SFTA Member Network:

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) and Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (CCR&Rs)

A Note from SFTA's Executive Director
NEW INSIGHTS! WI Child Care Rates Report
Family Resource Center Coalition Membership
Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children's Resource Network
Healthy Childhood Development

Funding Opportunity!
Children’s Mental Health Fact Sheet & Article
CCR&R & FRC Highlights
SFTA Programming Data
Advocacy
Upcoming Events
SFTA Marketing Updates
Staff & Board Members

A Note from SFTA's Executive Director

Greetings!

I hope you have been enjoying the early spring weather that Mother Nature has gifted us with these past couple of days. It has me feeling inspired. Spring is a season of excitement, promising new life and fresh beginnings. The timing couldn’t be more perfectly aligned with the current transformation of SFTA, and the metaphor is not lost on me. It is spring for SFTA, and I am honored to be leading this next phase of growth!

As a nurse researcher for the past decade, I have collaborated with government and community partners to design, evaluate, and advocate for strategies that support quality implementation of child and family wellness programs. My training as a public health nurse, observations as a researcher, and experience as a mother to a 5-year-old have provided me with deep understanding about the importance of equitable access to affordable quality early childhood care and education. Words cannot express how excited and fortunate I feel to now have the platform of Executive Director at SFTA to help fulfill this need for our children and families in Wisconsin.

SFTA has the potential to lead unprecedented improvements in education, social, and health outcomes across Wisconsin. Among our board, staff, member organizations, and funding partners we have access to a truly unique wealth of wisdom and resources. My immediate priority as Executive Director will be to take inventory of all these opportunities and establish solid structures and processes. This will provide a foundation upon which SFTA can expand with confidence and soar to new heights.

In the coming weeks, I will be reaching out with requests for virtual or in-person coffee. I can’t wait to meet each member of the SFTA family and discuss ideas on how we can make the Association flourish.

Until soon,

Heidi Luft, PhD, RN

NEW INSIGHTS! Wisconsin Child Care Rates Report

SFTA has released our latest report and interactive dashboard on our website providing an in-depth analysis of Wisconsin child care rates. You can find the report and map here.

Family Resource Center Coalition Membership

SFTA recently became a member of the Family Resource Center Coalition, which consists of national, state, and local organizations supportive of FRCs.  The FRC Coalition’s mission is to build and strengthen federal funding for FRCs nationwide to ensure all families have the opportunity to succeed!  We are excited about this opportunity to represent Wisconsin FRCs to help educate policymakers in the hopes of strengthening federal funding for FRCs across the nation!

You can view their one pager and infographic here.

Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children's Resource Network

The Department of Health Services (DHS) is thrilled to introduce Wisconsin Wayfinder: Children’s Resource Network, a trusted source designed for families of children with delays, disabilities, special health care needs, and mental health conditions, as well as for professionals assisting these families.

By contacting their toll-free number, you can easily tap into the extensive network of Wisconsin Wayfinder. Their children’s resource guides, housed within the  Children’s Resource Centers (formerly known as the Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN) Regional Centers), are primed to deliver referral services and comprehensive insights about available resources, supports, and providers tailored to each child and family’s needs.

For more details or to contact a children’s resource guide online, visit: dhs.wi.gov/wiscway.

For any presentation or materials requests related to Wisconsin Wayfinder, email DHSwiscwaysupport@dhs.wisconsin.gov. 

To speak with a children’s resource guide, please call their toll-free number 877-WiscWay or visit dhs.wi.gov/wiscway.

Healthy Childhood Development

On January 24, 2024, the Wisconsin Legislative Children's Caucus organized a meeting to discuss Healthy Childhood Development. The caucus invited Dr. Cynthia Osborne, who is the Executive Director of the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, and a Professor of Early Childhood Education and Policy at Vanderbilt University, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, to address the meeting. Dr. Osborne highlighted state policy choices that can impact healthy child development during her presentation. Dr. Osborne's presentation to the caucus can be found here: January 24, 2024 Presentation.

Other meeting materials include:

Finally, you can access a recording of Dr. Osborne's presentation to the Wisconsin Legislative Children's Caucus.

Funding Opportunity!

The Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Board has released a competitive funding opportunity for community-based agencies and tribes to support the expansion of Family Resource Centers of Quality through the FRC of Quality Pathway Expansion Grant. This grant will be funded with General Purpose Revenue (GPR) through the GPR funding provided to the Prevention Board during the 23-25 biennial budget to enhance and grow FRCs in Wisconsin.

Highlights from this funding opportunity:

The goal of this grant is to provide one year of funding to FRCs interested in becoming an FRC of Quality (July 1, 2024-June 30, 2025)
These grants will mainly provide funding for FRC staff to participate in the required trainings for the accreditation process.
Maximum award per application is limited to $20,000 (total amount of funding is $200,000)
Questions are due by 4pm on 3/12
Applications are due by 2pm on4/16

The funding opportunity with materials, requirements and due dates are posted on the Prevention Board’s website.

Children’s Mental Health Fact Sheet & Article

The Office of Children’s Mental Health, in partnership with the Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health, has produced a Fact Sheet that contains important information on the mental health of infants and children. Just like adults, infants and toddlers also have thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, which are all part of their mental health. It is crucial for both the child and the caregivers to have positive mental health and responsive relationships in early childhood. When we prioritize the mental health of young children and their caregivers, it leads to positive effects on the community. Additionally, there is an article featuring the Executive Director of WI-AIMH, Lana Nenide, who was interviewed by the Wisconsin Public Radio on this topic.

CCR&R & FRC HIGHLIGHTS

Newly Accredited Family Resource Centers

Supporting Families Together Association (SFTA) congratulates the following agencies who have successfully earned their FRC of Quality Accreditation. This accreditation results from their exceptional performance and demonstration of best practices in the family support field. The accreditation process is comprehensive and overseen by Supporting Families Together Association, verifying that families accessing services receive high-quality support and programs.

Congratulations to:

O The Parenting Network

O Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley

O Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W.

With the addition of these three agencies, Wisconsin now has 9 accredited Family Resource Centers! For more information on FRCs of Quality and how to get accredited, visit here .

CCR&R Base Expansion Funding

As a part of the last biennial budget, the Joint Committee on Finance approved an increase in the funding to provide an additional $1.3 million annually over the eighteen months for CCR&R services. As a result, the CCR&R network has developed a set of expanded services to include enhanced referrals, more training content, workforce development, and community engagement activities to assist providers, families, and their communities. When combined with the current level of CCR&R base funding, the new total annual amount of funding for CCR&Rs adds up to $2,598,600 per year (Act 19 Sections 283 and 295). 

SFTA and our CCR&R members are grateful to the Joint Committee on Finance for putting services to the early care and education system first. To find your local CCR&R agency, visit SFTA’s website.

SFTA Member’s Story on the Benefits of Being Engaged in SFTA Membership

"I was reaching out to all families in our community that just had given birth and spoke to one mother who was very interested in our Parents as Teachers Home Visiting program but was moving to another part of the state. Because of our involvement with the FRC Infrastructure grant through SFTA and the Prevention Board, in addition to pointing her to an organization that she could reach out to receive home visits, I was also able to point this mother to the FRC map on SFTA’s website and share with her a specific agency that I knew from going through the FRC infrastructure grant process. It was nice to feel confident referring her to an agency, knowing that I’ve personally had a connection with them, despite it being in a different county.”

-Parent Educator/Home Visitor, Family Resource Center of Sheboygan County

SFTA Welcomes Howe Community Resource Center as a Member!

SFTA is thrilled to announce the addition of a new member agency, Howe Community Resource Center. HCRC, in collaboration with Howe Elementary School, is located in Green Bay and works towards creating a strong and resilient community by providing education and support to children and their families. If you want to learn more about the Howe Community Resource Center, please visit their website here.

Family Strengthening Month Toolkit

April is National Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month, and in Wisconsin, it's also recognized as Family Strengthening Month. To promote community-based prevention efforts, the Prevention Board collaborates with the Department of Children and Families and Prevent Child Abuse Wisconsin (PCAW) annually to create a toolkit filled with ideas, activities, and resources. This toolkit is available in April and throughout the year to encourage prevention efforts against child abuse and neglect.

This toolkit provides information to communities, organizations, and individuals on how to promote Family Strengthening efforts.

NEW Regulated Care Provider Dashboard

The Department of Children and Families, in collaboration with county, tribal, and community partners, presents comprehensive data and reports on child care, including early care and education (ECE) programs.

