Family services collaborative to host open house

The Crow Wing County Family Services Collaborative will host an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. April 15 at the Brainerd School District Learning Center, 311 10th Ave. N.E. in Brainerd.

The event will celebrate the success of the collaborative and its many community partners in providing a variety of supports and services to children and families throughout the county.

There will be a brief program from 4:30 to 5 p.m. that will review the history, the funding and the wide variety of services the collaborative supports. The highlight will be an award ceremony recognizing the outstanding youth and the outstanding family of the year.

In addition, there will be an information fair with displays of community resources from the community agencies that work in partnership with the collaborative. Cake and refreshments will be served.

The collaborative began after extensive planning in the early 1990s and was recognized as an official entity in 1996. The collaborative has brought $5.2 million into the county to support direct services to children and families.

The governance board is made up of seven elected officials, including four county commissioners and three school board members, one from each school district in the county.

The collaborative council is made up of several community partners, including parents; the Brainerd, Pequot Lakes and Crosby-Ironton school districts; the Interagency Early Intervention Committee; Tri-County Community Action; public health; social services; community corrections; county attorney; Local Advisory Council For Children's Mental Health; North Central Service Cooperative; and the Community Transition Interagency Committee.