Emporia nonprofit Radical Life outlines community approach to keep families out of foster care

Lindsay Smith, executive director of Radical Life in Emporia, told the Child Welfare and Foster Care Committee her nonprofit works with families who have children in or at risk of entering the foster-care system, using weekly community dinners, coaching and partnerships with local agencies to reduce isolation and improve stability.

"Our mission is to work with families. It is to, first and foremost, resolve poverty," Smith said, describing a curriculum-based, holistic approach that addresses mental and physical health, finances, social capital and other domains.

Smith said Radical Life operates as a small team that serves cohorts of about 15 families at a time. She described a Monday-night model where families eat together, children receive childcare, adults take classes and participants receive individualized coaching. The program also hosts therapists on-site and arranges meetings such as IEPs in its rented church space to reduce barriers for families.

Smith offered outcome figures and clarified several numbers during her testimony. She said Radical Life has helped pay off over $70,000 in debt for families who completed the program and reported an increase of roughly $18,000 in combined income across participants during a recent six-month period. Smith also said 73 percent of participants on parole or probation graduated the program early by as much as a year, and that five adults were pursuing or had completed GEDs and one had completed college.

The organization is the first implementing partner for Care Portal in Kansas, Smith said. Care Portal allows agencies such as DCF, school districts and mental-health centers to post needs that churches and other local groups can fulfill; Smith said Radical Life has used that system to channel church resources and relieve more than $70,000 in economic impact for local families.

Lyon County Sheriff Jeff Cope described attending Radical Life community dinners and said they help leaders better understand the community. "We go we meet with the, leaders. That's what they call the people in the class...We break bread together. We eat together. And then, we go around and they talk about how their perceptions of the community are," Cope said.

Committee members asked about program scale and eligibility. Smith said Radical Life typically works with 15 families per cohort, recommends participants be clean and sober for six months in many cases, and requires participating families to have children because of grant and program constraints.

The presentation did not produce a committee vote; committee members thanked Radical Life for the community-based approach and invited further engagement with legislators.