Financial Information / Organizational Resume

The St. Joseph Youth Alliance is a non-profit 501c(3) corporation that has been designated by the state of Missouri to serve as a local governance partnership, the decision-making entity that partners with the state of Missouri and local communities to plan, develop, finance and monitor strategies designed to achieve our six core results.

Vision
“The lives of children and families are improved”

Mission
Engaging community partners to improve the lives of children and families.

Leadership Team Staff
Robin Hammond, Executive Director
Justina Cox, HR/Financial Director
Anita Jolly, Caring Communities Director

Profile: The St. Joseph Youth Alliance is a non-profit 501c(3) corporation that has been designated by the State of Missouri to serve as a local governance partnership—the decision-making entity that partners with the State of Missouri and local community to plan, develop, finance, and monitor strategies designed to achieve the Core Results of:

• Parents working;
• Children and families safe;
• Children and families healthy;
• Children ready to enter school;
• Children succeeding in school; and
• Youth ready to enter productive adulthood.

Incorporated in 1994, the St. Joseph Youth Alliance works to promote the voice of the community. Specifically, our responsibilities include:
• Assisting the community in creating a community-wide agenda to link resources and services;
• Targeting specific community priorities to improve results for children and families;
• Assuring active involvement of diverse community partners;
• Securing, leveraging, and redirecting public and private resources to help families;
• Tracking, recording, and reporting annually on progress toward key results;
• Engaging and collaborating with others to achieve better results for children/families;
• Promoting best practices and lessons learned with others; and
• Serving as an information clearinghouse.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND GRANTS

Caring Communities/Community Partnership – 1995 to Present
Caring Communities is an initiative that supports local decision-making surrounding the six core results mentioned previously. SJYA holds the responsibility for maximizing resources and the community’s collaborative efforts toward the health and well being of its children through the administration of the Caring Communities initiative.

Educare of Northwest Missouri – 1997 to Present
SJYA in collaboration with St. Joseph School District initiated the Educare Program in 1995. Since 1997, SJYA has been the fiscal and administrative agent for Educare. Educare works to improve the early learning experiences for low-income children from birth to five years-of-age. Since these children are not yet attending school, the goal for Educare is to help ensure children receive a solid foundation for school success and are ready to enter kindergarten.

Early Childhood Education & Care (HB 1519) – 1998 to 2012
The Early Childhood Development, Education and Care Fund are administered by Educare through SJYA. This program offers scholarships for early childhood professionals/childcare providers to obtain their Child Development Associate degree (CDA) or continue for an Associate or Bachelors degree. The program collaborates with Missouri Western State University and Penn Valley Community College to support and promote their early childhood education programs. It provides funds for start-up and enhancement to those in childcare who want to become licensed or meet licensing requirements for their facility. HB1519 also includes the Child Care Accreditation program. Start-up & Expansion received additional funding of $178,024 in 2001/02, and Accreditation received one-time additional funding of $226,085 in 2002/03.

Northwest Missouri Mentoring – 1999 to Present
Northwest Missouri Mentoring Partnership Worksite Component is a partnership between community agencies, local schools, Department of Social Services, and youth of Andrew, Buchanan, Clinton, and DeKalb Counties. The goal of the program is to provide work readiness training to participating youth and assist them in gaining employment at various businesses with support of a job site mentor provided by the employer.

Northwest Missouri Mentoring Partnership also has a Teen Parent Component that supports the JUMP program. This program operates with additional funding from a Home Visitation grant. JUMP, administered in collaboration with the YWCA and Heartland Health, is a teen-parenting program first implemented in March 2000 to address issues of teen parent mentoring and pregnancy. JUMP works to improve the lives of expectant and parenting adolescents and their children by matching them with an adult volunteer mentor in a comprehensive program of mentoring and life-skills education; increasing knowledge of prenatal health and infant growth and development; decreasing parenting stress experienced by adolescent parents through improving their adjustment and problem-solving skills; increasing the rate of completion of high school or in obtaining a GED; and fostering the development of skills needed to join the workforce.

