phone: 610-630-2111
Fax: 610-630-4003
Website: www.fsmontco.org

          

Norristown Family Center

The Norristown Family Center exists for the community as a collaborative endeavor under the auspices of Children’s Aid Society, a well- established 501 (c) (3) child welfare agency. Since 1994, it has strengthened families in the greater Norristown area on a number of health, education, welfare, and self-sufficiency fronts through a community sought PA Family Center grant with local cash support from Montgomery County, Norristown Area School District, Head Start, the William Penn Foundation, Arcadia Foundation, Quaker Chemical Foundation, Montgomery County Foundation, Sovereign Bank, Commonwealth Bank, SEI Investments, TARGET and other donors. Over 100 collaborators including state/local government, the Norristown Area School District, Head Start, private organizations, businesses and parents have joined forces in various ways to assist families in providing a safe, nurturing environment with opportunities for learning, growing and achieving self-sufficiency.

There are five broad goals associated with this free, voluntary, user-friendly prevention effort to strengthen and empower families:

1.) To promote positive child development through effective parenting, early intervention, and outreach activities;
2.) To support and preserve the family unit as the foundation of success for children; 3.) To assure healthy development and access to appropriate health care services for children;
4.) To provide a seamless, accessible network of services for families; and
5.) To encourage economic self-sufficiency for families through adult education, training, and employment.

The Norristown Family Center is organized in terms of a Governance Board of 20+, plus a wider collaborative body numbering approximately 100, both composed of public/private agency representatives and at least 25 percent parents. These collaborative entities now convene jointly six times per year.

The Norristown Family Center is also actively involved in many other area collaborative efforts such as the Interagency Council of Norristown, Communities That Care, Weed & Seed, Workforce Investment Board, Montgomery County Child Care Consortium, Montgomery County Infant Health Advisory Council, Teen Parent Task Force, Business & Industry School Partnership Program, Southeast Regional Children’s Team, etc.

Geographic Location of Areas Served: Greater Norristown – Central Montgomery County

Size of Program: Serve approximately 100 active families at any given time in Parents as Teachers (PAT) home based parenting education component as well as numerous additional households via brief contacts/ ancillary services through 4+ Family Development Specialists and 3+ Administrative staff including interns/community outreach workers. Total families served as of 8/30/02: 1350. Total children served as of 8/30/02: 2100.

Demographics of Population Served: Over 90% fall into at least one high risk category such as Single-Parent Household, Teen Parent, Foster Parent, Low Birth Weight, Low Income, Low Educational Attainment, High Stress, Drug/Alcohol Dependence, Involvement With Corrections System, Unemployment, Child With Disabilities, or Parent With Disabilities. The ethnicity breakdown for our active families is 48% African American, 34% White, 11% Hispanic and 7% Other.

Criteria for Programs/Services: Normally a family from the greater Norristown-Central Montgomery County area with at least one child 0-5 for core PAT program. No income guidelines.

For more information about the Norristown Family Center Collaborative contact:

Rita L. Cupingood
NFC Executive Director
Montgomery County Human Service Center
201 East Fornance Street
Norristown, PA 19401-3444
Phone: 610-270-0567
Fax: 610-270-8008
Email: rcupingood@norristownfc.org
Website: www.norristownfc.org

OR

Peter Cogan
Children’s Aid Society
Executive Director
Chairperson of NFC Collaborative Board
1314 DeKalb Street
Norristown, PA 19401

 

          

Norristown Week and Seed

The objectives of the Norristown Weed and Seed program are two-pronged, to “weed” out violent offenders via intensive law enforcement and prosecution efforts, and to “seed” neighborhoods with prevention, intervention, treatment and revitalization services. Under the direction of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the Norristown Weed and Seed Program is headed by a Project Director, Assistant District Attorney Christopher Mowery. ADA Mowery oversees the Law Enforcement Coordinator’s (Lieutenant Mark Bernstiel) progress and works closely with the Seed Coordinator (Aretha Swift) in carrying out the goals and objectives of the Norristown Weed and Seed Program.

The Weed and Seed target area encompasses the neighborhoods surrounding the downtown district. The area is bordered by the Schuylkill River to the south, Stanbridge Street to the west, Arch Street to the east, Elm Street on the northwest and Fornance Street on the northeast. It is estimated that this area has a population of roughly 11,000 people.

The “weed” portion of the program, mostly known as the C.L.E.A.N. Team (Combined Law Enforcement Agency Network), is a group of elite law enforcement officers who focus on quality of life crimes in and around the target area. Since the start of Weed and Seed in Norristown, the C.L.E.A.N. Team has undertaken numerous investigations and made several key quality of life crime arrests in and around the target area.

