Missouri Children's Trust Fund

Barceda Families Provide HOPES to Teen Parents

Barceda Families is providing hope to teen parents in southwest Missouri or in this case HOPES - Healthy Outcomes through Prevention, Education and Support. KOLR-TV10 in Springfield recently featured HOPES which provides parent education, mentoring, case management and support to teen moms living in Dallas, Hickory and Polk Counties.  The project equips successful participants with a car seat and baby crib as an added incentive to participating.  HOPES enrolled seventy-six participants last year with sixty successfully completing the program.  HOPES, supported by CTF, is in its fourth year of a five-year grant.  For more information contact Barceda Families at (417)777-2648.

View complete KOLR-TV10 video at OzarksFirst.com

Nurses For Newborns Foundation Recognized for Improving Outcomes

Nurses for Newborns Foundation's (NFNF) Bridge to the Future program has been recognized by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for its work to improve the health of special needs babies. The Bridge to the Future program provides nurse home visits to low-income families with medically fragile infants who have been discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit, thus ensuring a smooth transition to long-term care in the home.  The program has shown that infants served by the program are less likely to experience readmissions, inappropriate emergency department visits, child abuse, and placement in a foster home, and are more likely to have up-to-date immunizations and access to medical resources.  NFNF, a Children's Trust Fund (CTF) prevention partner based in St. Louis, provides over 15,500 home visits annually to at risk children and their families using specialized registered nurses.  CEO Sharon Rohrbach began the Foundation in 1989 with the Bridge to the Future program beginning in 1991 with a grant from CTF.

[Full story in MarketWatch, Wall Street Journal July 16, 2008]

BraveHearts Program Lend Dads a Helping Hand

Kansas City's WDAF-TV 4 (Fox affiliate) featured BraveHearts Program For Dads along with the Children's Trust Fund (CTF) on its newscast airing July 21, 2008.  BraveHearts is a father support program administered by Healthy Families Counseling and Support, Kansas City.  Dads meet once per week to talk about stresses in their lives, how to best deal with those stresses, and how to better understand the positive role and impact that fathers play in their children's lives.  It's especially helpful for men who themselves did not have a positive father figure.

BraveHearts was recently awarded a grant from CTF for a fourth year to continue their work with fathers and their children as part of CTF's annual process to distribute funding to community-based organizations throughout Missouri that prevent child abuse/neglect and strengthen families. [View complete article at MyFox Kansas City. Look for the video link to the right of the story.]

Governor Announces CTF Grants to Prevent Child Abuse

Governor Matt Blunt today announced that the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) Board of Directors approved and awarded over $1.2 million for Fiscal Year 2009 in grants to 60 community-based organizations throughout Missouri for the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

The funded prevention grants focus on home visitation and parent education, including safe crib and mentoring programs that help pregnant and parenting teens by providing education, resources and support.  Others provide parenting classes and introduce infant massage kits to new parents to encourage and develop positive bonding.  Grandparent and fatherhood initiatives, the Strengthening Families model, crisis nurseries, professional development training, and sexual abuse prevention continue to be addressed through this funding.  CTF also invests in programs that support families of medically fragile babies and other special needs children who are at-risk of abuse.   

Fiscal Year 2009 CTF Prevention Grant Listing (pdf)

CTF Partners with Lincoln County for Reality Babies Project

Photo caption: Students from Silex R-1 High School participate in the Reality Babies Project

With a grant from the Children’s Trust Fund (CTF), the Lincoln County (MO) Resource Board purchased Reality Babies this past year for use by school districts in Lincoln County.  Funds for this project were obtained from local sales of the CTF prevent child abuse specialty license plate.  CTF license plate funds were also used to purchase three other babies named Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Baby, Drug Affected Baby and Shaken Baby.  These babies can demonstrate the effects of drinking or taking drugs during pregnancy and what happens to the brain when a baby is shaken.

Reality Babies are the brainchild of Rick Jurmain who felt that teens did not receive the true effect of babies' crying, middle-of-the-night feedings or crying caused by colic simply by portraying such through carrying eggs and sacks of flour.  The Reality Babies make the experience as realistic as possible, and everyone must treat the reality-like doll as if caring for a real infant.

Silex R-1 Schools was the first school in Lincoln County to use the Reality Babies.  The students took turns taking the baby home for the weekend.  The classroom instructor, Cheryl Kerns, extracted the data from each baby reflecting the care given during that time.  A Silex student commented, “I did not expect the baby to cry every two hours.” Another said, “I learned I had to adjust my daily routine to fit in with the baby’s.”  And a third student summed it up best, “Having a baby is very hard and time consuming.”  Mrs. Kerns said, “Overall it was a very good learning experience for them, and it is a good resource we can use now.”

Making a Difference 'One Child at a Time'

DiAnne Mueller has devoted her life to helping others and since 1994 she has been making a difference for children and their families as executive director of the St. Louis Crisis Nursery.  The Crisis Nursery, with four locations in and around St. Louis and a fifth location opening soon in nearby Wentzville, is committed to preventing child abuse and neglect by providing respite care and shelter to children whose families are faced with a crisis or emergency.  Parents can voluntarily bring their children to any of the nursery sites for a variety of reasons ranging from overwhelming parental stress, domestic violence, a parent medical emergency, and other situations that jeopardize the safety and well being of a child. The Crisis Nursery receives support from many in the community as well as foundations including the Children's Trust Fund.  See the complete feature article as it appears in the April 2008 edition of St. Louis Woman Magazine and read how DiAnne continues to make a difference one child at a time.

