Anaconda Family Resource Center

The Anaconda Family Resource Center pictures a future in which all families receive and fully use the basic skills, education, support, and encouragement necessary for the development of healthy families.

Anaconda Family Resource Center | Community Youth Center

In 1982, the Anaconda Family Resource Center opened its doors to address the high incidence of child abuse and neglect in the Southwest Montana rural area of Deer Lodge County. The initial focus for programs and services was intervention.

But need for additional services became obvious and the center was expanded to include preventative services. In October of 2004, after school services began to provide a safe place for youth to go while not in school. These preventative services for youth are provided through the Community Youth Center.

Our mission is to assure all families receive the basic skills, education, support, and encouragement necessary for the development of healthy families. All programs offered through the center are designed around this premise.

A fundraising formula has been developed to make sure our services can continue for generations to come. This formula consists of seeking grants through local, state and federal sources; small fees for some services; state and local giving and through fundraisers.

Our services include:

Partnership Program
The Partnership Program is designed to increase the strength and stability of families; increase parents’ confidence and competence in their parenting ability; afford children a safe, stable and supportive family environment; and to otherwise enhance child development. Our staff facilitates these necessary changes through the following services.

In-Home Visitations - Home Visits are done on a regular basis throughout the duration of services. Initially, they are performed on a weekly basis for two to four hours per visit. As time and services progress, the time duration can be modified considerably. During Home Visits, the Family Development Specialist discusses the Family Service Plan as well as topics pertinent to the client’s success. This includes but is not limited to budgeting, time management, family interaction and behaviors, work related issues, or other needed services.

Parenting Classes - Common Sense Parenting by Active Parenting (geared toward toddlers and preschoolers) is the curriculum used for parenting classes. The classes teach effective discipline skills while helping parents develop more positive communication between them and their children. Clients are enrolled in classes and receive a parenting workbook to read and “practice” effective parenting between sessions. The goal at the end of the sessions is to have each parent develop and monitor their own parenting plan.

Supervised Visitations - Supervised Visitations are for those families whose children have been removed from the home. Family Development Specialists supervise the visits because the parent(s) have failed to properly care for their children. These children have been abused or neglected to the extent where the state needs to become involved.

During these visits, parents are being observed for parent/child interaction, potentially harmful behaviors, appropriate
behaviors/responses and overall attentiveness.

CASA/GAL Program
When a child is removed from their home, they need to have representation in the court system. The CASA/GAL volunteer role is to provide advocacy services (in the court system) for abused, neglected and/or abandoned children.

CASA/GAL volunteers are pro bono and their role includes investigating the case, attending meetings pertinent to the children, and providing input to and monitoring of the parents’ treatment plan.

Stress and Anger Management Classes
Many of our clients are dealing with stress and/or anger issues. To help eliminate these issues, the center offers Stress and Anger Management Classes twice weekly. Classes consist of twenty sessions dealing with five triggers. The primary purpose of the classes is to assist people in changing patterns of behavior that are inappropriate, counter-productive, and/or dangerous to themselves or others.

Summer Feeding Program
During summer months, the center provides breakfast and lunch at schools and low-income areas throughout the community. Each summer, up to 11,000 meals are served at these sites.

Community Youth Center (CYC)
CYC is open three hours a day, five days a week. Lead staff makes every attempt to coordinate their efforts with teachers and administration from local schools to ensure that every child’s educational needs are cared for. Progress is monitored through communications with teachers and/or obtaining copies of the student’s report cards and progress reports.

Additional activities are designed to improve each student’s academic potential while also enhancing personal development and family interaction. All activities are designed from evidence-based practices to instill or otherwise improve educational achievement; character development; cultural awareness; and health and nutrition.