ADVOCATES SOUGHT TO HELP FAMILIES FACE DIFFICULTIES

PERRYVILLE -- Individuals, families, businesses and organizations are being sought for membership in an alliance needed to support families who need more than quick fixes.

Founder Jim Martin says the new Missouri Family Support & Education Alliance will provide long-term advocacy and support for individuals and families who are dealing with problems associated with disabilities, substance abuse and financial, behavioral, educational and vocational issues.

Martin was a disability advocate for the Jefferson City-based Missouri Protection and Advocacy Services for six years. Part of his caseload involved families in Perryville, Cape Girardeau and Jackson.

Working in the field, he says, "You see things that could be improved, ways of addressing issues that could work better, thing that are being missed."

One of the primary deficiencies he saw was a short-term focus that tackled the immediate problem but not the root issues. At this point, mentoring is the highest-level intervention available in Cape Girardeau County for youths who might be troubled but aren't in trouble with the law, Martin says. "But the mentor would work very little with the family. It would be with the child."

He says there is a need to put a volunteer with the family "and identify as quickly as possible the problem that might be causing the difficulty."

Following up and building self-advocacy skills are among the alliance's missions.

The nonprofit alliance is based on MPACT, the Missouri Parent Advocacy Training, which uses volunteers to put more people in the field over a longer period than a paid staff would allow.

"The task of the volunteer is to build trust on the part of the family and child to where the issues can be identified," Martin says.

The alliance has two paid staffers -- Martin and an administrative assistant -- and seven volunteers for Perry, Washington and St. Francis counties.

The alliance is still looking for volunteers in Cape Girardeau, Scott, Bollinger and Madison counties. Martin said he eventually hopes to extend the alliance south to the Arkansas border.

He prefers not to use grants as a funding source. Contract arrangements with community partnerships and assistance that may include insurance benefits from members of the alliance are better sources, he said. "It goes back to the concept of community partnerships that the efforts of the community should be controlled locally.

He acknowledges that families who most need the alliance's help usually will be least able to pay for it. "We'll work with any family or individual who has a need," he said. "... We would not turn down anyone."

Bail bonds for families whose members are having legal problems will be another funding source, he said.

Martin said the volunteers are being trained "as well as volunteers can be trained. Confidentiality is a major concern, particularly in rural communities."

The alliance is not attempting to take the place of Division of Family Services social workers or provide counseling, he said.

To contact the Missouri Family Support & Education Alliance, phone toll free 1-(877) 766-3561.