Helping Children Succeed

In 1992, Walt and Elspeth Rostow joined other community leaders to create The Austin Project. Their goal was for all children to have equal opportunities for a healthy childhood, a good education, and a bright future. From its beginning, TAP has sought innovative and collaborative approaches in the delivery of social services.

One of the first priorities of The Austin Project was to collect reliable data about the community. TAP research discovered disproportionately high poverty, unemployment, and school drop out rates in pockets of a community that was otherwise flourishing economically. One of the most important observations from this first phase of research was that Austin needed to find ways to deliver social services and to impact families in a preventative and holistic manner and in a way that involved the families as architects of their own solutions.

TAP collaborated with AISD and the Seton Healthcare Network to establish in-school health clinics at Andrews and Ortega Elementary Schools. Family Resource Centers were opened in these schools to provide a central location for families to get everything from tutoring and parenting classes to referrals for other services. TAP’s experience during the past decade has shown us that what our community needs, far more than another social service provider, is a new way of delivering all social services. A county-wide assessment by the Community Action Network and the conclusions of a subsequent workgroup formed in 2000 concurred with this view.

The conclusions of the CAN Community-Wide Assessment and a subsequent Travis County Juvenile Justice Task Group led to the formation of the Youth & Family Assessment Center model. The City of Austin and Travis County have contracted with TAP to implement this model and to serve as a broker between families and social service agencies.

TAP Care Coordinators and families work together to develop a Plan of Care. TAP Care Coordinators help families focus on their strengths and select services in the community that are procured through a separate entity. The focus on prevention and early intervention helps families address obstacles before they become problems. The YFAC receives referrals from seven schools in East Austin and from the Travis County Truancy Court. A Hogg Foundation grant will allow for an evaluation of the success of this model.