The Carbon County Interagency and Family Collaborative Board is looking at ways to increase membership and continue to be a strong resource for the people it serves.

During the group’s meeting on Wednesday, members discussed how to move the group forward while still serving everyone from children to seniors.

“We need to have some goals set so superintendents and principals and guidance counselors can say this is how we can be involved,” said Rachel Strucko, director of the SHINE Afterschool Program. “It’s time to set some more goals as a collaborative in the county. That’s important to get more people.

“It’s time we figure out where our place is and how to fulfill what our county needs,” she said, pointing out that the collaborative was instrumental in the creation of the Carbon County dental van that St. Luke’s now oversees, as well as the SHINE program, which has over a decade of data to show the improvements it has made in thousands of children’s lives.

The group said that some needs in the county include mental health services, food insecurities, transportation, housing and more resources for grandparents raising grandchildren.

Julie Rovinski-Mann, Pennsylvania Link coordinator, said that one thing the group needs to focus on again is inclusion of the aging population because agencies that were once members of the organization stopped coming because they felt the collaborative was gearing more toward children.

Amber Breiner of the Carbon County Community Foundation suggested setting a group of people to lead the charge and determine the needs and see where the group should focus and projects it could create to help the county.

“What’s missing is a big-picture perspective,” she said.

The group then reorganized its strategic planning committee to work on finding ways to move the collaborative forward and also find ways to bring in new members to create a strong network of resources.

The Carbon County Interagency and Family Collaborative Board was formed in November 2014 following the merger of the Carbon County Child and Family Collaborative and the Interagency Council.

The Interagency Council was formed in 1988 and had aimed to serve human service entities in the county to help improve the lives of county residents; while the Child and Family Collaborative was a board that was created by Partners for Progress as a way to help children and families.

The two groups merged as a way to create a stronger network since they both provided similar services in the county, and many members sat on both boards.

More information on the collaborative board and how to become a member is available at https://cccfoundpa.org/collaborative-board.

The next meeting of the board will be at 9 a.m. Nov. 14 in the training room (lower level) of the Pyramid, 230 Ochre St., Lehighton. If Jim Thorpe School District has a delay or closure that day, the meeting date will be changed to Nov. 21.

Breakfast

In other matters, the collaborative board announced that the next Human Services Priorities Breakfast, which is held annually and covers a variety of topics, will be held on April 26, 2019, at Whispering Pines, Penn Forest Township Fire Company, 1387 Route 903, Jim Thorpe.

The group is currently working on next year’s topic.

More details of the breakfast will be announced at a later time.