Grace House Proposal Paper

“The child welfare and substance abuse systems are integrally linked through the children and families they serve (Blome, W., Shields, J., & Verdieck, M., 2009). There is a dearth of knowledge, however, on how children who have experienced foster care fare when they are treated for substance abuse issues as adults” (Blome, W., Shields, J., & Verdieck,

The need for a substance abuse recovery home in Starke County, Indiana is a need that is unmistakable in the county based on the hefty number of individuals that suffer from substance abuse and dependency in the county which is clearly displayed by the recent number of crimes that are related to or involve illicit and prescription drugs. In attempt to meet this need and create an opportunity for individuals suffering from substance abuse and dependency to receive local substance abuse treatment in a recovery home the proposal will be presented to several stakeholders within the Starke County community. The term stakeholder “refers to those people who are affected, or could be affected, by the service” (Canadian Career Development Foundation, n.d.) that is being proposed. The proposal for the creation of a substance abuse recovery home will be presented to five key stakeholders including Ms. Becky Anspach the director of Community Services of Starke County, Starke County Community Corrections director of operations Mr. Robert Hinojosa, Ms. Dee Lynch the director of the Indiana Department of Child Services of Starke County, Porter Starke Services facilitator of intensive outpatient program treatment (IOP), and Ms. Rhonda Adcock the director of Starke County CASA.

Each year 542,000 children nationwide live temporarily with foster parents, while their own parents struggle to overcome an addiction to alcohol, drugs, illness, financial hardship or other difficulties (Mennen, Brensilver, & Trickett, 2010.) The maltreatment they experienced at home, the shock of being separated from their birth parents, and the uncertainty they face as they enter the foster care system leave many children feeling abandoned or lost. Children have many needs, but while in foster care these needs are not always met. A supportive family environment is created for those children whose parents are not able to take the

Thousands of children each year are removed from households of drug addiction and put into the foster care system, which has overwhelming numbers of children experiencing both psychological traumatic damage and feelings of worthlessness. In Montana alone, the number of children in foster care has doubled since 2010, and in Georgia, it has increased by 80 percent. Despite the immense amount of effort being put in by child welfare agencies to place these children in suitable homes, there is simply not enough foster families to meet the continuously growing demand of homes needed. With a severe lack of options available for these children, many are shipped to prison-like institutions, bounce amongst multiple homes, and are frequently left with feelings of abandonment, which has disrupted education and severed positive influences within their lives. According to the article “The Opioid Plague’s Youngest Victims: Children in Foster Care”, published by the New York Times, “Children who have been in foster care are five times more likely to abuse drugs”. The Opioid Crisis itself has expanded and developed into an American foster care crisis as well. The ultimate goal of these systems is to reunite foster children with their biological parents, but that is becoming an increasingly slim reality as relapse in parents increases and more and more children are sent into the foster care system. It is also not uncommon for these children being ripped away from their drug influenced homes to suffer behavioral problems that need to be properly treated with therapy, which is yet another unattainable factor due to the underwhelming amounts of suitable families willing to take in these suffering children. Those families who have been able to host children coming from drug dependent homes have categorized that a majority of them are suffering

The goal is to help individuals gain and keep permanent housing. In addition, it will also offer an In-House Recovery Program, which is dedicated to helping free individuals from substance abuse.

Giffords, E., Alonso, C., & Bell, R. (2007). A Transitional Living Program for Homeless Adolescents: A Case Study. Child & Youth Care Forum, 36(4), 141-151. doi:10.1007/s10566-007-9036-0

For example, the Fastow Supported Housing Program services youth who are in the process of aging out of the child welfare system (Legacy Treatment Services, 2016). The support given to these children—from Legacy— is supposed to model the home life, while being away from home. The Fastow program offers affordable apartments, case management services, college and job preparation, and life skills training. The Community Residences for Children—which is usually referred to as the Children’s Homes Campus—offers housing to children aged between the years of 11 and 19 with emotional and behavioral concerns (Legacy Treatment Services, 2016). Legacy Treatment Services also has a Family Crisis Intervention Program, which provides brief family therapy, casemanagment and court advocacy for families who experience extreme conflict, and although the goal is to prevent out of home placement, sometimes children are placed by the state after not following through with court ordered treatment. Lastly, Legacy offers therapeutic foster care and reunification services for

This inability to cope with their child’s intellectual or developmental disability often leads to improper care, and in extreme cases, abuse. Aside from the abovementioned causes, a small percentage of placement is due to particular environmental factors such as financial need, inadequate housing, or chronic unemployment, but poverty frequently contributes to the crises that require children to be placed in foster care (McDonald). While the overall goal is to reunite these children back with their families, sometimes that option isn’t feasible and while some children are fortunate enough to gain kinship care, others aren’t as fortunate. “Foster care includes a wide variety of placement options including emergency shelters, diagnostic centers, foster boarding homes, kinship foster homes, agency-operated boarding homes, group homes, group residences, child care institutions and residential treatment centers” (FC & EC). With so many options for placement that a child can be exposed to, it provides various dimensions that can impact child development, especially with those with past trauma history. The type of residence a child is placed in, whether it’s kin or non-kin, how many children are already in the residence, the type of staff and the support services provided all play a crucial role in their developing growth and overall success in the system.

