What Is the Role Of the Collaborative Central Office?
In 1999 the Collaborative established a central office manned by a full-time Collaborative Coordinator and a part-time Parent Involvement Coordinator; previously all work done by the Collaborative was done on a volunteer basis. Since that time, the Collaborative has grown to include a part-time Funding Coordinator.

The role of the Collaborative Coordinator is to facilitate relationships and communication between all participants in the Collaborative, direct the day-to-day activities, manage the planning and evaluation processes of the services and activities, assist in outreach to Children’s Mental Health stakeholders to welcome and encourage involvement from diverse communities, coordinate Children’s Mental Health program problem-solving and best-practices sharing, and to represent the Collaborative’s interest to the greater community.

The role of the Funding Coordinator is to administer and manage two different funds with an annual budget of $223,703: Care Plan Funds and Life Skills.

The Care Plan Fund is a limited funding source designed to assist children with an emotional behavioral disorder (EBD) and/or severe emotional disturbance (SED) diagnosis when no other funding source is available. Based upon criteria and submission of a Care Plan Fund Request Form, a child can qualify for emergency, one time only, or short-term funding.

Life Skills Funds are available to children in Ramsey County and can be accessed by a requestor working with a child’s service team. A list of agencies that provide Life Skills services is available from the Collaborative office. These specific agencies have entered into the Life Skills Provider Agreement with the Collaborative.

The role of the Parent Involvement Coordinator is to assist parents and member agencies to improve information and access for parents of children with mental health issues, develop a comprehensive network of support resources for parents, and increase parents’ involvement in the governance of the children’s mental health system in Ramsey County.