Stay Home Parent JUMP Program – 2002 to February 2013
JUMP, through the Stay at Home Parent Program, works specifically with parenting teens. JUMP provides a forum through home visits and educational meetings to address the importance of education, immunizations, parenting skills, early brain research, and child safety. This program also awards youth with incentives for successfully achieving goals according to care plans and the use of a certificate system.

Drug Free Communities Support Program – 2004 to 2005; and 2007 to 2012 and 2013 to present
The Drug Free Communities Support Program Grant provides funding and support for the St. Joseph Drug Free Community Coalition. SJYA worked collaboratively with individuals and organizations to form a 12-sector Drug Free Community Coalition, the substance abuse prevention arm of the organization. The Coalition meets monthly to positively change community attitudes and behaviors surrounding drugs, alcohol and tobacco, ultimately encouraging youth to choose substance free lives.

Children’s Trust Fund License Plate Partner – 2011 to present (funds are contingent on license plate sales):
Funding will provide cribs to low income families and mini grants to agencies in the St. Joseph Community Coalition for Child Abuse Prevention.

Stay Home Parent Child Abuse & Neglect—2007 to 2013
This grant supports our Family Connections program. Family Connections is a home visitation program for families in Andrew, Buchanan, and DeKalb counties. Families served must meet income guidelines and have at least one child under the age of three. The program provides monthly home visits to monitor physical and social-emotional progress and to complete assessments with parents for the purposes of early intervention and prevention of child abuse and neglect.

Circle of Hope Family Support Provider – 2010 to 2012
The family support partner provides direct support to parents built upon the lived experience from raising a child with a serious emotional disturbance. Family support providers connect families to other families to strengthen natural support systems and provides system level family voice and choice.

Communities of Hope Planning Grant – 2010 to 2012
The Communities of Hop initiative will expand the capacity of Missouri to support mental health wellness across the lifespan by working through community coalitions to transform local mental health services. Through this contract, a plan will be developed to build upon existing infrastructure to develop a more comprehensive configuration that can be sustained over time. The goal is for the state to partner with the local community in supporting the implementation of local plans that will maintain and improve mental health and wellness for all.

AmeriCorps – 1996 to 1997; and 2007 to 2011
The St. Joseph Youth Alliance served as the administrative and fiscal agent for the third year of this three-year community grant. This grant particularly focused on the creation of community service opportunities through support of AmeriCorps Members. The current grant works directly with youth to engage them in a variety of programs and activities that braids the concepts of asset development, service learning, and substance abuse prevention. This includes $26,200 of ARRA money in FY2010 to help support these efforts.

Circle of Hope Breaking the Silence Suicide Prevention Project – 2011
Northwest Missouri has one of the highest suicide rates in the state. National statistics tell us that every 16 minutes a suicide is completed. The goal of the newly formed coalition, Breaking the Silence, is to educate the community of the warning signs through awareness, prevention, and training. Suicide is preventable. Most people give definite warning signals of their suicidal intentions, but others are unaware of the significance of these warning signs. Suicide knows no boundaries; it occurs among the old and the young, the rich and the poor, and people of all cultures, races, and religions. In partnership, we can make a difference.

MO Suicide Prevention Project – 2011 and 2014; 2012 to 2013 (SJSD fiscal agent):
These funds were used to support the work of the Breaking the Silence Suicide Prevention Coalition. This coalition is working to educate the community about the warning signs of suicide and the break down the stigma associated with suicide.

Circle of Hope Positive Action—2009 to 2011
Mini-grant from COH to assist with implementation of the Positive Action curriculum in five St. Joseph School District elementary schools. Positive Action is an evidence based program that has been proven to positively impact discipline referrals, student attendance, grades, character, self esteem, and substance abuse prevention. Students in grades K-6 were served through this program.