S263). This test is “11 questions in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Module” and was issued on a scale of one to eight (Montgomery et al. S263). Another test conducted by a different team was used on a scale of either affective or psychotic and it was called the IES-R (Helfrich et al. 119). Both testing groups decided that housing and constant therapeutic sessions were key into reintroducing people to society. The most difficult problem with their conclusions is the aspect of housing. Housing First is one of the many healthcare and housing organizations to yield multiple aids for the homeless and mentally ill (Somers et al. 1). These aids consist of sustainable market housing without the requirement of a lease (Somers et al. 1). “Our findings confirm that HF programs- particularly the ones using scattered site format- promote reductions in offending and reconviction among people who were previously homeless and have a current mental illness ” (Somers et al. 6). By using a “scattered site format,” the organization chose a random sample that pulled many subjects from the streets and put them through the HF program. This was one of the first real solutions shown in reintroducing the once homeless into society. Haven for Hope homeless shelter is centered on returning the homeless and mentally ill to community. They have plans on renovating one of the male housings into a psychiatric facility with rooms for the residents

Just over a year ago I was homeless, pregnant, and sleeping in a tent on the grassy median next to the beach in Waikiki. Twelve years of hard drinking, two years of shooting meth, a failed marriage, abusive relationships, and losing custody of my oldest child brought me to this self-centered existence. I was battling depression and struggling to stay clean and sober. I did not see a future for me and feared I would lose my youngest child to CPS. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to get help. I reached out and on December 2, 2013 I entered the Salvation Army Family Treatment Services (SAFTS), a residential drug treatment facility in Kaimuki. My journey to recovery had begun.

Homelessness is a problem in many communities across the United States. It is particularly sad when one sees women and children that are homeless. The Cornerstone Rescue Mission Women and Children Home in Rapid City, South Dakota addresses this need in this particular community. They serve pregnant women, single women, Veteran women, girls under the age of 18 with their mother, and boys under the age of 16 with their mother. A community assessment was completed on this population to identify strengths and their particular needs; interventions were then done based on these needs.

As I read through the final chapters of Beam’s book, I felt both hopeful and disheartened. I feel that the original premise or goal of the child welfare system is to ensure that children have a family. A family that is capable of appropriately caring for a child and providing them with unconditional love. Pat O’ Brien and Chester Jackson’s program, You Gotta Believe! resonates with this goal. There homeless prevention program addresses a principle issue of foster care that the system has not properly addressed, so it seems. According to Pat, an estimated 50 percent of the current homeless population consists of individuals that were once in care. Pat and Jackson saw a need to address the damaging aspects of growing up in care, by implementing

The mission of the Alpha House is “Alpha House of Tampa offers homeless pregnant women and mothers with young children safe housing and the tools they need to become self-sufficient and effective responsible parents.” The main purpose of the Alpha House is clear in their mission statement when they say they serve pregnant or mothers of young children find shelter or housing. The Alpha House provides maternity residence as well as transitional housing for mothers with small children. The Alpha House also focuses on working with the clients towards self sufficiency and responsible parenthood. The clients must be involved in some way in the program to show they are actively trying to improve their situation. The programs offered at the Alpha House

For the child abuse prevention program, children are either placed in foster care or in the care of their parent’s under the supervision of child protective service workers. The program helps prevent child abuse and neglect, reduces abuse trauma, improves parenting skills, encourages home safety environment, and helps children progress in school. For the parent education and family development program, the agency offers family members counseling, parent education, employment assistance, financial assistance, legal support, education, tutoring, recreational and cultural activities, youth leadership, and community events. For the teen parent family services, trained professionals intervene and help young parents prepare for the challenges of parenting. Teen families are helped with health care, counseling, education assistance, vocational training, housing, nutrition, and income support. The youth development programs help youths who are at risk for delinquency make better choices. The agency offers counseling, promotes behavior health, educational attainment, and vocational planning. The integrating healthy living is a successful program where a bilingual Registered Nurse makes home visits and holds classes for families to learn about baby care, healthy behaviors,

Graceling has a beautiful cover, great premise, and lots of hype, and would be a terrific novel if it weren’t for the terrible writing and atrocious main character.