The Santa Maria Valley Youth and Family Center and the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County (FSA) recently merged to form a single countywide organization that will provide mental health counseling, basic needs assistance, and case management services to more than 28,000 residents a year.
Services are now more readily available countywide, according to an FSA press release, and the merge will provide greater financial stability and organizational efficiency between both agencies. Although the Santa Maria Valley Youth Center will keep its name in an effort to remain easily identifiable to community members, board and staff members from the Santa Maria Valley Youth Center and the FSA have joined forces.
“Our organizations have always worked to achieve the same mission,” FSA Executive Director Lisa Brabo said in the release. “We are thrilled to be joining forces to better serve the entire county.”
The combination of staff members is expected to create a “hub of service excellence,” and the merged companies hope to help thousands of children and families in Santa Barbara County with program locations in Santa Barbara, Lompoc, Carpinteria, Guadalupe, and a combined office in Santa Maria.
FSA services include mental health counseling for families and seniors, adolescent substance abuse treatment groups, child abuse prevention programs, parent groups, juvenile and female probation programs, and a family resource center that helps families attain health insurance, food, housing, and more.
FSA delivers 80 percent of its services on more than 30 school campuses and community centers throughout the county, including in clients’ homes, according to the press release. The FSA also has seven offices, and the Santa Maria Valley Youth Center has staff at every elementary and middle school in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District and some in Orcutt.
The decision to merge came after long-time Santa Maria Valley Youth Center Executive Director Judi Nishimori announced plans to retire this December. Nishimori, with the help of former Executive Director William Rogers, has led the Youth Center for nearly 40 years.
Nishimori told the Sun she and other leaders restricted the Youth Center to Santa Maria Valley for years in an effort to help local families on an intimate level. Recently, Nishimori said, that idea became increasingly difficult to implement financially.
The merge will allow the Santa Maria Valley Youth Center to serve the entire county, giving the nonprofit organization a greater chance of winning large federal and state grants necessary for funding. In prior years, Nishimori said the organization has been mostly funded by small county grants and the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
Nishimori said the Youth Center chose the FSA as its merger because both organizations offer similar services. The merge cost roughly $90,000, which Nishimori said is inexpensive in the business world, and no jobs, programs, salaries, or benefits were cut in the process. In fact, she said, they were increased.
“It was a really natural fit,” Nishimori said. “It was really advantageous.”
The newly intertwined organizations recently appointed a co-president from each agency: Cole Kinney, who has worked at the Santa Maria Valley Youth Center since 1996, and Katya Armistead, who has been an FSA board member for 10 years.
Lisa Brabo will continue as executive director of the merged organization and Steven DeLira, of Santa Maria, will work as deputy executive director.
“I was born in Santa Maria, so this is a really important piece of my life,” Nishimori said. “It’s bittersweet, but I have a lot of confidence in Lisa Brabo and Steve DeLira and their vision and their work. I know they’re going to do a terrific job, which makes it easier for me to leave.”
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash wrote this week’s School Scene. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Aug 3-10, 2017.