CARING COUNCIL PROVES CARE MAKES DIFFERENCE

Sometimes, the name says it all. Such is the case with the Community Caring Council. Care about families and children, and frustration with the system spurred creation of the group more than four years ago.

The council is the brainchild of Rep. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau. She wanted cooperation among agencies that help needy families to be more than a high hope. This caring network has been remarkably successful in promoting cooperation among nearly 40 social service agencies, churches, businesses and schools.

The council will hold its annual conference today at the Show Me Center. Focus will be on extending this remarkable network of community caring. Specifically, the council is looking to expand into the business community as a way to generate new ideas.

The council's mission is to restore the concept of a truly helping community in the old-fashioned sense. In other words: neighbors helping neighbors. This caring mission cuts both ways. The council assists needy people in finding the help they need. But the council also aims to help people care about themselves enough to break the chain of dependency. It wants families to grow more self-reliant, resourceful and responsible.

The council operates an inter-agency staffing team. Representatives of 13 agencies meet on a regular basis to discuss ways to serve families in trouble. A big part of the council's community link is through the schools. The Cape Girardeau Public Schools received a $40,000 grant this year to better achieve council goals. Through the grant, a renewed local emphasis will be placed on increasing community-based care, helping kids stay in school, and reducing the number of kids involved in the juvenile justice system.

Caring council efforts have not gone unnoticed. It has been selected as a state prototype project, along with programs in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia. That designation brought state funding, allowing the council to hire a full-time director, Shirley Ramsey. In the past, it was directed through volunteer efforts.

The local program has also earned congressional attention. Last year, Bill Emerson brought the U.S. House of Representatives' Select Committee on Hunger to Cape Girardeau. Members of the caring council urged the congressmen to find ways to reduce the maze of paperwork, eliminate duplication, and provide greater flexibility in administering assistance.

The group uniquely cares about both people in need and taxpayers that foot the bill. As they meet today, Community Caring Council members should pat themselves on the back, and then plow ahead in their good work.