Putting All Communities Together
Organized initially in 1993 as a four county collaborative, PACT expanded to a five county collaborative in 2011 through a Joint Powers Agreement signed by the member county boards. The collaborative is governed by a Chief Elected Officials board which meets twice a year and an Executive Board which meets monthly. The collaborative, which addresses the full spectrum of family needs, is located in central Minnesota, serving the five counties of Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker, Renville, and Yellow Medicine. PACT for Families covers 3,653 square miles, with a population of 127,548. The Upper Sioux Indian Reservation is located within the service area, and is one of PACT for Families’ over 60 collaborative members.
PACT for Families Collaborative (Putting All Communities Together) is a five county, multi-agency partnership which operates as a Children’s Mental Health Collaborative, and a Family Services Collaborative. Both Family Services and Children’s Mental Health Collaboratives were defined by legislation to design and implement an “integrated local service delivery system” as the Family Services Collaborative legislation called it, or an “integrated service system”, as the Children’s Mental Health Collaborative legislation stipulated.
PACT for Families is a unique organization developed by its partners to fill gaps in services and to reduce duplication. The purpose of the Collaborative is to demonstrate that a large, rural agricultural area undergoing rapid demographic and economic upheaval can accomplish wide spread systems change to improve the lives of families. The collaborative continues to evolve and respond to the changing needs of our rural community by creatively addressing gaps supporting sustainable solutions. Membership includes health care, social services, substance abuse treatment, mental health, child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and other child serving entities. PACT for Families and its partners are dedicated to changing systems to be more prevention focused, strength driven, and family friendly.
The PACT for Families Collaborative has a vision of healthy, safe and resilient communities where individuals, families, and children care about and support each other.