The primary focus of “seed” portion has been to create a Revitalization Plan that will help generate resources in the community. About 80 individuals volunteered their time as A.I.D. or T.A.L.L. team members to create this plan. The plan focuses on eight topics: Housing, Economic Development, Education, Family Strengthening/Youth Development, Community Relations, Crime Prevention/Public Safety, Recreation, and Health and Wellness.

The A.I.D. (Assistance for Impact Delegation) Team consists of key leaders in the community who can offer technical assistance, resources and supportive services to the target area.

The T.A.L.L. (Target Area Local Leader) team members are highly motivated youth and adult leaders from Norristown who are “passionate” about helping to make Norristown better. They participate in leadership training to undertake the “seed” strategies proposed in the Seed Revitalization Plan. Those include: 1) Community Policing 2) Communities That Care 3) Block Social Contract 4) Drug Prevention and Nuisance Abatement 5) Safe Area Social Services Coordination and 6) Neighborhood Enterprise Development.

For a copy of the Norristown Seed Revitalization Plan or more information about the Weed and Seed Program contact:

Aretha Swift
Seed Coordinator
Court House
PO Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
Phone: 610-292-4914
Fax: 610-278-5943
Email: aswift@mail.montcopa.org

OR

Lieutenant Mark Benstiel
Law Enforcement Coordinator (Weed)
Montgomery County Detective Bureau
P.O.Box 311
Norristown, PA 19404-0311
Phone: 610-278-6267
Fax:: 610-278-6279
Email: mbernsti@mail.montcopa.org

 

Southeast Region Children's Team

The Mission of the Southeast Region Children’s Team is to encourage and support interagency collaboration in order to improve the lives of children and their families.

Since 1994, the Southeast Region Children’s Team has worked to give support to communities in a changing environment. When a policy or procedure is hindering access to necessary services for children and their families, the Team works with the involved systems to find a way to remove or modify it.

The Team promotes collaboration through:

• Technical Assistance
  • Providing support for:
    • Children and families to improve access to appropriate educational services
    • System reform
    • Increased local partnerships
    • Information sharing with the Team
  • Conferences
    • Reinforcing what communities have learned
    • Presenting new challenges and acknowledging efforts and change
  • Training
  • Listening and responding to identified needs of the community and agencies

Team Membership includes:

• Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
            o Office of Children, Youth & Families
            o Office of Medical Assistance
            o Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
            o Office of Mental Retardation
• Pennsylvania Department of Health
            o Southeast District Health
            o Division of Maternal & Child Health
            o Bureau of Drug & Alcohol Program (BDAP)
• Southeast Region Child Day Care Division
• PA Network for Student Assistance Services
• County Assistance Offices
• Center for Schools and Communities
            o Family Support
            o Head Start State Collaboration
• Child Care Resource Developers
• Regional Interagency Representative (Cordero)
• Philadelphia Department of Health Office of Maternal & Child Health
• Parents Involved Network (PIN)
• Family Service System Reform (FSSR) Collaboratives
• County Human Services & Offices of Children and Youth

When should you call?

    * When a child’s educational plan is not being implemented
    * When a barrier affects a family’s access to needed services
    * When services do not exist or the services fail to meet the family’s needs.

Who can call?

    * Schools
    * Intermediate Units
    * County Agencies and Organizations
    * Collaborative Boards
    * Family Centers
    * Families

For more information about the Southeast Region Children’s Team Contact:

Anne Shenberger, Director
Southeast Region Office of Children, Youth and Families
1400 Spring Garden Street
State Office Building, Room 502
Philadelphia, Pa. 19130
Phone: 215-560-2249
Fax: 215-560-6893
Email: ashenberge@state.pa.us

          

Teen Parent Task Force

The Teen Parent Task Force was established in 1979 through the efforts of private, non-profit agencies, public agencies, and schools. The mission of the Teen Parent Task Force is:

To advocate for the needs and services of pregnant and parenting teens, to work toward the reduction of teen pregnancy, and to empower teens to make healthy decisions.

They are a coalition of public and private agency representatives including social workers, educators, health care professionals, administrators, parents, teens, and concerned citizens whose activities include:

• Annual Teen Parent Conference
• Teen Pregnancy Prevention Forum
• Annual October Networking Meeting
• Monthly Informational Meetings
• Educational Workshops
• Community Awareness

All interested parties are encouraged to join their efforts in addressing teen pregnancy and parenting issues within our community. The yearly membership fee is $12.00 for an individual and $20.00 for an organization to help defray the cost of general operating expenses and mailings. They hold 10 general meetings a year and encourage members to participate in at least one working committee. The committees focus on the Annual Teen Conference, the Annual Teen Pregnancy Prevention Forum, the Annual October Networking Meeting, and Membership Activities.

To learn more about the Teen Parent Task Force contact:

LaRue Emmell
Secretary
215-679-3086
E-mail: lemmell@fast.net