Circle of Hope Endowment Goal

Family & Children Services has represented the voice of concern and compassion at the conditions that beset much of our community for over 106 years. We are the primary, private provider of an array of vitally needed services to some 8,000 clients annually (4000 of all clients served are children). Family & Children Services has successfully developed and delivered a broad array of human services in response to changing needs identified by mental health and United Way entities in Barry, Calhoun, and Kalamazoo counties. As a private, non-sectarian, non-profit organization governed by a 22-member Board of Directors, the Agency is firmly rooted in the communities it serves.

The Agency has been accredited through the Council On Accreditation of Services for Families and Children since June 1987 and is licensed for the care of children by the State of Michigan.

In order to support more than 200 staff positions and nearly 30 different programs with complex funding streams and requirements, Family & Children Services has developed a supportive administrative infrastructure including accounting, human resources, development/ public relations, and maintenance.

Major funders include Michigan Department of Human Services, United Ways in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Hastings, Marshall and Albion and mental health entities (Kalamazoo County Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and Summit Pointe), Kalamazoo and Calhoun County Public School systems, and third-party reimbursements.

Family & Children Services’ core programs have experienced a steady decline in funding from federal, state, and local government programs. Vital services, critical to the life of our communities are seeing continuing reduction of options and supports for families already marginalized by poverty.

Our primary child abuse and neglect program in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties, Families First, receives 94 percent of the funding for the same level of service it did eight years ago. Each year, the Agency supplements this state program with local, private funds. Foster Care reimbursement rates are inadequate. Cost of living increases alone outstripped increases in foster care reimbursement rates 18% to 31% excluding costs incurred above inflation for additional mandated services.

The same trend is evident in the majority of other major Agency programs from state and federal funding sources. Mental health agencies continue to implement methods of cost control and/or cost reduction, including reconfiguring reimbursement methods or placing ceilings on utilization.

Only due to the generosity of local donors, United Way subsidies, and foundation grant support has the Agency been able to continue delivering core community services. Restricted funds, designated for specific operational needs, have been exhausted. Annual funds used for critical client assistance, are now stretched to include client program needs. All discretionary funds are fully utilized. As costs increase, the Agency has been severely challenged to maintain the strength of its innovative programs, strong infrastructure, and depth of community engagement.

Human service agencies are fragile. Even the strongest, such as Family & Children Services, become vulnerable as government cutbacks occur, despite a well-established reputation, provider preference, high volume of service , and careful stewardship.

The Circle of Hope Endowment is an intense, two-part plan to secure the long-term financial capacity of the Agency by building its Endowment between 2006-2009, supplemented by bridge funding. This support will come from the foundation community and other donors for specific Agency operations until the Endowment is able to adequately support operations. You can become part of our circle.

For more information on the Circle of Hope Endowment please contact:

Patti Sholler-Barber - Director of Development and Public Relations

269.373.0248 x.417

pattis@fcsource.org

Battle Creek Community Foundation

Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation

Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation

Irving S. Gilmore Foundation

Kalamazoo Community Foundation

Miller Foundation

*W.K. Kellogg Foundation capacity-building support also received

Several anonymous families