A different way to connect: New partnership strengthens Minnesota’s youth firesetting prevention efforts

Sometimes, helping a child through a difficult moment starts with something surprisingly simple: a backpack filled with tools. 

For Minnesota’s Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention (YFPI) program, a new partnership is getting sensory and communication kits into the hands of professionals who work with young people involved in fire-related incidents. 

It began when one of our Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s State Fire Marshal (SFM) investigators heard that Bit of Grace donates these kits to local first responders. He thought about how it could specifically help those working with children suspected of starting fires. 

He floated the idea to SFM’s public education team, who reached out to Bit of Grace, and the partnership was born. 

Bit of Grace is a grassroots, family-run nonprofit that grew from personal experience. It was founded by 14-year-old Owen Chan and his parents. Owen has autism, and after some difficult encounters in his younger years, his family discovered the value of having sensory and communication tools available during stressful situations. 

Owen’s response when he was shown one of the original kits was so positive, his family asked him if they should make them available to others. 

“He goes, ‘Well, is it going to help people?’” recalled Jen Chan, Owen’s mother. “So that’s how we knew this was something we had to do.”  

Bit of Grace has distributed more than 500 kits to law enforcement agencies, hospitals, schools and more, each designed to offer people different ways to regulate, communicate and connect. 

The kits combine sensory items — such as fidgets, headphones, timers and stuffed animals — with communication tools, including visual cards, an alphabet board and a whiteboard. 

The combination is intentional. When someone becomes overwhelmed, verbal communication can be one of the first things to disappear. 

For YFPI professionals, that can make a difficult conversation even harder. 

“That’s what I love about these,” said Deputy State Fire Marshal Kristy Wisniewski. “We even get adults on fire scenes who are nonverbal or aren’t super comfortable opening up. The variety of tools in the kits has the potential to help everyone.” 

Wisnewski is one of SFM’s public and life safety educators and meets with fire departments across the state to help them find the best ways to engage with and protect their communities.  

One of those strategies is the YFPI program. It includes representatives in 17 regions around the state. Now when they get a call about a possible youth firesetting incident, they’ll bring one of the kits in hopes it will help them connect with all types of young people. 

“It’s all about building rapport, relationships and communication,” Wisniewski said. 

And that is ultimately what this partnership is about: slowing down, trying a different approach and giving people, especially kids and teens, another way to be heard. 

“Building safe communities is our end goal,” Chan said. “When we see the positive impact, it just reminds us that yep, we’re doing this for the right reasons.”