ABOUT MOUNTAINSTAR FAMILY RELIEF NURSERY Mission | Values | History | MountainStar Team | About Our Support Programs
MountainStar was incorporated as a non-profit in 2003...
and fills a unique niche in the community by providing comprehensive support services to families at high risk for child abuse and neglect during the first four years of a child’s life. We confront parents about the serious consequences of neglectful and abusive behaviors toward children, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and other behaviors detrimental to healthy family life and are engaged in ongoing case management of these issues throughout the time we work with our clients. Families have an average of 20 risk factors for child abuse upon enrollment; our mission is to help them reduce the number of risk factors so that their children are safer and their family stays together.
Clients are referred to our organization through a network of community agencies and organizations serving at-risk families including local health services, child protective services, violence prevention programs and drug and alcohol treatment services. Families that we serve also refer other families for services. All clients undergo an initial intake that includes an assessment of needs, risk factors and goals for the enrolled child and for the family. Parents are then helped to develop a Family Plan that details their specific needs and expectations and serves as a benchmark for periodically assessing progress.
The organization is governed by an active 11-member Board of Directors and services are carried out by a team of 14 competent staff members. MountainStar’s program is a replication of the highly successful Relief Nursery model of child abuse and neglect prevention developed in Eugene and implemented in ten programs across Oregon.
In 2007-2008 the number of children and their families served reached 348, with 278 children served through our Safety Net program and 66 through our Healing Children program. In the past 2 years we have added two critical areas of service to our program: Services to High Risk Latino Families and Mental Health Services.
Our Mission
The mission of MountainStar Family Relief Nursery is to prevent child abuse and neglect in Central Oregon by providing comprehensive services to keep children safe, parents successful and families together.
Values and Vision Statement:
We strive to create an organization in which every parent, child, staff member, board member, and volunteer experiences our values in all aspects of our work.
Our Core Values Include:
- Safety and emotional security for every child
- Support for effective, nurturing parenting
- Dignity and respect in every interaction
- Research based strategies
- Honest measurement of accomplishments
- Empowerment, including help building the skills needed to achieve each family’s goals
- Accountability
- Help with change, including breaking the cycle of abuse
- Cultural competence
- Community involvement and collaboration
- Continuing professional development
- Productive, humane employment practice
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History
In 2000, Deschutes County published a comprehensive 10-year Community Plan. One of the priority areas addressed in the plan was meeting the needs of distressed families, especially those where children were at-risk of abuse and neglect. A group of human service professionals and community members collaborated to investigate and launch an effective child abuse prevention program. In April 2001, they founded the MountainStar Family Relief Nursery based on the Oregon Relief Nursery model successfully implemented, at that time, in seven other communities in Oregon. They chose this model because of its proven effectiveness and potential to operate as a community-based program supported by local volunteers and donations.MountainStar started serving children in April 2001 and was administered as a fiscal sponsorship project for the first two years under the KIDS Center and then High Desert Educational Service District. MountainStar received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in February 2003 and began operating as an independent nonprofit in July 2003. The board and staff developed foundation and community support to leverage government funding available through the Deschutes Commission Children and Families. The number of children served has increased from 34 children in FY 02-03 to 348 children in FY 07-08.
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