In high school, my niece Meagan was active on Space Coast crew, which according to their website, is a non-profit organization established during the summer of 1996 to promote the sport of rowing among Brevard County Scholastic students, grades 8-12. She was so accomplished that she received a crew scholarship to the University of Tampa.

I had the good fortune to watch several of her competitions which took place on the Banana River here in Brevard County. It was amazing to watch eight rowers, all working together, synchronizing their movements to achieve a single outcome. It was also informative to watch teams when the rowers were not in sync. Their boats did not go straight; the team lost speed, and usually lost the race.

It can be that way in child welfare as well. If we are aligned, “rowing together”, we cannot help but have successful outcomes for our families, and for each other. If someone along the way loses their rhythm, it can negatively impact the success of the family, and eventually the success of our System of Care. Each one of us has our part to play in the success of the lives of the children and families we serve.

In the midst of our busy days, new processes can seem to only add more stress and less time to complete the work before us. I want to encourage everyone to have faith in these new processes. They are designed to help us align, to “row straight” and when fully implemented, will lead to more success, better outcomes, and more time for Care Managers and Care Coordinators to interact with their families.

I want to thank each of you for the amazing improvement in outcomes that have occurred over this last quarter. We are rowing in the right direction, we are getting in sync, and we are impacting the lives of the children we touch.

Sincerely,

Jim Carlson
Interim CEO, Brevard Family Partnership Family of Agencies