Safety Net Imperiled at O.C. School

A school program that helps families of poor children may close in June because its public funding will run out then and it is barred from raising money from private sources, officials say.

The La Habra Family Center, founded in 1996 at Imperial Middle School, has served more than 4,500 children and adults with medical and social services. It was founded by then-Principal Betty Bidwell, who saw a need to help children learn by helping their families.

“I remember the little boy who was living in a car,” said Bidwell, who retired last year. “Let’s face it, if you don’t have a place to sleep, it’s hard to do your math homework.”

Over the years, the center has grown to include teenage crisis counseling, parenting classes and adult employment training. It has helped children and families deal with domestic violence, alcoholism and mental illness.

The middle school serves a poor area, where two and three families may be sharing a house and where 70% of the schoolchildren receive free lunches, Bidwell said.

The center has been praised by the state as an example for other areas with similar demographics.

Maryam Sayyedi, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor in Cal State Fullerton’s counseling department, said that for poor immigrant families, public schools serve as gateways: They are often the first institution the family approaches for help.

At its peak, the center operated out of a trailer at the school with nearly 18 workers, including part-time psychologists. With funding cuts, the center was housed in a small office, with a smaller staff that included supervised interns.

The center suffered its first setback last spring, when it lost $225,000 in county funding. Center officials missed the grant application deadline by four hours because their grant writer was incapacitated by cancer.

While the school district chipped in $50,000, center director Wendy Dallin was forced to cut her staff and reduce the hours of many workers who remained, severely limiting services.

This year, Dallin said, the county grants are no longer available because of state budget cuts, and the school district is unable to provide the extra funding. District officials also have prohibited the center from raising money on its own from private sources.

Dallin said Richard A. Hermann, superintendent of La Habra City School District, told her the district didn’t want to incur liability by using private funding. Unable to explain what liability the district might incur, she referred further questions to district officials.

Hermann, however, did not return repeated calls asking for an interview. Also not returning calls were school board Trustees Linda Zinberg, Linda Navarro Edwards, Cindy Frisbie Hecklau and Susan Hango.

Trustee Antonio Valle Jr. has been ill and could not be reached.

Bidwell said the school district plans to continue providing some services, including counseling, at a number of campuses. But the center is not part of that plan, she said.

The center has a $180,000 annual contract with the county’s Children and Families Commission that is renewable provided it offers health services for children up to age 5. But the grant is restricted to providing services, not paying staff or the director, Bidwell said.

Sayyedi said losing the center would only strand mothers and young families who have received social services there.

“There should be more centers like the school district’s, as opposed to closing them down,” Sayyedi said.