Children and Family Resource Services is a young 501(3)(c) formed in partnership with Santa Barbara County Education Office. While the nonprofit is young, our multiple programs have been operating for many years, providing comprehensive programs to support the health and resilience of the children and families in Santa Barbara County. Our vision is Healthy and Resilient Children and Families. Our mission is to provide high quality, family-focused, strength-based services to build resilient...

A hug may be comforting to many children, but for a child who has experienced trauma it may not feel safe. That’s an example used by Julie Kurtz, co-director of trauma informed practices in early childhood education at the WestEd Center for Child & Family Studies (CCFS), as she begins a trauma training session. Her audience, preschool teachers and staff of the San Francisco-based Wu Yee Children’s Services at San Francisco’s Women’s Building, listen attentively.

Linked here is an article by Cynder Sinclair, Noozhawk Columnist, sharing how local nonprofits are adjusting and continuing to service their community amid coronavirus. Featured in the article are two of Resilient Santa Barbara County's very own community partner organizations: Isla Vista Youth Projects and the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County. The piece features an interview with Lori Goodman, Executive Director of Isla Vista Youth Projects (IVYP) on how they have remained...

In 2019, more than $40 million will become available to fund community-based, culturally rooted, trauma-informed services for youth in California as alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Thousands of California youth are arrested every year for low-level offenses. Youth who are arrested or incarcerated for low-level offenses are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to suffer negative health-outcomes, and more likely to have later contact with the justice system.

Welcome to Resilient Santa Barbara County! Children & Family Resource Services is connecting and engaging many partners, and is actively educating and supporting our community in so many ways. Thank you for being champions in this movement!

Family Service Agency is a non-profit organization that has provided basic needs assistance, family support, and mental health counseling since 1899, and has offices encompassing most of the entirety of Santa Barbara County. They are truly dedicated to promoting a trauma responsive team through their year-long training with the National Council for Behavioral Health and annual surveys to measure the organization’s progress in becoming a more trauma informed agency. Through these trainings,...

So grateful for the wonderful staff, programs, and leadership of Family Service Agency! They are a strong and committed partner in the countywide work of Resilient Santa Barbara County!

CAPC Intro It’s week three of Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when we pause to appreciate all of the people who come together to support and encourage children, youth and families. Everyone has a role to play in making sure that our community is a great place for children and youth to thrive. Parenting can be hard, and parents must be flexible and strong to meet the needs of their families when challenges arise. Stress can make it harder to be a patient and supportive parent. This...

The Santa Barbara Community Academy was the first elementary school where we started Kind Mind. It has been a privilege to get to know these and the Roosevelt children and seeing them blossom in kindness and mindfulness!

CAPC Intro April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, an opportunity to appreciate the ways we work together to strengthen families and communities. There are simple steps we can take every day to help reduce the risk factors for child abuse and neglect. With the help of a supportive community, parents and children can be resilient even in the face of adversity. There are seven wellness practices shown to reduce stress and strengthen resilience. This week we are focused on Mindfulness,...

Beautiful work Vivian and the Kind Mind team! Thank you for bringing these life giving skills to children in our community who need them. You are contributing in such meaningful ways to building the resilient and thriving community that all of us at Resilient Santa Barbara County envision! THANK YOU!

This work WYP is doing is so fundamental to community wellbeing and community resilience. Let's face it - there is no resilience for a community unless there's resilience for everyone in the community. All kids - all people - need time in nature. We all need mentorship. Investing in kids this way is a key investment in the community, our wellbeing and our future.

So grateful for Kind Mind and the connections they are making with kids and families in Santa Barbara!

Thank you Wilderness Youth Project for sharing your love of nature and its healing properties. So many kids are benefitting from your mentorship!