About Us

The mission of the Kern County Network for Children (KCNC) is to protect and enrich the lives of children in Kern County through the commitment of all community partners by helping to build and sustain healthy families.

Created in 1992, KCNC harnesses the power of community action in meeting the critical needs of Kern County’s children and families. KCNC takes pride in assisting local community collaboratives and family service agencies in developing integrated service delivery models to help identify and address the most critical children’s issues in Kern County.

In 2010, nearly 100 children in Kern County each week were victims of child abuse and/or neglect. KCNC is dedicated to coordinating the community’s efforts to prevent and respond to child abuse. As the designated Child Abuse Prevention Council, we are committed to promoting public awareness of the abuse and neglect of children and the resources available for intervention and treatment. We also strive to encourage and facilitate training of professionals in the detection, and prevention of child abuse and neglect, recommend improvements in services to families and victims, and encourage and facilitate community support for child abuse and neglect programs.

The prevention of child abuse requires the involvement of the entire community. In an effort to involve our community, the Children’s Advocacy Committee was formed to help guide our outreach and education efforts. This committee assisted in development of the calendar of themes to promote child safety and well being and serves as a guide for Child Abuse Prevention Council activities.

We are proud to have the following community members serving on the KCNC’s Children’s Advocacy Committee:

Adam A. Alvidrez
Policy, Government & Public Affairs Representative, Chevron
Heidi Carter-Escudero
Outreach & Communications, Department of Human Services
Tom Corson
Executive Director, Kern County Network for Children
Leslie A. Golich
Director of Hospital and Healthplan Operations, Kaiser Permanente
Brian J. Mendiburu
Assistant Principal, Instruction, Bakersfield High School
Shirelle Perez
Community Connection for Child Care
Danielle Pilkington
H.E.A.R.T.S. Connection
Kim Silva
Research Associate, Kern County Network for Children
Eric Simpson
Pastor of Community Transformation, The Bridge Bible Church
Kristin N. Weber
Public Affairs Department, Kaiser Permanente
Barbara Zimmermann
Executive Coordinator, Department of Human Services