Serving Families and Children in Olmsted County

Mission

The mission of the Olmsted County BRIDGE Collaborative is to foster communication, cooperation and long-term vision building and planning among stakeholders to better serve the needs of children and families in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Goals

Increase Capacity
Build Resilience
Expand Access to Services
Early Intervention
System Integration

Workgroups

School Based Mental Health

Support integration of mental health services across providers in school districts/cultures in a way that supports financial sustainability.

Early childhood

Promote healthy infant, child and adolescent development by minimizing exposure to harmful and prolonged stress.

Adverse Childhood experiences

Address trauma through providing healing to children and adults in Olmsted County who have experienced ACES and fostering an environment of a connected and informed community.

Behavioral Health/Crisis Intervention

Create pathways of behavioral health services that support youth from entrance to exit and that assure continuity of care.

History

The Minnesota Legislature established Children’s Mental Health Collaboratives and Family Services Collaboratives in 1993 as innovative approaches to address the needs of children and youth who face complex problems involving them and their families with multiple service systems. The Olmsted County BRIDGE (Building Resilience in Development, Growth, and Education) Collaborative is one of 90 Children’s Mental Health and Family Services Collaboratives currently in Minnesota. Each Collaborative is made up of at least 6 partner agencies including a Public Health entity, School Districts, Corrections, Head Start Agency, Mental Health Agency, a Community Action Program and Social Services. Collaboratives are beneficial in improving communication and coordination between providers county-wide, providing the ability to generate funding through the Local Collaborative Time Study (LCTS), and providing the ability to fund additional programming for children and families in Olmsted County.

Mission:
Collaboratives bring service systems together to coordinate and integrate resource/services for children, youth and families.

Guiding Principles:
The following core values establish and drive the work of all Collaboratives to foster well-being and resilience:
▪ Strengths based
▪ Child centered, youth guided, and family driven (increasing voice and choice)
▪ Holistic family, community, and systems approaches
▪ Culturally and economically affirming, responsive, and inclusive
▪ Equitable communities reducing disparities and increasing opportunities
▪ Research informed and data driven