You can view these new interactive dashboards with the links below:

New Regulated Care Provider Dashboard

New Provider webpage with resource guide

What Our Members Are Saying...

SFTA Statewide Network Programming by the Numbers

CCR&R Data

Training Data

FRC Data

Advocacy Updates

Advocacy Day 2024

Advocacy Day Registration is now available. You'll be able to register to attend by completing your information using the following link. SFTA will host two advocacy webinars on April 2nd and 9th from 11 am to 12 pm to prepare for Advocacy Day. During these webinars, presenters will discuss the current legislative bills and help attendees prepare their pitches to legislators. The Zoom link for the webinars can be found here.

Upcoming Events

FRC Calendar of Events

Take a look at the schedule of upcoming FRC events, including conferences, meetings, and other gatherings here.

March - The Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Board Listening Sessions

The Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board is organizing five listening sessions in March to gather feedback on their current and future grants and their next strategic plan. These sessions are open to everyone, focusing on community-based agencies, coalitions, tribes, Family Resource Centers, funders, and other organizations providing services to children and families.

The board will limit the space in each session to facilitate small breakout rooms. Each session is planned for 90 minutes, during which they would like to hear participants' thoughts on funding priorities for direct services that can strengthen families. They also want to know about community needs, agencies' funding requirements, and how they can better support the participants' work.

The same set of questions will be asked at each listening session, and the board hopes that scheduling sessions on different days and times will enable participants or their staff to participate.

Please share this with your staff, partners, and network.

Monday, March 4: 1 – 2:30 pm

O To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwocuCupjMqGNUZeIA5BxUhFfT2T48jtagT

Tuesday, March 19: 9 – 10:30 am

o  To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYocO-grzgoEtxRKgASnQSQLssHiFwL3eqV

Friday, March 22: 9 – 10:30 am

O To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsdeypqjkpGtHO1QJi8PJl2r2kDGeTyBQB

Monday, March 25: 1 – 2:30 pm

O To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pduCprTMuH9Nfhbxtv5X4JAXO1B91C9t4

Wednesday, March 27: 1 – 2:30 pm

O To register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrd-msrDksGtTR3DkcdVrFmt89ll23r2NG

March 12 & 26 - Learning to Advocate for Children & Families

Advocate (noun): a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.

Advocacy makes a difference when influencing the halls of power, whether in your town, your state capitol, or Washington, DC. In this free webinar series, updated with new content for 2024, participants learn skills to advocate effectively for issues they care about and be engaged and informed members of their communities. From strategies for organizing stakeholders to methods for communicating your priorities, this series explores everything you need to impact the issues most important to you.

Webinars are one hour long and feature live Spanish language translation

and closed captioning. Certificates of attendance are available.

Can't attend? You can register and receive the recording.

Learn more and register here.

April 8-10 - Early-Bird Registration is Now Open for the 2024 Together for Children Conference!

Together for Children Conference

April 8-10, 2024

Workshop Day: April 8 | Conference: April 9-10

The Wilderness Resort, Glacier Canyon Lodge | Wisconsin Dells, WI

 April 25 - Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in Organizations: Policy and Procedure Training 

This training will be held on 4 separate dates: April 25th, May 24th, and June 10th & 12th. Please share these dates with your networks! Registration for these sessions can be found on Awareness to Action’s Training Calendar.

April - SFTA is offering the TTAP Course Series

TTAP Foundations Course - April 2024. This course is open to both SFTA Members and the general public.

To successfully complete this course, participants must complete all 25 hours of coursework. This course consists of the following:

Before each session, pre-work must be completed on ECExplorer, SFTAs Online Learning Management System (LMS).
Four virtual face-to-face sessions will be held on Zoom on April 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 4:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
Homework is submitted through the LMS within two weeks of the final session, and participants must earn at least 15 points.

Registration: https://go.wiregistry.org/register.aspx?evid=936121

April 26 - Northwest Connection Family Resources Spring Tribal Conference

Mitch Factor has been a lead teacher in Tribal Head Start for over 30 years specializing in wellness, parent and family involvement, male involvement, and staff working as a collective unit to benefit the children and families. Mitch now presents to Tribal Head Start Staff and Tribal Employees across the United States, Alaska, and Canada at local, state, and National Conferences and Tribal events. He is a humorist and enjoys laughing and having fun while presenting.

You can register for this event here.