In November of 1993 an Executive Order (93-43) was signed that established The Family Investment Trust (FIT) to promote collaboration and innovation in service delivery for Missouri’s children and families. It called for change in the way services were delivered, where services were delivered and mandated that local decision-making be utilized in the process. These changes were to drive a new and different relationship between state government and communities. This model approach was then known as Caring Communities.

FIT was setup as a private/public board that included the leaders of state departments as well as community leaders from the corporate and civic arenas to guide the general direction and engage communities in the work of Caring Communities.

In 2001 this work was reaffirmed by Executive Order (01-07) but renamed the organization to The Family and Community Trust (FACT) to better emphasize the role of communities in the work.

Twenty-one Caring Community organizations were established around the state to implement this innovative approach with six core result areas as their focus. Those Core Results are Parents Working, Children Safe, Children Ready to Enter School, Children & Families Healthy, Children & Youth Succeeding in School and Youth Ready to Enter the Work Force.

FACT is now a non-profit corporation with nineteen members drawn from the top leadership in state government and the private sector. It governs the work of the twenty community partnerships across the state. The board’s mission is to promote and support effective public/private partnerships and community involvement to develop innovative solutions for improving the lives of Missouri’s children and families. Funding to support this work comes from the state legislature through the Department of Social Services and is a combination of general revenue and matching federal dollars.

There are currently twenty Community Partnerships across Missouri. These non-profit organizations work in concert with local, state and federal partners to implement effective community strategies to meet local needs.