By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com

Remember the fracas in June 2020 over the awarding of a Los Alamos County contract meant to fund family resource programs?

Family Strengths Network (FSN) had been funded by the County since 1999 under one-year contracts. Instead, in 2020, the County instituted a three-year contract and awarded the full amount of funding to Las Cumbres Community Services.

An outpouring of support for FSN, including nearly 100 public comments to the County Council caused them to step back and rethink the process.

This story has a happy ending, with both organizations receiving funding through two separate RFP processes.

Las Cumbres Interim Director Stacy Frymier

“We didn’t understand that we would be in direct competition with FSN,” Las Cumbres Interim Director Stacy Frymier said. “We saw this as an opportunity to set up a space for our child and family services program in order to provide additional therapeutic support and early intervention. We took the stance that we would not accept a contract that shut out FSN.”

The organizations have joined forces to do what each one does best.

FSN Executive Director Carie Fanning

“This is a really great collaboration,” FSN Executive Director Carie Fanning said. “FSN can concentrate on prevention of problems and Las Cumbres can grow its intervention and treatment programs. We can refer families that need its services to Las Cumbres.”

Frymier agreed, “This is a great outcome. Now we need to make sure the community knows we’re collaborating and in support of each other.”

COVID-19 has impacted both agencies.

“We have a space in Los Alamos, but we’re not really using it,” Frymier said. “We really want to begin face-to-face services.”

“I want to go back to almost normal as soon as possible,” Fanning said. “It’s hard to provide services on a screen.”

In the meantime Las Cumbres team members have been meeting to map out services for Los Alamos, starting with those that can be accomplished virtually, Frymier said. Some of these services include two online workshops for adults available to all Los Alamos residents:

• DBT Skills Training beginning today, March 4 and held weekly 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays. The main goals of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) are to teach people to mindfully live in the moment, to tolerate and cope with stress in a healthy manner, to regulate emotions, and to develop enriching and healthy relationships with others.
• Ask a Specialist Series is a free virtual workshop series that will feature specialists such as Physical and Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Developmental Specialists and Behavioral Health Clinicians. They will cover frequently asked questions, offer video and other presentations, as relevant, and answer questions directly from attendees.

These community supports aim to integrate resources for families to achieve optimal physical, social-emotional and cognitive development for their children, and easily accessible education for themselves.Workshops will be held on the second and fourth Friday of each month.

The inaugural workshop will cover gross motor development. It will take place 10-11 a.m. Friday, March 12.Visit www.lascumbres-nm.org/los-alamos to access all events, classes and services available to Los Alamos residents.

These also include:

• Community Infant and Early Childhood Programs are focused on supporting the caregiving relationships that are the foundation of early development
• Adult Services, which offers a number of integrated programs that provide residential, employment, day habilitation, and community membership opportunities for adults with intellectual and/or physical disabilities
• Youth & Caregiver Programs specially designed for parents and caregivers, therapeutic programs for children ages 6+, and innovative services customized to meet the growing needs of our communities.

Meanwhile, FSN is working on integrating virtual programing, Fanning said. Many of their most popular programs have moved to a Zoom format, including Beginning English, Parenting with Love and Logic, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Birth Talk Los Alamos and Virtual Toddler Tunes. The Resource Library and the Toy Library are available by calling FSN at 505.662.4515. Visit FSN online at lafsn.org to access Zoom classes and learn about its many services for families.

“If you’re having a problem and are not sure what to do, call us,” Fanning said. “If we can’t help, we’ll refer you to someone who can.”

The two directors said they are thrilled to be able to offer a wider array of services to Los Alamos than either could provide alone.

“We network and help each other,” Fanning said. “We’re partners.”