Over 100 professionals from Orange County’s non-profit, public, and private sectors attended the first Families and Communities Together (FaCT) Family Resource Center Meet & Greet on June 27th at the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living in Newport Beach. Hosted by FaCT, in coordination with the Costa Mesa Family Resource Center and the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living, attendees had the opportunity to engage with the county-wide FaCT network of 15 Family Resources Centers that offer support services to Orange County’s families.
In 2017, Orange County received nearly 32,000 allegations of child abuse on individual children, resulting in 4,628 of those allegations being substantiated. While substantiated child abuse allegations made up just over 0.6% of all Orange County children in 2017, often families with allegations are still grappling with the issues that resulted in the allegation in the first place. Preventative services, like those offered at FaCT Family Resource Centers, are essential to the continued health and stability of atrisk families. The FaCT Meet & Greet served as an opportunity to engage with all of the 15 FaCT Family Resource Centers, discuss new ideas, and forge new partnerships that will benefit Orange County’s families. Due to the success of the Meet & Greet, future similar events will be held in order to continue to promote community collaborations.
Additionally, the Meet & Greet featured an award ceremony for the winners of the 2018 FaCT Youth Poster Contest. Five winners from separate age and geographic categories emerged from a pool of nearly 40 entries. The entries from the Family Resource Center’s youth programs showcased the impact that their Family Resource Center made in their lives. The winners’ artwork highlighted education and diplomas and featured the words “respect”, “responsible”, and “kind” and will be displayed in various Family Resource Centers throughout the county.
Photos from the event can be found here.
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Families and Communities Together (FaCT) is a public-private partnership program of the County of Orange Social Services Agency. FaCT is administered by the County of Orange Social Services Agency, Charitable Ventures of Orange County, The Olin Group, and the Orange County Alliance for Children and Families. FaCT provides partnership and resource development, training and technical assistance, marketing, data and evaluation, and community leadership development to a network of 15 Family Resource Centers in Orange County. Visit FaCT online at factoc.org for more information.