Children’s Trust Fund Circle of Parents—2010 to present
Funding provided by Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) which complements the Family Connections program. Circle of Parents (COP) offers alternative resources to families in need beyond existing services. COP meetings can act as a catalyst for such resources as: parenting classes, links to respite and crisis care, and encourage and initiate family-to-family mentoring. Recognizing that each family’s need could be different, this integrated service delivery provides “voice and choice” as to what services are accessed by any one family. COP participants are not required to be co-enrolled in Family Connections.

Strategic Prevention Framework/State Inventive Grant – 2006 to 2010
The St. Joseph Youth Alliance was awarded a State Incentive Grant for a Strategic Prevention Framework Project to address underage and binge drinking. A focal point of the grant is “Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol”, a community organizing program designed to reduce adolescent access to alcohol by changing community policies and practices. The primary environmental strategy is youth asset development.

Children’s Trust Fund Cribs—2009 to 2010 and 2013 to 2015
Discretionary funding from Children’s Trust Fund (CTF) for a program known as Precious Keepers to provide cribs, bedding, and safe sleep information to low-income families in the greater St. Joseph area.

Community Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) – 2003 to 2008
The Youth Alliance was one of four applicants to receive a grant from the Children’s Trust Fund aimed at developing a comprehensive system of care for children and families at risk of child abuse and neglect. CBFRS will allow for the coordination of services to families to improve outcomes, reduce costs, and ultimately reduce underlying risk associated with child abuse and neglect.

C2000 Act MO– 2000 to 2001, 2003 to 2006, and 2011-2012
Grant funds through C2000 provide for the gathering of data, both annual and longitudinal, to determine the greatest assets within the community, while identifying the most critical risk factors among youth. The ultimate goal is to reduce youth substance use in St. Joseph by using the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets approach. C2000 also works with SJYA’s Youth Action Coalition to plan activities and to promote substance abuse prevention among area youth.

Stay Home Parent Infant Massage Program – 2001 to 2005
Infant Massage is administered by SJYA in collaboration with Heartland Health and has continued to grow since start-up in 2002. It consists of a trained nurse, Linda Redden, demonstrating infant massage techniques to young, first time mothers. After the three-year grant ended in 2004, SJYA received another grant which incorporated this program into the JUMP program.

America’s Promise Fellow – 2001 to 2002; and 2003 to 2005
This grant provides funding to support the living allowance of one Promise Fellow. The primary focus of this fellow will be to promote youth service learning opportunities in the community.

Title V – 2003 to 2005
The goal of the initiative funded through Title V is to prevent status offenders from entering into the juvenile justice system. This grant was received in partnership with the Juvenile Office, and they are the fiscal agent for these funds as well. There are three specific program objectives—to reduce delinquency; to decrease the percentage of students reporting age of first use of alcohol; and to increase parental programming and promote involvement of parent/school programs that emphasize the need to increase family and school attachment. Through these funds, the Strengthening Families program is offered. This is a researched based curriculum geared toward drug and alcohol abuse prevention among youth.

AmeriCorps Planning Grant – 2004 to 2005
This grant provides funds for the planning and development of a cyber volunteer action center. The purpose of these funds is to develop a web-based system where the citizens can go for volunteer opportunities as well as for the community to use as a tool to recruit community members for volunteer activities.

Circle of Parents Prevent Child Abuse MO– 2002 to 2004
Circle of Parents operates in partnership with our community and Prevent Child Abuse Missouri. This program promotes the development of parent-to-parent peer support groups and also includes support for grandparents raising grandchildren as well as parents with children with special needs.

Faith-based Mentoring Program/Tailor Made Opportunities – 1998 to 1999 and 2001 to 2002
This program, subcontracted to Inter/Serv, was previously known as “Circle of Friends” and is designed to assist families as they transition off welfare using the support of the faith-based community. Specifically, low-income women transitioning off welfare are paired with mentors from the faith community or a civic group that is committed to working with them to give them the self confidence needed to secure and sustain employment.

