Grant County Child & Youth Council ~ a
Family Services Collaborative

c/o WCA North Elementary School
411 First St SE
Elbow Lake MN 56531
Phone : 218-685-4587
Fax : 218-685-4149
Email: cycmail@wca.k12.mn.us
Office Hours - 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday - but do vary. Voice mail is available.

The Grant County Child & Youth Council is a local effort established in 1993 to form stronger connections between family, school and community so that all children and families can live productive lives. The Grant County Child & Youth Council serves children (ages 0 – 18 years) and their families who reside and/or attend the school districts of Ashby, Herman-Norcross or West Central Area located in Grant County.

In addition to being a Family Services Collaborative, the Grant County Child & Youth Council provides an umbrella for other child & youth serving work teams: an Early Childhood Initiative; a Child Abuse Prevention Council; a Local Coordinating Council; and a Community Transition Interagency Committee.

The partners of the Grant County Child & Youth Council are committed to working together to ensure that every child reaches their potential and
1) experiences basic economic security,
2) realizes his/her potential for physical and mental health,
3) lives in a safe, nurturing environment, and
4) learns to the utmost of his/her ability

The Grant County Child & Youth Council’s Work Teams provide opportunities for people working with and for families to communicate with each other to plan and put into practice a broad service delivery system that meets the needs of children, teens and families.

Early Childhood Focus: Monthly meetings of this work team include discussion and planning around the early childhood efforts of:

1. HUG - "Helping Us Grow" - offers universal home visits and provides expectant parents, child care providers and families of newborns with support, encouragement and information in the areas of parenting, child growth and development. The home visits are made by Public Health Nurses, Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) or Head Start teachers. During the visits parents can enroll their child in the Follow Along Program. The Follow Along Program helps parents know if their child is playing, talking, growing, moving, and acting like other children the same age. Contact Stevens Traverse Grant Public Health at the Grant County Office 218-685-5301 for more info on the home visits.
2. Early Childhood Review Team: The team's purpose is to work with a parent who has concerns about their young (birth through age five years) child's growth and/or development. Together with the parent the team will assess the child's health, education, and social/emotional needs. The parents and the team will then plan appropriate early intervention, support and services for the child. The team consists of representatives from: Stevens Traverse Grant Public Health, Head Start, Schools, Grant Co. Child & Youth Council's Early Childhood Initiative, Grant County Social Services, Midwest Special Education Cooperative, and Fergus Falls Area Special Education Coopertaive. The team meets monthly on the first Thursday at 10:00 a.m. Contact Natasha Kaiser for more information.
3. Early Childhood Dental Network (ECDN) - a regional group brought together by the West Central Initiative to address young children's oral health and their access to dental care. One of the projects of the ECDN is Dental Outreach Clinics. The Grant County Outreach Clinic happens in Elbow Lake every six months. This clinic is for children between the ages of 1 to 12 years of age and covered by Minnesota Health Care Programs and Minnesota Medical Assistance. Appointments must be made in advance by calling toll free: 1-877-998-2218 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. If transportation is an issue, ask about transportation options when you make your appointments. For more info: Apple Tree Dental.
4. Early Childhood Mental Health Network is another regional group of the West Central Initiative. The focus of this group is early childhood social/emotional development. One of the projects of this group was the development of the Grant County Mental Health Resource Guilde (2009) and Multi-County (Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stevens & Traverse Counties) Children's Mental Health Reference Guide.
5. Early Identification and Early Intervention: In 2011 the State of Minnesota restructured the IEICs (Interagency Early Intervention Committees) to a regional model. However, the local early intervention efforts in Grant County School districts for children birth to age 5 will be addressed at local Early Childhood work team meetings.

Child Abuse Prevention Council – This work team of the Grant County Child & Youth Council serves as a state recognized Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) which strives to build community assets, educate the community on child neglect issues, and mobilize community members with the overall goal of providing a safe and nurturing environment for children and teens. Projects include: H.U.G. – Helping Us Grow – a universal home visiting program; the annual FUN Fest & Expo, co-sponsored with the Grant County Office of Emergency Management; and activities and events that help build family strengths and promote optimal child and youth development. All efforts of our CAPC are guided by the Five Protective Factors of:

1. Parental resilience: Recognizing the signs of stress can help parents build their capacity to cope and bounce back from all types of challenges.
2. Social connections: Parents who have an extensive network of friends, family members, and neighbors have better support in times of need. These people can provide emotional support and concrete assistance when it is needed.
3. Concrete support for parents in times of need: Meeting basic economic needs like food, shelter, clothing and health care is essential for families to thrive. Likewise, when families encounter a crisis such as domestic violence, mental illness or substance abuse, adequate services and supports need to be in place to provide stability, treatment and help for family members to get through the crisis.
4. Knowledge of parenting and child development: Accurate information about child development and appropriate expectations for a child's behavior at every age help parents see their children and youth in a positive light and promote their healthy development. Information can come from many sources, including family members as well as parent education classes and surfing the internet. A couple of reliable websites are:
   
