Spring 2014
Defining Boys & Girls Aid boys
& girls aid has created an agency brand that highlights our
legacy and experience. From our colors, to our logo, to our updated tagline, we are introducing a look that communicates our historic ties to the roots of child welfare. There are few agencies in any field that have worked in our region for 129 years. To show Boys & Girls Aid’s legacy, we incorporated aspects of the logo we used from 1946-2004. “Building Connections for a Lifetime” will be the key phrase that identifies all of the work we do as an agency. From the infants we serve through adoption to the young adults we help transition to independence, we are building connections that will last each and every person for a lifetime. These connections will help ensure better outcomes for children.
Reflecting on our history at Boys & Girls Aid
President & CEO Update Core Purpose
To impact the well-being of children in need.
Core Values
CRITICAL THINKERS • We regularly analyze ideas and data, both new and old, to improve our outcomes. Dear Friends,
CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO AND CHANGE • To be the best in the field, we challenge the status quo for the best possible solutions.
Since 1885, Boys & Girls Aid has focused on children and their futures. Stable, supportive, lifelong connections have been at the core of our work, and we take pride in the tens of thousands of healthy, permanent relationships created over the years.
AUTHENTICALLY VALUE OTHERS • We interact with people in a manner that authentically demonstrates the high value we place on others.
As an agency, we also take pride in our ability to innovate and find new ways to achieve lifelong connections. We believe every child is adoptable and will look for the best ways to find their permanent family. In this newsletter, you will read about how we are working today to be more effective in the lives of children facing abuse and neglect.
DESIRE TO EXCEL • We do the best possible job with passion and attention to detail.
You will read about the work we are doing to address the grief and loss experienced by children in the foster care system and how it impacts their ability to prepare for permanency. By addressing their past traumas, we can prepare children to again trust someone and take a risk for a better, more successful future.
2013-2014 Board of Directors
We are also excited to share other updates about Boys & Girls Aid including our new agency branding and new rooms at our Seneca House for Girls.
Executive Committee Jim Harbolt Dawn McMaster Tom Szambelan Gaylyn Sher-Jan Ronald Farnsworth Michael H. Balter
It is your support that continues to make these accomplishments possible. Thank you for your continued investment in children as we work through their past to ensure we secure their positive futures. Warmest regards, Michael H. Balter President & CEO 2 | Connect Spring 2014
DO WHAT IT TAKES • We do what it takes to serve our children and families, and to support each other.
President Kris Gorriaran Board Members Deana Freres Michael Kern Jennifer Kinkade Donald Klotter Libby Hartung Lisa MacKenzie Mike Nyland Jamie Shulman
Grief & Loss Creates Long-Term Challenge for Children in Foster Care
of Boys & Girls Aid have experienced trauma and loss in their life. They have lost and been separated from siblings and parents, memories and possessions. They have changed neighborhoods and schools leaving behind their favorite places, people and things. youth who enter the care
When each youth comes to us, they come with some form of loss. Regardless of age and background, their attachments in their world have been broken. Some of them are being removed and separated from their family for the first time and some of them have moved from place to place dozens of times, not living with their families for years. Each and every time a youth is moved away from the people they love and those who love them, a loss occurs in their life. It is a painful moment for our youth that many cannot express through words. Rather, they show us their pain through behavior. These behaviors often involve verbal and physical aggression, impulsive
actions, self-harm and destruction of property. Internally they can experience depression and anxiety. They feel removed from the world and see no hope of fitting in. As these children enter adulthood, their untreated trauma can lead to higher incarceration rates, lower employment, less educational achievement and a greater number of unplanned pregnancies. This is the reality for the more than 800 children who enter the care of Boys & Girls Aid each year. While we believe that families, not institutions, raise children, we understand that achieving permanency for a child in foster care isn’t simply about finding them a home.
boysandgirlsaid.org | 3
In Oregon, there are nearly 9,000 children in foster care with grief and loss that needs to be addressed.
Over the last year, we have made a significant shift in the way we view behaviors of the youth we serve. As providers, we are continuing to educate ourselves on the impact grief and loss can have on youth. Research shows that among all adopted children, those adopted from foster care have disproportionate mental health needs. Not being able to process their grief leads to difficult behaviors. In extreme situations, an inability to address a child’s past trauma can lead to the adoption disrupting, because the families are not equipped to handle the challenges that grief presents. As an agency, we have made a decision to work through this grief with the youth we serve. In the past, we would have felt uncomfortable having them process their painful pasts and may have recommended they share these experiences with their therapists. We would have consequences for behavior without solving the root of the behavior. We would downplay their experiences and give them false hope by telling them “it will be better tomorrow.� This is no longer our approach. We now encourage them to work through these feelings of loss and pain when they come up. Allowing them to do
FOSTER CARE FACTS
28.6 MONTHS 44%
the average amount of time a child stays in foster care
children in foster care that are 11 and older
that, essentially walking through the fire with them, has had a profound impact on the quality of care we are able to provide. We rely on this process to understand what is happening with every youth. In doing so, we build authentic and meaningful relationships with them and help them to begin to trust adults again. We are connecting with kids on a deeper level and are no longer afraid to have them unpack their grief and trauma with us. We make it clear from the beginning that they can tell their story and talk through their experiences at any time with any of our highly skilled staff. In doing this, they see that adults can be trusted and can support them in moving towards a better future. In Oregon, there are nearly 9,000 children in foster care with grief and loss that needs to be addressed. Whether they will reconnect with their family, or enter a more stable long-term connection, we must be there to help them reach a better understanding of their past. Their future depends on it.
