BY THE WAY: KASTEN FINDS WAYS TO HELP CCC THRIVE

Jim Davis is convinced a few hot bowls of soup can go a long way in fueling a worthwhile project, especially if State Rep. Mary Kasten is stirring the pot.

Davis runs the Cape Girardot Detention Center, a facility to help juvenile offenders. He also is a member of the Community Caring Council, an organization founded by Kasten in 1989.

The Community Caring Council is designed to link state agencies in order to eliminate duplicated services and solve problems more efficiently.

Davis describes the council best by saying it enables the 60 agencies and 150-plus members to connect the dots and forge a team effort.

But even the best laid plans of Kasten and company can come to a halt when the lines of communication become frayed. That happened a few years ago. "It seemed like we were all trying to do our best to solve problems, but somehow everyone began to feel frustrated," Davis said.

That's when Kasten decided to act on her instincts. "She called everyone up and said she wanted us to come over for some homemade soup," Davis said. "When Mary says she's got some soup and a reason for you to be there, you don't argue."

The lunch proved to be just the sustenance the council needed. "It seemed like from that point on we really began to come up with some good ideas and once again the dots were getting connected," Davis said.

Some of the community projects that have been launched by the council: Interagency staffing team, Court Appointed Special Advocates, First Steps Project, Teen Pregnancy and Responsibility Network, Caring Communities Project, AmeriCorps, And Community Prototype Initiative.

Three areas that were given special attention by the council have shown dramatic results. Those areas were child abuse, out-of-home placement for children and the percentage of births to single teen-agers. "In just one year we were able to show a marked improvement in every category," Davis said.

One of the areas the council is expected to target in the near future is juvenile law violations, which showed an increase of 23.5 percent in the past four years.

"When everybody works together, you would be surprised at some of the things that can be accomplished," Davis said. "And what's impressive is that we're not using a lot of money to get the job done."

Indeed, at the end of April 1994, the Interagency staffing team, through its mentor program, provided 2426 hours of intensive case monitoring and mentor services to 23 children. Many of these 23 children already had been in an acute care psychiatric hospitals.

After the mentoring service was introduced, only one child was institutionalized.

For the fiscal year, approximately $22,000 will be spent on the mentoring program. The average cost per child is much less than that needed for psychiatric or residential placement.

The Interagency staffing team was formed in 1991 and consists of representatives from 13 agencies in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties.

The team meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at the Cottonwood Residential Treatment Center. The Community Caring Council meets the third Friday of each month at 7:30 a.m. at the Cape Vo-Tech Building in Cape Girardeau.

Parents, church leaders and professionals are encouraged to participate in both meetings.

~Bill Heitland is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.