   Helpful and Reliable Web Links: A helpful website for parents on how to help their child have the healthiest childhood possible is Bright Futures. This site includes tips on nutrition, oral health, physical activity and mental health. Parents can click on "What to Expect and When To Seek Help" for each of the four stages of childhood: Infancy (Ages Birth - 12 months), Early Childhood (Ages 1-4 years), Middle Childhood (Ages 5-10), Adolescence (Ages 11-21 years), These fact sheets provide a "snapshot" of what to expect at each age level, ways to identify each child's strengths, and also tips for when, where and how to seek help.
   Another useful website is MN Parents Know. This website is full of trusted parenting information, resources and activities to help a child grow, develop and learn from birth through high school.
5. Children's social and emotional development: A child or youth's ability to interact positively with others, self-regulate their behavior and effectively communicate their feelings has a positive impact on their relationships with their family, other adults and peers. Challenging behaviors or delayed development create extra stress for families, so early identification and assistance for both parents and children can head off negative results and keep development on track.

The Grant County CAPC participates in the annual Radiothon to End Child Abuse broadcast on KIKV Radio the first week in December. This Radiothon raises money for local efforts to strengthen families and reduce the likelihood of child neglect or abuse.

LCTS – Local Collaborative Time Study is a federal funding source enhancing the work of Family Service Collaboratives - such as the Grant County Child & Youth Council. Collaboratives participate in the time study as a means of generating new federal money by statistically measuring the percentage of time spent on local activities that help children and families. Local staff of school districts, public health and corrections systems must participate in order for a collaborative to claim federal reimbursement through the time study.

The money generated must be used to expand prevention and early intervention services for children and families. The federal funds received from LCTS activities are intended to benefit families and children, not an individual collaborative or a single member of a collaborative.

In Grant County, the LCTS has provided funds to support

• H.U.G. – “Helping Us Grow” a universal home visiting program
• WCA Secondary School’s school social worker
• Ashby School’s school social worker
• Herman-Norcross School’s school counselor

1. Who do I contact if I have a question or concern about my child?
ANSWER: Contact your child’s teacher, public health nurse, home visitor, school nurse, school principal, school counselor, school social worker, county social worker or other service provider who knows you and your child best.

2. How can I get involved in the Grant County Child & Youth Council?
ANSWER: Community participation is encouraged on all Work Teams. Contact the Grant County Child & Youth Council Office to get more information on team goals, meeting schedule and current projects or activities.

3. What services does the Grant County Child & Youth Council provide?
ANSWER: The Grant County Child & Youth Council itself does not have staff that provides direct services to children, adolescents or families. The services and resources available to children, adolescents and families are provided by the partners of the Grant County Child & Youth Council. The Grant County Child & Youth Council provides a network for these partners to communicate and work collaboratively to most effectively meet the needs of children, adolescents and their families.

4. How is the Grant County Child & Youth Council funded?
ANSWER: Funding for the administration of the Child & Youth Council is provided locally by the mandated partners. Other funding is obtained through grants and community donations from individuals and organizations. In-kind contributions are provided by the partners, as well.

Helpful and Reliable Web Resources:

Grant County Resource Listing

Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health (MACMH) has developed a series of Children's Mental Health Fact Sheets. These fact sheets provide clear and concise descriptions of 15 mental health disorders that may occur in children during the school-age years.

MACMH has also developed a series of Early Childhood / Preschool Mental Health Fact Sheets that provide infromation on topics parents may have concerns about regarding their young child's social-emotional development.

A helpful website for parents on how to help their child have the healthiest childhood possible is Bright Futures. This site includes tips on nutrition, oral health, physical activity and mental health. Parents can click on "What to Expect and When To Seek Help" for each of the four stages of childhood: Infancy (Ages Birth - 12 months), Early Childhood (Ages 1-4 years), Middle Childhood (Ages 5-10), Adolescence (Ages 11-21 years), These fact sheets provide a "snapshot" of what to expect at each age level, ways to identify each child's strengths, and also tips for when, where and how to seek help.

Another useful website is MN Parents Know. This website is full of trusted parenting information, resources and activities to help a child grow, develop and learn from birth through high school.

Click on the Grant County Resource Listing for a quick reference list of phone numbers of resources that are available to you in Grant County.

Grant County Dental Outreach Clinic - For Kids is Monday, September 19, 2011 at the Grant Co. Extension Office's Conference Room located at the WCA North Elementary building in Elbow Lake.

This Apple Tree Dental Outreach Clinic is for children between the ages of 1 to 12 years of age and covered by Minnesota Health Care Programs and Minnesota Medical Assistance. Appointments must be made in advance by calling toll free: 1-877-998-2218 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. If transportation is an issue, ask about transportation options when you make your appointments. For more info: Apple Tree Dental

The Dental Outreach Clinic is sponsored by the West Central Initiative, MN Early Childhood Initiative, Otto Bremer Foundation, Delta Dental, PrimeWest Health, Apple Tree Dental and Caring Hands Dental Clinic. Flyer