MERCED, Calif. – Merced County launched three new Web sites today to reach out to Merced County residents and families. The three sites are hosted through the Network of Care and focus on First Five, Children & Families, and the Elderly & Disabled. These three sites provide critical information, communication and advocacy tools for families, individuals and agencies in the County. These sites will join existing sites for Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities and will later be joined by sites for Public Health and Probation Services. All available sites can be accessed at www.merced.networkofcare.org.
“We are excited to bring Network of Care Web sites to Merced County,” commented John Pedrozo, Chairman of the Merced County Board of Supervisors. “These sites are another tool that our staff and residents can use to improve the quality of life for our clients. In addition to individuals already served by the County Agencies, the general public and service providers will also find useful information and tools available on thesenew sites.”
These new Web sites will enable people to educate themselves about issues they are facing; understand current policy initiatives and advocate directly to elected officials, and better manage their children’s or parent’s activities, interactions and important records. Each site provides a comprehensive Service Directory of service providers in Merced County, putting people in touch with the right services at the right time.
“The Human Services Agency wants to make use of these sites to increase community partnership in caring for our residents,” commented Ana Pagan, Director of the Merced County Human Services Agency. “Research has shown that we can avoid more serious problems in families with early education and intervention. The Network of Care sites that are being launched today connect Merced County residents to a library with over 30,000 articles on the issues that our families face, whether with our children or with our elderly and aging parents.”
Network of Care also provides easy-to-search libraries and vital information about child and elder care, pending legislation and advocacy, as well as daily news articles from around the world. To increase accessibility and accommodate Network of Care’s users, the site’s innovative technology provides near-universal access, regardless of literacy or income level, to Web-based services through a text-only version of the site and other adaptive technologies. The site is fully ADA-compliant and “Bobby”-approved and is available in several languages.