CARING COUNCIL SHARES IDEAS WITH OTHERS IN STATE

Representatives of the Community Caring Council, organized in Cape Girardeau to improve coordination between agencies providing services to children and families, will be sharing information this week with people from throughout the state to help them develop interagency teams.

"I think we really do have a role model for the rest of the state," said Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, who is the founder of the caring council here. "Hopefully by sharing what we have done in Cape Girardeau, committees like this can become organized all over the state."

The Community Caring Council participated in the Interagency Conference, sponsored by the Child and Adolescent Services System Project Monday and Tuesday at Lake of the Ozarks.

CASSP is a federal grant received by Missouri to develop an interagency system for planning, implementation and coordination of services for children and youth with severe emotional disturbances, explained Robyn Boustead, director of the project.

The state Departments of Mental Health, Social Services and Elementary and Secondary Education are all participating in the effort.

Boustead pointed out that an effort to improve interagency coordination has been under way at the state level for about three years. Now, with the funding from the grant, eight service areas in Missouri have been identified to develop interagency teams.

Kasten said it was an honor to have an opportunity to participate in the conference and noted that Cape Girardeau may be the first place in the state to have this level of coordination between agencies.

Kasten, serving her fifth term in the Missouri House, stressed that with increasing demands for state funds and growing budget cuts, the only way to really meet the social needs of citizens is by eliminating waste and duplication in programs and improviding cooperation.

Besides Kasten, others from Cape Girardeau participating in the conference will be Paul Schneidermeyer of the Community Counseling Center; Barb Mayfield, who works with Families First; Jim Davis of the Division of Youth Services group home; Dennis Reagan, director of the Division of Family Services office in Cape County and a member of the caring council board of directors; Molly Strickland of Lutheran Family and Children's Services; Dr. John McGaha of Southeast Missouri State University; and Barb Stribling, from the Department of Mental Health and a member of the caring council board.

The Community Caring Council was formed recently as part of the interagency cooperation efforts started by Kasten. Two years ago she called on representatives of the various social services agencies in the county to seek their input on making the system work better and to eliminate duplication.

Community Caring Conferences were held in February of 1990 and 1991 and will be annual events. Following this year's conference, the caring council was formed as a way of formalizing the organization.

Right now there are 26 agencies participating on the council and during this year Kasten said a special effort will be made to get churches and businesses involved.

Kasten, who has served on the Children, Youth and Families Committee during her tenure in the House and has served on many special interim committees dealing with issues of children and families, said the key to the efforts here and in other communities will be to make families self reliant and responsible for their own needs.