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He promises funding for Family Support Centers

Friday, May 31, 2002

By Barbara White Stack, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Some children's advocates took Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed Rendell for a ride yesterday.

By the time he escaped their clutches two hours later, he was talking their talk.

The former Philadelphia mayor promised he would allocate more money for Family Support Centers if elected governor. "I love this model," Rendell said after listening to parents testify about the improvements the centers have helped them make in their lives and those of their children.

That's exactly what the advocates wanted to hear, because for the past six years, the state hasn't given the centers increases large enough to cover inflation.

Child Watch of Pittsburgh, a group dedicated to improving the lives of children in Allegheny County, organized the bus tour to the Wilkinsburg Family Support Center, in the Hosanna House community center. Support centers provide services ranging from drop-in day care to drug treatment to help struggling parents.

Child Watch has promised Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher a tour of a Family Support Center later this year. He told them he couldn't go yesterday because he had a commitment in Philadelphia.

Rendell said the director of human services in Philadelphia persuaded him of the value of Family Support Centers while he was mayor, so no hard sell was necessary yesterday. Philadelphia has 11 centers, while Allegheny County has 30, the most of any county in the state.

Family Support Centers work, Rendell said, because they first teach people to be better parents. As a result, fewer children are abused or neglected and fewer become delinquents. Just working with the children alone is not as effective, he said.

Parents described for Rendell how support centers have transformed their lives.

Wayne Herring, a former drug addict, said that when he got out of prison, the Wilkinsburg center helped him support himself and his family. Herring, who has custody of his three sons, said, "I learned I can't do this by myself. When I am falling, the Family Support Center holds me up ..."

Eugenia M. Mosby of McKeeport told Rendell and 100 support center clients and advocates that she grew up in foster care, failed to graduate from high school and abused drugs. But with the help of a support center, she has been drug-free for a decade, earned an associate's degree, is working and has custody of her children.

Allegheny County's Family Support Centers are financed by state, federal, local and foundation funds. Foundations here, particularly the Heinz Endowments, have been crucial in launching and supporting the centers. And even in the absence of stronger state support, two more are planned, one in Garfield and one in East Liberty.

Centers here have flourished under the advocacy of Bob Nelkin, former director of county human services, and Marc Cherna, the current director. Nelkin, now policy director for the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, continued to lobby for additional funding for support centers even after he left county government, taking support center clients to Harrisburg to explain the program to legislators and policy-makers.