Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Youth Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Regional PAC for Families outlines substance-prevention, transition and outreach plans for Meeker County
Summary
PAC for Families (regional) updated the Meeker County Board on March 4 about federal- and state-funded programs serving five counties, plans to expand substance-use prevention into Meeker County, local data gaps and modest program enrollment in Meeker.
Sarah Vande Hart, a PAC for Families representative, told the Meeker County Board on March 4 that PAC’s multi-county programs support youth and families across Kandiyohi, Meeker, McLeod, Renville and Yellow Medicine counties, and that the collaborative is seeking to expand substance-use prevention work in Meeker County.
Sarah said PAC’s Journey to Independence (JTI) program, which started in 2020, helps youth aged 14–21 diagnosed with a serious emotional disturbance or serious mental illness with life skills and career readiness. She said JTI was awarded $600,000 per year for four years through 2028. Road to Success (RTS) expands services to youth up to age 25, including those with developmental disabilities, for career and education supports.
Sarah told the board PAC is preparing two Partnership for Success proposals after the current grant ends in 2025: one proposal with Yellow Medicine and Renville counties and a second focused on Meeker and Kandiyohi counties. The proposals would center prevention work on alcohol, cannabis and vaping, Sarah said, noting legislative changes around cannabis make prevention work especially timely.
On local participation and data, Sarah said Meeker County participation in PAC surveys and data collection has been limited. She reported JTI/RTS enrollment numbers in Meeker County: JTI began in 2020 and had eight youth in Meeker County in 2023; a combined JTI/RTS pilot in 2024 worked with two youth as the newer program expanded, and overall JTI headcount in Meeker County for 2024 was five youth. Sarah said PAC can accept additional referrals and has been doing outreach to family services and public health to increase local referrals.
Sarah described other PAC services: family support and wraparound services (which moved to a MeRAP approach incorporating motivational interviewing), cultural outreach and workforce-development efforts, youth leadership and training events, discretionary grants (almost all of $100,000 was used in 2024 across five counties), and school social worker transition funding that is phasing down from earlier support to eventual full school funding.
On the SHARE school survey (a locally run anonymous student survey), Sarah said participation by Meeker school districts has lagged; ACGC last participated in 2019, Eden Valley–Watkins in 2015, Litchfield in 2017 and Dassel–Cokato had no data listed. She said local survey data strengthen grant proposals and program planning in rural “data desert” areas.
Board members asked about referral pathways, duplication of services and connections to a proposed Family Resource Center. Sarah said PAC maintains an online referral application open to families and partners; PAC also maintains a regional resource page (across five counties) that the presenter said needs updating and more outreach to ensure providers and residents can find services.
The board discussed transportation and awareness as recurring barriers; Sarah and commissioners said better coordination with schools, public health and local coalitions would be part of planned expansion work in Meeker County.
End note: Sarah invited commissioners and staff to PAC meetings and to the collaborative’s annual meeting; she said PAC will follow up with more qualitative partner surveys and a referral-tracking pilot to cut duplication.
