GAINESVILLE, FLA – Partnership for Strong Families, Inc. (PSF), the lead community-based care agency under contract with the Department of Children and Families for 13 counties in north central Florida, announced today that they were awarded a five-year federal grant from the Children’s Bureau within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Children, Youth and Families. The grant, which will bring in more than $2 million over the next five years, will allow PSF to rigorously evaluate their Resource Center Model and establish a new Resource Center in Lake City. The Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families grant funds cooperative agreements that support the development, implementation and evaluation of primary prevention strategies to improve the safety, stability and well-being of all families through a continuum of community-based services and supports PSF is one of only nine agencies to be awarded the grant nationally, and the only recipient in Florida. The grant will support PSF’s Resource Center Model, which utilizes the protective factors framework to increase family strengths and stability and decrease the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. PSF has established four Resource Centers serving communities with historically high rates of child maltreatment: The Library Partnership Resource Center, SWAG Family Resource Center, Cone Park Library Resource Center and Tri-County Community Resource Center. “The support from the Children’s Bureau will allow our agency to build upon what we already know to be a successful model,” said Stephen Pennypacker, President and CEO for Partnership for Strong Families. “The grant dollars received will help identify and highlight the components of our Resource Center Model that are directly associated with reducing rates of child maltreatment and entries into foster care.” In 2018, the Resource Centers saw more than 35,000 visits and provided 46,607 distinct services. Since opening their first center in 2009, data shows an overall 79% decrease in the rates of verified maltreatment for the zip codes served by their three Gainesville Resource Centers. “The impact made in Gainesville and Chiefland has been promising, and we now have the opportunity to expand our Model to another area that may benefit,” said Pebbles Edelman, Senior Vice President of Clinical and Community Services for PSF. “We are eager to grow our collaborations in Lake City as we prepare to open a Resource Center that will be developed to meet the specific needs of this community.” To learn more about Partnership for Strong Families’ Resource Centers, visit https://www.pfsf.org/resourcecenters/.