BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Not every home is a happy one.
That is the unfortunate case for some Brown County families.
Now the county is working with several local groups to support families when a child has to be removed from the home.
It’s the reason for Green Bay’s newly renovated family center, meant to serve families when a child is removed from their home.
“We have about 20 removals on average every month and we, right now, we’re planning about 40 visits each week,” said Brown County’s executive director of health and human services, Eric Pritzl.
Several area groups came together to make this happen.
That includes NeighborWorks Green Bay, which owns this property.
The county’s health and human services department rents the center to supervise family visits when parents don’t have full custody of their children.
“If you’re a parent trying to have a growing, nurturing relationship with your child in a circumstance, that’s difficult because maybe you don’t currently have custody because of some challenge in the family that’s happened in the past,” said Noel Halvorsen.
He’s the president and CEO of NeighborWorks Green Bay.
Before the daycare turned into a family center, supervised visits happened in two different places.
“They’ve been doing it in a strip mall or they’ve been doing it in conference rooms in an office building,” Halvorsen explained. “It’s just not a very good environment for that kind of activity.”
The purpose of the family center is to provide a home-like environment. Families can cook, play and read together.
Pritzl says the center is necessary for kids in Brown County.
“I’ve walked down our halls after hours or even during hours and parents are there with their kids sharing a meal or playing a game and it’s at a conference room at a table with chairs,” he said. “Not the most natural setting.”
Which is why the family center was built instead.
Halvorsen says the partnership between the county and NeighborWorks Green Bay allows protective services to focus on keeping at-risk children safe.
“And we do something that we’re good at which is operating buildings and I think that’s a great partnership,” he said.
