Q & A With...Cathy Battista

Cathy Battista is the director of two Family Resource Centers in Meriden and is finishing her first year as president of the Family Resource Center Alliance.

Q: What is your background in early care and education? How did you first start off on this track? Have you always been involved with Family Resource Centers?

A: I actually started as a middle school Spanish teacher and taught for 7 years. I hold a B.S. in Spanish and also an M.S. in Administration and Supervision. After that, I worked as acting director of a non-profit business training center where I collaborated with adult education for 4 years, followed by my present position as director of two Family Resource Centers in Meriden, where I have been for 6 years. I have been involved with education from babies to teens to adults!

Working with adults often showed me the consequences of bad decisions, such as not graduating from high school. I enjoyed helping these adults earn a GED. Now, I want to do what I can to help prevent those things from happening – so now I work with families with young children and try to see them become stronger and healthier so that their children will make wise choices.

Q: Tell me about the state’s family resource centers. To a family that wants to know more about them, what would you tell them they offer?

A: Family Resource Centers are school-based early childhood education, child care and family support programs implemented in 62 schools in the state.

Quote from CT SDE website: “The Connecticut Family Resource Center concept promotes comprehensive, integrated, community-based systems of family support and child development services located in public school buildings. This model is based on the "Schools of the 21st Century" concept developed by Dr. Edward Zigler of Yale University. Family Resource Centers provide access, within a community, to a broad continuum of early childhood and family support services which foster the optimal development of children and families.”

There are 62 Family Resource Centers throughout CT funded by grants from the CT State Dept. of Education, Bureau of Health, Nutrition, Family Services and Adult Education. It is important to note that we are not only target early childhood, but we serve the entire family. Like the school, we provide a common ground for all families to benefit and unique opportunities for families of diverse cultures and backgrounds to share and learn from each other. Each site is designed within the parameters of the following components to meet the needs of the community and school in which it is located:

1 – full-time preschool childcare

2 – school age childcare, such as before/after school programs

3 – families in training – parenting education; home visitations; developmental screenings and referrals to CT Birth - 3; group meetings; family literacy programs; playgroups; network of support for families

4 – adult education – job training, ESL, GED and other programs pertaining to the well-being of the family

5– support and training for family daycare providers – workshops, training

6 – positive youth development services – recreational and educational opportunities targeted at prevention of school problems, teen pregnancy, or substance abuse; character-building activities

7 – resource and referral to a variety of state and local agencies creating a safety ‘net’ for children by linking them to needed services located within the school or in the community

To families -- We serve all families, all children regardless of race, ethnicity or socio-economic background. Whatever need, challenge or question you may have, if we do not know the answer, we will find it for you.

Q: Tell me about the Family Resource Center Alliance – how long has it existed (see following question) and how long have you been president? Are you president along with running an FRC?

A: The CT FRC Alliance was formed June 22, 1998. I have been president for almost one year – and what a year it’s been! I had to hit the ground running with efforts to put us back in the budget! I traveled throughout the state advocating for FRCs. It was exhausting, but definitely worth it.

Q: Is there a mission statement that FRCs, the Alliance lives by? (Same/different?)

A: The Alliance is a diverse collaboration of school linked FRCs in partnership with the State Dept of Education that is committed to family support and education. This is the same mission that individual FRC’s have. The Alliance helps to achieve that mission by providing technical capacity, support, collaborative relationships with other related organizations, professional development opportunities and resources to help promote the standards designed to ensure consistent delivery of quality services.

Q: How did FRCs get their start in CT?

A: Established in 1988, FRCs began in CT as part of the national movement to promote the importance of early childhood and its link to school achievement. Based on the ‘School of the 21st Century’ concept as developed by Dr. Edward Zigler, of the Bush Center for Child Development at Yale University, FRCs provide comprehensive, integrated community-based systems of family support and child development services linked to public schools and located in public school buildings.

Its mission then and its mission now is to prevent an array of childhood and adolescent problems by strengthening effective family management practices and establishing a continuum of childcare and support services

Q: What is the best part of your job? What is the worst part of your job?