Under the Sea, A Community Sensory Room – 2003
Under the Sea is a result of local collaboration with support from both the private and public sectors of the community. This community room is designed to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities and includes a sensory motor room, a Snoezelen room, and a therapeutic equipment lending program.

Welfare Reform Initiatives – 1998 to 2002
The St. Joseph Youth Alliance received funding from the State of Missouri to assist individuals in moving from welfare-to-work. The community worked under five different taskforces to develop plans around the following focus areas: transportation, basic needs, teen pregnancy prevention, teen parenting (JUMP), and data resource development.

Parent link – 2000 to 2002
SJYA was funded by Parent link to work with parents of adolescents. The funds were used to provide parent/child sex education classes, purchase “developmental assets” materials and to host a community conference on developmental assets.

Parents as Teachers Outreach – 2001 to 2002
One-time funding was secured in 2002 through the State of Missouri to encourage participation of at-risk, stay at home parents, in the Parents as Teachers program. These funds provide for three incentives to families that meet the Stay at Home Parent guidelines to be given on their first three Parents as Teachers home visits.

St. Joseph Project – 2001 to 2002
The Explorer Kids Summer Program provides a safe, supervised, stimulating environment for children during the summer months and provides St. Joseph Parents with a cost effective alternative to leaving their children unsupervised during the summer months. The Assault on Assaultive Behavior program focuses on reducing the incidences of assaultive behavior in children ages twelve and under, through education in coping techniques and through proper identification.

Tobacco Compliance Checks – 2011 to 2013
Funds provided by Social Innovations of MO (SIM) grant for the purpose of conducting tobacco compliance checks with the St. Joseph Police Department. This is part of the Live Well St. Joseph is keeping youth free from tobacco use.

Workforce Investment Board Youth Employment Program – 2011 to present
Funding provided by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and serves Andrew, Buchanan, Clinton, Dekalb counties. This program serves youth ages 14-23 who meet established income guidelines. This program provides eligible youth, with effective and comprehensive program activities designed to enhance and improve their opportunities to obtain and complete education and training programs that will provide them with job readiness skills and competencies.

Summer Parks Youth Corps – 2012-2014
These funds are used in partnership with the WIB Youth Employment program. Youth are employed by SJYA during the summer to work at Wallace and Lewis and Clark State Parks.

Taco Bell – 2011 to 2015
Funded by Taco Bell Foundation to encourage teens to stay in school and graduate. The Youth Alliance provided activities including; field trip to Job Corps in Excelsior Springs, MO and Missouri Western State University. Other activities were: Senior Dinner & Recognition, School Supply Distribution, Lock In Event focused on career paths and ACT fees paid for five students.

MO American Water – 2012 to 2015
These funds are used to engage youth 11-18 in environmental projects with a specific focus on water quality and water conservation.

Trips For Kids & Youth Prevention (Live Well St. Joe) – 2011 to present
SJYA is an affiliate of the national non-profit Trips for Kids organization. YA provide mentoring, asset development, skill building, and healthy lifestyles development through bicycling experiences. A minimum of 30 walking/biking events are scheduled annually. YA, through its partnership with TFK national, the City of St. Joseph Parks and Recreation Department, and the Social Innovations of Missouri (SIM) grant, have 29 bicycles of varying sizes available for rides. While the bikes serve as an outlet for those youth without access to a bike, the program is open to all children 8-13 interested in learning the benefits of mountain biking.

Darden Restaurant – 2012 to 2015
These funds are used in partnership with the WIB Youth Employment program to encourage post secondary education for youth. Specifically, these funds are used to provide field trips for youth in the program to explore Missouri Western State University, Northwest Missouri State University, and Job Corps.

Missouri Mental Health Foundation – Suicide Prevention – 2011 to 2012
The Breaking the Silence Suicide Prevention Coalition works to promote awareness in the community around suicide prevention.

YAC Attack! Summer Program – 2011 to 2012
This program was funded by the City of St. Joseph. YAC Attack! Is a structured, supervised program providing youth with meaningful activities free from drugs and alcohol, while assisting them in making a difference in their life and the lives of others.

