The Children’s Network of San Bernardino County concerns itself with "children at risk", defined as minors who, because of behavior, abuse, neglect, medical needs, educational assessment, or detrimental daily living situation, are eligible for services from one or more of the constituent agencies of the Children’s Network. These agencies were designed to reduce risk of conditions which limit the likelihood of achieving full adult functioning. A variety of public and private agencies deliver a broad, occasionally confusing, and sometimes inadequate, array of services to these children.

The overall goal of the Children’s Network is to help "children at risk" by improving communications, planning, coordination and cooperation among youth service agencies; identifying gaps and overlaps in services; providing a forum for clarifying perceptions and expectations among agencies and between agencies and the community; setting priorities for interagency projects; and implementing collaborative programs, public and private, to better serve children and youth.

Partnerships

• Children’s Network strives to expand the resources of community based organizations throughout San Bernardino County. Acting as the lead agency, Children’s Network developed the Focus West Collaborative, based in the West End of San Bernardino County. Serving as the model for other collaborations, Focus West began six years ago and has brought in more than $3 million for programs and facilities for the communities they serve.

• To develop a successful collaboration, Children’s Network facilitates the process to identify the community’s needs, then discusses and records assets available through the partnership to address the needs, and finally develops a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize the partnership. The MOU is a valuable resource for members to identify agencies and services they may access for their clients and/or residents. Prior to this process, member agencies were unaware of many programs and resources in the community.

• Other collaborations recently begun are the Fontana Collaborative and the High Desert Partnership. Both of these group were formed in the past year, but are enjoying a strong participation by agencies and community representatives. Fontana has developed its MOU and the High Desert Partnership is in the process. It is anticipated these collaborations will provide their communities with expanded programs and services as a result of these partnerships.

• Children’s Network also participates in other collaborations in San Bernardino County. Building a Generation is based in Redlands; Children’s Network serves on the advisory committee for this collaboration. The Montclair Community Collaborative, Ontario’s Family Solutions, the Comprehensive Health Advisory Committee, Fontana Unified Healthy Start Collaborative and the Rancho Cucamonga Community Services Network, are some of the collaborations in which the Network participates.

• Improve economic well-being of children and families
• Improve child safety by reducing incidence of child abuse and neglect
• Reduce juvenile crime and recidivism in the juvenile justice system
• Reduce the number of children in residential treatment in state licensed facilities
• Reduce the number of teen pregnancies
• Improve school success
• Expand community-based resources for children, youth, and families
• Reduce the incidence of preventable deaths for children and youth

Total Number: 8

%Management: 2%

 

 

 

 

 

Field Sites: 4

Regions: 5

Multi-disciplinary Teams: 5

 

• Budget is held under other County budgets

• 1998 – Delinquency Prevention Award by California Youth Authority
• 1998 – Circle of Life Award by Family Service Agency of San Bernardino
• 1994 – Outstanding Government Unit by American Society of Public Administration, Inland Empire Chapter
• 1991 – Featured as a model program in "Fighting Fragmentation: Collaborative Efforts to Service Children and Families in California’s Counties" (University of California-Berkeley)
• 1991 – Featured as one of several model programs nationwide to be part of "Investing in Our Youth: A Nationwide Committee of the Whole," a PBS special with Bill Moyers

• Improve Economic well-being of Children and Families
• Continue work through CalWORKs Policy Executive Group
• Continue work through the local Child Care Planning Council
• Continue Family Support through Children’s Fund
• Improve Child Safety by Reducing Incidents of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Facilitate April 200 as Child Abuse Prevention Month
• Facilitate Safe and Stable Families planning and implementation processes
• Continue participation on Children’s Assessment Center Board of Directors
• Continue prevention and intervention activities through the Regional Case Management Councils
• Reduce Juvenile Crime and Recidivism in the Juvenile Justice System
• Continue support for the Countywide Gangs and Drugs Task Force
• Continue support for Law Enforcement Education Partnership
• Continue support of Probation’s Home Run Program
• Continue work on preventing school truancies

• Reduce the Number of Teen Pregnancies in San Bernardino County
• Continue prevention efforts through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition
• Reduce the Number of Children Who Need Residential Treatment in State Licensed Facilities
• Continue support, prevention and intervention efforts through the Children’s System of Care
• Improve School Success
• Support the Healthy Start grant process for the year 2000
• Continue to support the Head Start Shared Governance Board
• Expand Community-Based Resources for Children, Youth and Families
• Continue support and leadership for community-based Collaboratives: Focus West, Building a Generation, Montclair Collaborative, High Desert Partnership for Kids, Bear Valley Community Network, and Fontana Collaborative.

• CHILDREN’S POLICY COUNCIL, department heads of those County agencies that provide services to children, a member of the Board of Supervisors, the County Administrative Officer, and the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court

• CHILDREN’S ADVOCATE LINKAGE, a mutually supportive ongoing partnership between the various components of the Children’s Network and the children’s service providers, advisory board, local educational agencies, child advocates, community Collaboratives and community-based organizations, the religious community, and the community-at-large
• CHILDREN’S SERVICES TEAM, an inter-agency, mid-management policies and procedures problem-solving group with a network of subcommittees working on specific projects
• CHILDREN’S FUND, a nonprofit corporation developing a public-private partnership to acquire goods and services for children at risk who cannot obtain them through existing public or private programs
• CHILDREN’S LOBBY, an interagency group of legislative analysts who review child-related legislation and make recommendations to the Policy Council
• CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING COUNCIL, for the purpose of developing a county-wide plan to set forth: (1) the priorities for the use of Federal Child Care Block Grant funds in the County of San Bernardino for children of eligible families; and (2) a comprehensive county-wide, long range plan for child care and development services;
• FAMILY PRESERVATION AND FAMILY SUPPORT PLANNING COUNCIL, for the purpose of developing a county-wide plan to set forth: (a) the priorities for the use of Federal Family Preservation and Support Program funds in San Bernardino County for eligible families, and (b) a comprehensive county-wide, five-year plan for family preservation and support services.

• Inter-agency Index/Information sharing
• CSOC/Home Run Expansion
• CBO partnership