A: The best part of my job is watching families grow and get strong, and their children succeed in ways they might not have been able to had they not been in our program. I have seen families that do not speak English attend one of our programs and become avid members of all we do. Because I have bilingual staff, connections are made that most likely never would have happened. These families now attend not only FRC events, but regular school events as well.

The worst part of my job is probably worrying whether we’ll be funded from year to year: I worry about the families that we have relationships with; I worry about the children who may not get screened for developmental delays until they start school.

Q: During the budget impasse last summer, FRCs were hit hard by the Governor’s budget cuts. How did that budget stalemate impact FRCs as a whole? Closures? Have they been able to reopen?

A: FRCs were hit hard by the Governor’s budget cuts as FRCs were totally eliminated. After months of advocacy, effort and hard work across the state and with the support of other early childhood agencies, we were put back in the budget – but with cuts. During the summer and the beginning of this school year through November, it was extremely difficult for the more than 10,000 individuals we serve and for our staff. From Before and After School programs, to early intervention referrals, we watched as these children were unable to receive the support they needed. Developmental delays do not stop during hard times. The need for early intervention services does not evaporate when the going gets tough. The ups and downs of Dow Jones do not diminish the basic needs for children to have food, shelter, love and laughter.

The majority of the 62 sites either closed or operated at a minimal level until November. Today, all sites are up and running but have suffered loss of staff, loss of programs and are struggling to maintain the integrity of the mission of the Family Resource Centers.

We have worked diligently over the years to provide a continuum of services alongside such outstanding organizations as the United Way, School Readiness Councils, Adult Education Programs, Before and After School Childcare, Head Start, Fatherhood Initiative, CT SDE School/Family Initiative, CT Early Childhood Alliance, Graustein Memorial Fund, Early Childhood Blueprint Communities, positive youth development, Parents As Teachers, after school enrichment activities, local YMCA’s, Boys and Girls Clubs, Health Departments, Boards of Education, CT Birth-3 system, Nurturing Families Network, referrals to crucial early intervention services, local businesses, parent leadership training, programs that build strong family relationships and so much more. These are vital to the development of children and the stability of families.

Q: What is your feeling on the state of the young child in Connecticut today?

A:Children are our most vulnerable citizens and our most valuable resources – they always have been and always will be. They are entitled to be fed, clothed, protected, and loved – and when anything gets in the way of those basic needs, we must act – and act quickly. In fact, we should do all we could to prevent that from happening in the first place. I fear many children are on the receiving end of family’s frustrations and desperation. The Children in the Recession (Rep. Chris Donovan) initiative is an excellent forum to address these issues.

Q: Do you think the state needs a more seamless system of early care and education? Why or why not?

A: I do think the state needs a more seamless system of early childhood and education. The only way that will happen is if all early childhood agencies and organizations support one another, advocate for one another and stand together with one voice for our children. There is no room for competition for state dollars. Our focus should now and in the future be on the children…on the families – rich or poor, regardless of race or ethnicity. All families…all children. There is not one family that does not need support. There is not one child that does not need a champion.

When this state comes to the realization that the earlier we put supports in place, the better the outcome is for our children, we will be able to work together and become our children’s champions.

Q: Anything else you would like to add?

A: We need to think long term. Very often when problems arise, there is a knee-jerk reaction to resolve the issue to meet the immediate need. However, if we do not look to the future, the problems will arise again and again. Funding is usually the main obstacle.

In 2008-09, the Yale Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy evaluated the Connecticut Family Resource Center (FRC) program. I would like to quote from the Executive Summary of that report: "FRCs do so much with relatively small amounts of money, yet they could become victims of the current economic crisis. If this were to happen, it would severely compromise the state’s goal to achieve school readiness for all Connecticut’s young children; our findings indicated that the FRCs play an important role in achieving this goal. Also, thousands of families would be left without services and linkages to schools. There may be short-term savings in not funding the FRCs, but the savings would be offset by huge spending in special education in a year or two when children who did not receive developmental screening and follow-up services enter school. Failure to fund the FRCs would also put undue pressure on schools, communities and state agencies currently collaborating with and depending on the work and leadership of the FRCs. It is our recommendation that every effort be made to ensure the continued operation of this vital program. "

(http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/DEPS/Family/FRC/FRC_Evaluation.pdf)