Family Resource Center Planning Grant –1998-1999
These funds came from the Department of Social Services to plan a north side community center now known as the Lindbergh Community Resource Center.

STOP Act– 2012 to present
The STOP Act Program is intended to enhance the ability of established community organizations to create community-level change regarding underage drinking. STOP Act grant funds focus primarily on strengthening collaboration among community entities to reduce alcohol use among youth in current and former Drug Free Communities grantee communities.

Home Visitation Program – March 2013 to present
A home visitation program serving families at or below 185% of poverty with a child under the age of three. Home visitors utilize the Parents as Teachers curriculum and a variety of assessments to address the following primary outcomes: school readiness; child well-being, including physical, behavioral, emotional and social development; age appropriate immunizations; child safety; positive brain development; skilled parents; prevention of child abuse and neglect; and positive parent and child interaction. In addition, the following secondary outcomes will also be achieved for the parents served through the program: reduced repeat pregnancies, reduced high school dropout rates for parenting teens, and increased graduation rates for parenting teens.

Prescription Over The Counter Drug – 2013-2014
The primary focus of this proposal is around community awareness and education to inform everyone in the community about the seriousness of prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) drug problem. A review of limited existing data and reports of school resource officers (SROs) regarding concerns with Rx and OTC drugs inspired the coalition to begin some conversations around this growing problem in the community.

Mobile Computer Lab – 1999-2000
The Mobile Computer Lab gave members of the community the opportunity to have a computer lab set up in their office or other off-site location where such resources didn’t exist. This lab included laptops, projector, and smart board to be used in multiple fashions to meet the needs of the organization. This set of equipment could be used for a day or even set up for week-long use. Many organizations who utilized this resource were using it to train staff.

Project Graduation – 2013 to present
Project Graduation is a chaperoned, all-night, alcohol and drug-free event hosted by the St. Joseph Youth Alliance, the greater St. Joseph Community and local businesses, and students’ parents. It is exclusively for our graduating high school seniors, and promotes the message that celebrating without alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs is the right choice.

No Limb-itations
No Limb-itations meets monthly to provide support for families affected by limb differences either from birth defects or limb loss. This group provides support for families and allows them social interaction among others with similar differences.

ORGANIZATION AFFILIATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS

Society of Human Resource Managers
Youth Volunteer Corps
St. Joseph Metro Chamber of Commerce
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA)

STAFF MEMBERSHIPS/ORGANIZATIONAL REPRESENTATION
Breaking the Silence, Organizer
Clean Air St. Joe, Member
Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America, Member
Community Action Partnership/Head Start Advisory Board Member
Community Drug Council, Member
Community Information DataMart, Board Member
Community Volunteer Resource Network Member
Continuum of Care, Member
Drug Free Community Coalition, Organizer
Greater St. Joseph Children’s Fair Organizer
HEALTH Committee, Member
ITSN
Kick Butts Dodgeball Tournament, Planning Committee
Kids Count Advisory Committee Member
LEAD Committee Member
Limb-itations
Live Well St. Joe Member
Missouri Advisory Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Past Board Chair, Member
My Success Event Former Steering Committee Member
Nation Association Family Child Care (NAFCC), Member
Noyes Home Children’s Nursery Committee, Member
Parents As Teachers Advisory Council, Member
Sexual Assault & Family Violence Council, Member
St. Joseph Bike Club, Member
St. Joseph Community Coalition Child Abuse Prevention, Organizer
Success by 6 Quality and Accreditation Committee Member
Success by 6 Partners, Board Member
Success by 6 Kindergarten Readiness Committee Member
System of Care, Member
Traffic Safety Taskforce, Member
Trips for Kids Chapter
Unmet Needs Committee, Member
Vet Corps, Organizer
Workforce Investment Board, Board Member
Workforce Investment Board, Youth Council Board Member
Youth Summit Planning Committee Member
YWCA, Board Member
YouthBuild
Youth Mental Health First Aid, Trainer