20,000 children age out of the foster care system each year.
51% 25% 84% were unemployed
became homeless
became a parent
Sources: County Data Book 2012 Status of Oregon's Children (Oregon Department of Human Services), Child Abuse and Neglect State Profile 2013 (First State), Foster Care Data Snapshot 2011 (Child Trends).
4 | Connect Spring 2014
Permanency means having a lifelong connection. Lifelong connections mean stability, guidance & love.
YOU CAN CREATE PERMANANCY FOR A CHILD. Give today.
boysandgirlsaid.org/support
A New Way of Addressing Childhood Trauma
ELLIE, 11 Seneca House for Girls after being placed in eight foster homes over four years. She had been asked to leave each one due to explosive and threatening behaviors. ellie entered our
By the age of 6, both of her parents were dead and she had been separated from her siblings. At the age of 10, the state had determined Ellie was not adoptable due to her behavioral issues. She had no one and no future. She was on track to spend the rest of her adolescent life in foster care until she aged out of the system without a lifelong connection. At Boys & Girls Aid, we understood Ellie had experienced a large
6 | Connect Spring 2014
amount of trauma, grief and loss in her short life. Her explosive and threatening behaviors were tied to her traumatic childhood. During her first month at Seneca, Ellie would not open up. When asked about her past, she would become verbally aggressive. She tore up library books and punched holes in the wall. The day she punched holes in the wall, she asked staff what time she would be leaving. Ellie believed her actions would have her kicked out and she would leave another part of her life behind. Our staff told her we would not leave her. We were going to give her even more support when she became agitated or lashed out.
With the staff ’s investment in Ellie, her behaviors began to stabilize. She stayed in the program for five months. According to staff and her DHS caseworker, she transformed into a completely different person. Ellie began to trust people again. This is not to say that it was an easy five months. Processing grief and loss is challenging. However, we worked through her past trauma and made it clear we were not going to give up. Ellie began to see a positive future in her own life. By the time she left our program, she was moving towards an adoption plan. And we are delighted to report she was adopted last fall and is now in a permanent home with a wonderful family.
Names and pictures in this newsletter have been changed to protect confidentiality. Photos are for illustrative purposes only.
Turning a House Into a Home in july, boys
& girls aid was awarded $5,500 from Advantis Credit Union
through their GROW Community Fund. We received the funding by getting the second most votes of selected Portland area nonprofits in an online campaign held by the credit union. We used the money to update bedrooms at our Seneca House for Girls. The program serves girls, between 11 and 17, who are in state custody and, for one reason or another, are not living with their family. Many of the girls at Seneca have tumultuous backgrounds where a safe and comfortable place has been a luxury. Many enter the program having not had a peaceful night of sleep for worry of abuse or abandonment.
‘Before’ and ‘after’ photos of Seneca House
The redesigned rooms will serve as a place where they not only have comfort and safety. We believe that giving a young person their own space like these rooms will allow them to grow both their respect for themselves and
others. We know that with the right environment, the more successful they will be while in our care. A house is more than a roof over their head. It is a home where they are respected, heard, and given the chance to be the person they want to become. We are excited to share the final results of the project and want to thank the volunteer decorators who made these rooms a reality!
KEY VOLUNTEERS Brittainy Tiffany & Shawn Varwig of Tiffany Home Design Kristy Thayer & Haley Thayer Erika Vincent & Mikayla Vincent Rachel Lewis Kristen Stein
Boys & Girls Aid 018 SW Boundary Court Portland, OR 97239
NONPROFIT ORG. US POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 623
The Lasting Difference of KIMBERLY HAYES
IT IS WITH A HEAVY HEART that we remember the life of Kimberly Hayes. Kimberly was killed in a car accident near Multnomah Falls in February when the car her husband Drew was driving lost control after hitting a patch of ice. Kimberly joined Boys & Girls Aid in March of 2010 as a Child Specific Recruiter. During her time with the agency, she worked to find permanent homes and families for children who had been in long-term foster care. Kimberly’s devotion to her work is reflected in the positive impact she made on the lives of many. In her time at Boys & Girls Aid, Kimberly touched the lives of 101 children and found permanency for 80 of them. Kimberly was a great person who will be dearly missed.