Family Centers:

There are five Family Centers in McKean County. They are funded through the Pennsylvania Family Center grant and other state and federal grants. Our local United Ways, Human Service Development Funds, Children and Youth Services, and various donations also help fund the Family Centers. The Family Centers work holistically with children, youth and families and offer services that include home visits for families with young children, early childhood developmental screenings, parent workshops, parent-child activity groups, fatherhood services, after school activities for children under third grade, and family activity nights. The five Family Centers in McKean County are located in Bradford, Kane, Otto-Eldred, Port Allegany and Smethport.

McKean County Big Brothers Big Sisters:

The Big Brothers Big Sisters of McKean County is a program dedicated to serving children ages 6-12 in the community through mentoring relationships with a quality adult volunteer. These adult mentors help children increase their self-esteem and reach their highest potential. Matches complete community service projects in order to give back to the community. A new mentoring component added in 2003 called Education Mentoring allows adult volunteers or high school volunteers to mentor young people needing tutoring support as well as a caring relationship.

A dental treatment office initially funded with a Department of Health Challenge Grant and matched locally with funding from the Blaisdell Foundation and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield opened in September 2002. The facility targets approximately 17,053 low-income children and adults in McKean County. Recipients of Medicaid, CHIP, the uninsured and underinsured now have assess to dental care through this program operated by the Bradford Regional Medical Center and staffed with a full-time dentist, hygienist, dental assistant and receptionist.

Funds provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Health are contracted to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, Inc. for the development of comprehensive Tobacco Control Program. The objectives of the program are to increase the involvement of youth and schools in tobacco use prevention activities, and to coordinate prevention, education and cessation activities under a single point of contact.

Communities That Care Projects:

Every other year, McKean County completes a Communities That Care assessment and planning process. This process is endorsed by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and is designed to help communities understand what places youth most at risk. Pennsylvania Youth Surveying (PAYS), is a survey conducted every two years on all 6,8,10, and 12^th graders in all school districts to determine their attitudes and practices toward alcohol, drugs and antisocial behavior. Once this assessment is completed, community task forces prioritize what places youth most at risk and plan strategies to help address the identified risks. Funds to pay for the surveying come from various grants available to help support this work.

Bradford PROSPER Project :

PROSPER is a collaborative, school-based drug prevention project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and sponsored by the Pennsylvania State University. The project aims to prevent and delay the onset of alcohol, tobacco and other drug use and strengthen resilience in Bradford middle school youth and their families through the implementation of two programs—the Strengthening Families Program and the All Stars Project. The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is a model family skill-building curriculum designed for parents and youth ages 10-14. It helps prevent teen substance abuse and other behavior problems, strengthen parenting skills and build family strengths. The All Stars Program is a model school-based curriculum designed to reduce substance use in 11-14 year olds. It is a highly interactive program involving 23 lessons integrated into regular classroom health instruction. In addition, PROSPER aims to create a sustainable infrastructure for implementation of high-quality programming through a collaboration between Penn State Cooperative Extension, the local public schools, community organizations involved with prevention and youth development, and Penn State University-based prevention scientists. Penn State Cooperative Extension in McKean County serves as the lead agency for PROSPER.

Funding from Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency funds the Strengthening Families Program in all school districts in McKean County. The Strengthening Families Program is a 7-week workshop series for fifth and sixth graders and their parents. Through the program, parents and children are taught individual skills, then are brought together to work on improving family communication. The goal of the program is to delay the onset of substance use in youth and to study the use of “evidence-based” prevention programs that help youth avoid alcohol and drug use. The Guidance Center operates the program in partnership with community facilitators, area school districts and Penn State Cooperative Extension.  Check out their website at: www.sfpmckean.net.