San Benito County has $55,000 available for local non-profits to
help abused children and their families in the county, and experts
say the funding is needed.
San Benito County has $55,000 available for local non-profits to help abused children and their families in the county, and experts say the funding is needed.
“We have a lot of kids coming in and out of our system all the time,” said Marilyn Coppola, county director of health and human services.
Currently, there are 86 children in foster care in San Benito County, and the county receives roughly 50 to 70 new referrals a month, Coppola said.
The grant money came from state and federal funding, for a program called Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment (CAPIT). The San Benito Child Welfare Commission decided the funding can be used for two different services; $35,000 for respite care, and $20,000 for parent education.
Respite care is provided to children right after they’ve been pulled out of an abusive household, and, Coppola said, parent education is about preventing them from having to go there in the first place.
“The classes will help them (parents) know what’s developmentally appropriate for different-aged children,” she said.
It’s important to keep grant funding in San Benito County, because the agency has a high number of children needing foster care, and a small number of homes able to take them in, Coppola said.
“We are having to place children from this area outside of the county,” she said. “Some children from here are living in Modesto and Merced right now, because there isn’t a home here for them. And it’s really hard when we have groups of siblings. We really try to keep them all together.”
There is no formal application required to get funding. Non-profits interested should submit a proposal detailing the services that will be provided and detailing costs. More than one proposal can be approved, and they must be submitted no later than 5 p.m., Aug. 27, to the Health and Human Services Agency, at 1111 San Felipe Road Suite 206.
For more information, call: 831-636-4180.