Prevention Funds Available Through Annual Grant Application Process

The Children's Trust Fund (CTF) Board of Directors announces the availability of grant funds for child abuse/neglect prevention programs for state Fiscal Year 2009 (July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009). Up to $300,000 is available for first year projects and up to $900,000 is available for renewal projects (those that are currently funded by CTF within the five-year grant cycle.) 

"These funds are available annually to support Missouri's children and families, and we are thrilled many prevention programs previously supported by CTF are being replicated in other parts of the state," said Gina Staves, CTF board chair.

CTF receives no general revenue funding, but funds all of its prevention activities, programs and public education campaigns with funds received from dedicated fees on marriage licenses, vital records, general donations, donations from the specialized CTF license plate, state income tax checkoff, interest from the fund, and a federal grant. 

"It's critical that we commit to our grant recipients for up to five years, provided they meet the grant requirements, so they can continue to provide essential prevention services and sustain themselves once CTF funding has ended," said Kirk Schreiber, CTF executive director.  During the final three years of funding the grantee is required to provide matching funds in increasing increments.

To be considered, applications must be postmarked on or before March 13, 2008.  For more information please contact Laura Malzner, CTF Program Coordinator, at (573) 751-5147 or laura.malzner@oa.mo.gov.

Download FY 2009 CTF General Prevention Grant Application (Word doc)
Download FY 2009 CTF General Prevention Grant Application (PDF)

Grant Funds Available to Assist Communities with Helping Kids and Families

The Children's Trust Fund (CTF) is pleased to announce the availability of Community Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grant funds for fiscal year 2009 (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009).  CBCAP funding is a federal initiative that originates from the Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C.  CTF is the designated lead agency to disburse this funding in Missouri.

The CBCAP project in Missouri is designed to help communities develop a model integrated system for delivering health, family support, and social services to children and families in order to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and ultimately reduce the risks of child abuse and neglect. Through incorporating a lead agency concept, each CBCAP site works to develop a more efficient and coordinated way of working with families to reduce duplication of existing services and maximize the resources of public and private providers. Community collaborations and partnerships are encouraged to apply.  As part of the funding requirements, each site must participate in a rigorous strategic planning and evaluation process.

According to Kirk Schreiber, CTF Executive Director, the Missouri CBCAP model offers community partnerships and provider networks an excellent opportunity to work together to provide coordinated services and support to children and families.  "This model has proven successful with previous community recipients, and we are very excited to offer these grant opportunities for a "third generation" of CBCAP communities."   

The Missouri CBCAP model is recognized by the federal funding agency as attaining the highest level of program standards and performance indicated by evidenced based outcomes and successful replication of the program in other communities.  Each CBCAP site continues to show statistically significant improvement in scores of standardized measures of family risk (Child Abuse Potential Inventory) and distress (Parental Stress Index) among parents participating.   Families also report high levels of satisfaction with the services they receive.

The deadline for submitting a CBCAP application is Friday, April 18, 2008, 5:00 p.m.  For more information please contact Laura Malzner, CTF Program Coordinator, at (573) 751-5147 or e-mail at laura.malzner@oa.mo.gov.

Download FY 2009 CBCAP Application (pdf)
Download FY 2009 CBCAP Application (Word doc)    

BraveHearts Program Provides Support to Dads

Healthy Families Counseling and Support, a nonprofit agency that serves families in Clay and Platte Counties, is having success reaching dads through the BraveHearts Program.  The free support program for fathers with children ages birth to 6 began two years ago with funding from the Missouri Children's Trust Fund and the Kauffman Foundation.  Using a curriculum from the Center for Successful Parenting, a BraveHearts' facilitator takes fathers through parenting and child development education, fatherhood development, case management services, mentoring, and job training. Referrals for the program are received from local courts, attorneys, high schools and Head Start. Some fathers refer themselves.  Most volunteer to attend, though some are court-ordered. Free childcare is provided while the dads are in session, and one portion of the meeting is committed to play time which helps to strengthen the bond between fathers and their children.
[KC Community News]

CTF Announces Funding Available For Home Visitation Programs

The Children’s Trust Fund of Missouri (CTF), in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Social Services, requests proposals from qualified vendors to develop and provide comprehensive prevention home visiting services by a registered nurse to high risk parents residing in the counties of Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis, and St. Louis City.  Proposed services to other counties may be included; however, services to the five previously listed counties must be provided.

Home visitation services shall assist parents/expectant parents to: (1) develop effective parenting skills to ensure the optimal health and development of their children; (2) prevent repeat teen pregnancies; (3) attain maximum educational achievement; (4) develop the capability to support themselves and their children; (5) have healthy birth outcomes; and (6) ensure the safety and overall well-being of children.  Proposals are due in the CTF office no later than Thursday, September 27, 2007, 4:00 p.m. to be considered.  The Nurse Home Visitation Application Packet contains detailed information and instructions and may be downloaded.  Questions may be directed to Laura Malzner, CTF Program Coordinator at 573-751-5147.