Many of Arizona’s 65 Family Resource Centers (FRCs) were founded with First Things First (FTF) funding. As tobacco tax revenues decline, that foundation is shifting beneath our feet. FTF has announced a 19.6% reduction in available funding beginning in fiscal year 2028, creating an urgent need for new strategies that stabilize Arizona’s family support services.
At the same time, federal funding is tightening or unpredictable, requiring states to shoulder more costs for services that were previously supported through federal initiatives. The result is a compounding reality: fewer flexible dollars, more demand, and fewer options to fill the gaps.
The impact of this volatility and uncertainty is rippling across Arizona’s family-serving system. And among the ripples, sustainability can start to feel like an illusion.
In Prevent Child Abuse Arizona’s 2024 Family Resource Landscape Study, we found that 70% of Arizona FRCs and FRC-like entities operate on two or fewer sources of funding. When funding is that limited, even small shifts can destabilize staffing, programming, and families’ ability to access support consistently.
So in mid-February, Prevent Child Abuse Arizona and the Arizona Family Resource Network hosted the second Family Resource Center Lead Meeting, centered on one pressing question: How do we sustain family support in an era of uncertainty?
The day was grounded in the reality FRCs face, while spotlighting pathways forward. FRC leads participated in:
- An Ideation Lab to identify community needs and generate high-impact, low-effort ways to respond—even before funding is secured
- A funder panel to illuminate how funders think about sustainability and what strengthens long-term partnership
- A session with Tami Bohannon, CEO of Thrive 365, on the Courage to Ask
- Collaborative brainstorming on how the Arizona Family Resource Network can better support FRCs in this evolving funding landscape
“I appreciated opportunities to collaborate and hear messages such as funding strategies that apply to the sustainability of the programming,” shared one attendee.
In our 2025 research, FRC leads were clear about what families and communities need from funders right now: more flexibility, fewer hoops, and investments that match the scale of the demand.
- “We want to be more proactive and reactive to the things that our families are saying that they need. Unrestricted dollars allow us to respond more easily rather than trying to pick grants just to survive and keep staff.”
- “The funding is not at sufficient levels to meet the needs of the community. When you’re unable to meet the needs, it erodes trust. Families stop showing up because they hear we can’t help them.”
- “We have waitlists all over the program, so something’s working, but it’s just under-resourced.”
- “What hoops are we jumping through? We put on this clown suit for this grant and another for a different grant… It’s really hard to get funded for something you’re already doing well.”
FRCs are an efficient, relationship-based model for meeting families’ needs by leveraging in-kind partnerships, collaboration, and trust. While family supports are constricting, FRCs become even more essential. Not only as places where families access resources, but as trusted, relational hubs that prevent crises.
Uncertainty is real. But so is the resolve across Arizona’s FRC network to keep showing up for what families need. Prevent Child Abuse Arizona and the Arizona Family Resource Network are committed to identifying strategies to ensure that FRCs can show up for families today, and for the long haul.