Family Service Association of San Antonio, Inc.

Family Service's long-term goal is to improve well-being & educational success in San Antonio/South Texas communities through an integrated array of services & partnerships that engage parents & caregivers to develop themselves, help their children achieve school & educational success, strengthen their families, improve their neighborhoods & contribute positively to their community.

The intended impact is families that are stable through life's important transitions support their children successfully to progress through school, graduate from high school & go on to college/career training to have the best potential for stability & success in life. Family Service's mission is "Empowering individuals & families to transform their lives & strengthen their communities". Programs include:

Early Childhood & Head Start Services: comprehensive opportunities for children, parents, families & educators with resources & early education for healthy growth & development through programs such as Early Head Start Child Care Partnerships, Head Start, Smart Start Child Care Referrals, Parenting Education, & Quality Professional Development for teachers.

Youth Education & Workforce Development: Educates, supports & engages teens, youth & their families through programs that build self-confidence, offer mentoring, training/access to technology, health & wellness tools, job training & financial support services, including Workforce & Financial Sustainability Services, Youth Against Gang Activity , Teen Tech, Summer Youth Employment & Parent Engagement.

Parent Engagement: Improves student performance by developing & increasing meaningful parental involvement in schools & neighborhoods. Program provides parents with resources, training, activities & parent leadership development in a positive environment.

Family Strengthening: focuses on improving relationships between parents & their children through a researched based curriculum, Fast (Families in Schools Together) & an emergency pantry. Services offered provide basic needs & social support, community investment, parent leadership & counseling services.

Rural Area Services: concentrates on youth, parents & family, offering support systems to identify, evaluate & treat behavior problems. Services includes Youth Prevention Education focusing on building character & substance abuse resiliency, parenting education & support services for healthy development & growth, Evaluation & Treatment program to address mental health & well-being.

Well Being: Support services provided through programs advocating for individual, marital & family health. Early childhood mental health programs, counseling & case management programs, relationship counseling, Helping Children Cope With Divorce, Kidshare offers the community tools & resources for support & improvement.

Seniors: Provides assessment, consultation & access to community resources, training & referral for Seniors wishing to remain in their homes.

Family Service's strategies for accomplishing our goals and objectives include providing support and services to equip individuals and families with the skills and knowledge to effectively increase educational attainment, financial stability, civic engagement, and well-being.

Educational Success: Outreach, serve and engage families from the time children are born through transitions into early childhood education; elementary school; middle school; through their high school graduation, and into college or career choices.

Workforce and Financial Stability: Provide families and individuals with linkages to financial resources, financial literacy and education to reduce debt, improve credit scores, and plan for financial security. Provide adults and youth with opportunities for workforce training and career exploration.

Parent and Civic Engagement: Engage parents as partners in their child's education, their neighborhoods and the community to increase meaningful relationships, positive social networks and social responsibility.

Well-Being: Identify support needs of children and their families, providing wrap around support services through individual, family and group counseling, case management, substance abuse prevention, screen and assess for medical, dental, and mental health needs of children including linkages to medical homes, parenting education, healthy relationships, child care resource and referral, therapeutic visitation and neutral exchange services for non-custodial parents, and in-home care services for seniors.

Family Service is always in search of volunteers and community partners who are willing to provide financial, physical and/or brain power. Needs vary in each program and service and all are welcome.

Family Service has been building core competencies to engage individuals and families and provide effective model services since 1903. The agency partners with 10 school districts in San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as with school districts in rural counties southwest of San Antonio. Currently, nearly all services are delivered in conjunction with community partners. Family Service builds on these partnerships to meet the unique needs of each individual and family served and continues to develop new partnerships that will lead to further education, career, and well-being opportunities for the community.

Family Service offers direct and supportive services through a lifelong continuum:
Ages 0 to 3: Ensuring age appropriate development through prenatal health, physical, cognitive, social, and emotional skills and strong positive parental engagement in their child's life; ensuring that all children and their families have access to a medical home (including physical, dental and mental health).
Ages 3 to 5: Addressing preparation of children and their parents/caregivers for early school success through Head Start quality early education services; parental education and engagement, involvement, volunteerism and building leadership skills; support transitioning into formal education setting; and ensuring that all children and their families have access to a medical home.
Ages 6 to 8: Supporting parental social networks; parental participation and volunteerism in educational settings; family cohesion, parental leadership skills in schools and neighborhood, reading proficiency, and teacher competencies.
Ages 9 to 11: Improving academic performance, parent engagement; family cohesion, family to family networks; increasing famiies' community contacts and resources.
Ages 12 to 13: Building protective factors for youth behavior including conduct and academic performance, parental involvement; family functioning; positive youth social supports and networks; and opportunities to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM).
Ages 14 to 18: Supporting youth character building life skills; community investment through volunteerism; promote health and wellness; opportunities to engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM); education and career choices; college readiness; financial literacy, job readiness, and career opportunities.
Parents, Families and Seniors: Providing wrap around services that address family stability and sustainability; school involvement, positive social networks, leadership, civic engagement and support through life's critical transitions including coping with loss, marriage difficulties, health issues, productivity at work, unemployment, financial stress, substance abuse, and services for seniors to remain safe and independent in their homes.

Each Mid-Year and Year End Report continues Family Service's rigorous appraisal process of programs serving children, youth, adults, and the elderly. Historically the report has included evaluations of primary program areas and related services, collaborative initiatives, and the agency volunteer program. Annually the Program Evaluation Committee of the Board has utilized these reports as well as interactions with staff and review of services to evaluate alignment with the mission; target populations; types and service levels; resources such as staffing, budget and community partners; and service outcomes. Recently the program evaluation committee refocused their efforts as follows:

•Support the Board's Strategic Plan
•Utilize outside expertise and passion to provide external perspective
•Improve agency's ability to manage limited resources
Structure and Process
•Expanded participation to include key stakeholders in the community
•Revised meeting and review process
•Conducted Internal Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats and Opportunities analysis with staff
Participants
•School Districts
•Higher Education Institutions
•United Way, City of San Antonio, and Bexar County
•Local foundations and corporations
•Board members and staff
Themes
•Family Service has filled community gaps in the impact areas of Early Childhood; Education; Family Strengthening; Well-Being
•Agency has established a culture of accessibility for hard-to-reach clients, partners and stakeholders
•Identified opportunities for expanded partnerships including service linkages, resource sharing, train the trainer for core competencies and data sharing for evaluation purposes
•Focus on data and measurement for further development of metrics and strategic planning
•Agency is a source for providing a continuum of services for individuals and families during life transitions
•Need for enhanced articulation of services and impacts
•Utilize emerging innovative technology
•Replicate, scale and promote unique service models while utilizing tools such as communication and influence road maps for sustained engagement in programs

A strategic planning sub-committee of the Board, involving both Program Evaluation committee members and Technology committee members, is currently focusing on data driven results and will subsequently focus on marketing and branding of those results. The sub-committee worked with staff to identify data collection practices and maintenance. The sub-committee recommended four areas for collecting streamlined impact data: 1) school readiness; 2) parent engagement; 3) financial security; and 4) career /employment. The Board reached consensus on moving forward with the recommended themes. Family Service's next steps include Identifying best practices and metrics for monitoring and articulating outcomes in our impact areas.