"Teacher’s Resource Directory” Website Expands Focus and Changes Name to Better Serve Educators, Families, and Youth through Innovative Partnership

Youth, Educators, and Parent Pages (The YEP Pages) connects educators, families and youth with valuable community services and organizations-August 2006

Santa Barbara, CA – The Teacher’s Resource Directory, a collaborative effort between United Way of Santa Barbara County, 2-1-1 HelpLine, a service of Family Service Agency, and the Santa Barbara County Education Office launched in August 2006, has announced a change in name and expansion in focus to better serve educators, families, and children. This collaborative effort was begun in response to input from teachers, principals, and youth specialists who attended a United Way forum in February 2006. These professionals noted that while teachers are in a unique position to identify the needs of students and their families, the increasing demands on instructional time prevent teachers from researching all the resources available to them and their students.

In the time since its initial launch, the online directory has grown and has generated an enthusiastic response from the community. This enthusiasm and interest has led to some further refinements of the website. The partners in this effort are pleased to announce an expansion of the directory’s target audience, and a resultant name change: the Teacher’s Resource Directory has been re-christened as The YEP Pages: The Youth, Educators, and Parents Pages. The directory is accessible on the web at www.211sbcounty.org/yep.

The YEP Pages is a free and easy to use online directory available for use by anyone in the community, and is targeted to educators and schools, and students and their families.  The YEP Pages is a resource that can be searched quickly and can effectively connect users with the services that are available in the community.  Services are conveniently organized around relevant topic areas such as “Recreation/After School Programs,” and “Children’s Mental and Physical Health.”

The YEP Pages contains an enormous number of programs offered by nonprofits and public agencies, and provides detailed information on the types of services offered by these programs. Still, the site is ever-expanding, and the developers of The YEP Pages are commencing a new round of community outreach to service-providing agencies, organizations, and nonprofits to ensure that as many programs as possible are included in The YEP Pages. “We want the entire social service sector to be a part of and be served by this tool that focuses on the needs of local educators, schools and the students and families they serve,” said Paul Didier, President and CEO of United Way of Santa Barbara County.

 Just as the 2-1-1 HelpLine has become more known and relied upon in the community, The YEP Pages is working to increase its profile among potential users of the site—students, families, educators—as well as among the agencies and organizations who are listed—or should be—on the site.