Clearfield County’s first formal collaboration to benefit children and families was the establishment of two Family Centers operated by Cen-Clear Child Services, Inc. (CCS), in partnership with West Branch Area and Harmony Area School Districts and additional local agencies that provided services from the Centers.

In early 1997, the County was awarded funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare to implement Family Service System Reform (FSSR) strategies with CCS serving as lead agency. The committees originally established to provide oversight for the Family Centers were combined and expanded into the Clearfield County Collaboration Board. The Board served as the vehicle for collaborative assessment, planning, and implementation of programs to benefit children and families in the County. 

Also in 1997, Pennsylvania began to implement Communities That Care® (CTC). Several members of the Board participated in the training that was offered and became the CTC Team for Clearfield County with the FSSR Coordinator serving as the CTC Key Contact.

This particular sequence of events proved to be fortuitous, leading to the establishment of a truly integrated model that effectively combined CTC, FSSR and Family Centers under the broad oversight of the Board