Q&A
Referral process and community outreach for Family Enrichment Centers
2:09:43
·
157 sec
Council Member Williams inquires about how families are referred to Family Enrichment Centers (FECs) and how FECs make themselves known in the community. Deputy Commissioner Liz Wolkomir explains the multi-faceted approach to outreach and engagement.
- FECs use both referrals from city agencies and their own community outreach efforts
- Outreach methods include partnering with schools, community walks, and word-of-mouth
- FECs are at different stages of maturity, which affects their community presence
- ACS aims to improve outreach to reach families who wouldn't otherwise know about or access FEC services
Nantasha M. Williams
2:09:43
Yeah.
2:09:43
And I thought I was done.
2:09:45
But then I had a question around, like, are people referred to FECs?
2:09:51
Or is it the expectation that the FECs are just so much in the community that they're able to, like, find families in different pockets and communities that need support and make their space available.
2:10:05
So, like, I'm, like, I'm partnering I'm actually partnering with the FEC in my district on a toy giveaway, but it just I I think, like like, I inserted myself in their toy giveaway, but I feel like outside of the tons of programs and the chairs mentioning, it's like, I don't know how to utilize them Yep.
2:10:24
For any and and then, like so I don't know who's actually utilizing them and, like, what they're actually doing.
2:10:29
Like, I see them around, but I'm not sure.
2:10:32
So I'm like, okay, is there a steady stream of people that are, like, referred to them?
2:10:36
Or is it just solely, like, reliant on that center itself to be out in the community and conduct their work?
2:10:43
-Yeah.
Althea V. Stevens
2:10:43
-I asked the question too, but I'm happy
UNKNOWN
2:10:44
to -That's
Liz Wolkomir
2:10:44
what I'm saying.
2:10:45
-No.
2:10:46
Yeah.
Althea V. Stevens
2:10:46
That it's important that they see that it's not just me.
Liz Wolkomir
2:10:49
Yeah.
2:10:49
Yeah.
2:10:49
We're, like, very similar.
2:10:50
It's both and.
Angela Burton
2:10:51
It shouldn't be here on Saturday.
2:10:52
It's
Liz Wolkomir
2:10:52
both.
2:10:53
It's both and.
UNKNOWN
2:10:53
It's important
Althea V. Stevens
2:10:54
because it emphasizes that.
2:10:55
Like, it's not just me experiencing the
Liz Wolkomir
2:10:57
Yeah.
2:10:58
Yeah.
2:10:58
Yep.
2:10:59
It's both and.
2:11:00
So, and I wanna sort of reemphasize that each family enrichment center because we've been roll there were 3 that were initial in the pilot, and the others have been rolling out over the last couple of years.
2:11:12
And as you can imagine, sort of building trust in community and establishing yourself as a trusted space in a known space takes time.
2:11:21
And so they are different stages of maturation, which may be part of part of what's going on there.
2:11:26
But, so absolutely, I think we partner with other city agencies to make sure they're aware of the family enrichment centers, aware of what they do.
2:11:34
We we do the same sort of internally with our CARES programs, with our CPS, with prevention services.
2:11:40
We can always be doing that better and stronger, and we are gonna look to doing that.
2:11:44
A lot of the outreach that happens too, though, is through, the outreach from that organization themselves because they were already sort of embedded in the community, and that looks like a lot of different things.
2:11:56
Council member Stevens was referencing connection to schools.
2:12:00
There's also just community walks that family enrichment centers are going on to sort of build trust with community, and and there's that word-of-mouth that's really important.
2:12:11
I think the area that we really want to go deeper in as these family enrichment centers mature is figuring out how do we reach families that wouldn't otherwise just walk in or hear about it.
