communities of care
doing what it takes to keep families together
adam flanagan
Pontotoc, Seminole, Hughes, Coal and Bryan Counties host children. An overwhelming sixty percent of those children were age 0 family forum to promote joining together to create “Communito 6. This is an increase of nearly twenty percent over 2012. These trauties of Care” that support all children and families. matic experiences for children are often caused by adults with untreated More than 18 local community service agencies have joined mental illness or substance abuse habits and lead to children and youth together to host It Takes a Whole Village to “Foster” a Change being placed into state custody. forum on Friday, June 20 from 10 a.m. to noon with catered With approximately seventy percent of adults and forty percent of lunch to follow at the Pontotoc Technology Center 601 W. 33 youth left untreated for mental health issues and seventy-seven percent St. Ada. The free forum is being offered to the community as of adults and eighty percent of youth needing help for substance abuse part of the statewide Communities of Care initiative. problems, Oklahoma communities must work together for the sake of Communities of Care representative, Bonnie Keeley, Projthe children and the future. ect Director of Pontotoc Systems of Care explains the purpose Further statistics show that for eastern Oklahoma, in 2013, more of the forum is to raise awareness of the number of community children entered foster care than there were approved beds. With only families struggling through traumatic events. These events 1,761 approved beds, 2,217 children were removed from their homes often weaken the family structure and end with children being and placed into the system. This startling statistic represents twentytaken into the foster care system. Helping these families on one percent of the total number of children in Oklahoma removed from the front end is an investment that results in stronger comtheir family and is a twenty-three percent increase over 2012. munities. Because children entering state custody, untreated mental illness “Working together, we can build stronger, healthier comand substance abuse and other traumatic events affect the entire communities. We want our friends and neighbors to join us Friday munity, several local resource agencies and businesses have joined toand gain a better understanding of what community services gether to sponsor the event. The partners represent all sectors of the are available and how even the smallest commitment of time community and include businesses, faith-based organizations, tribes, and resources can help strengthen our community,” says Keecommunity partners and families. Organizations partnering in the ley. event include Multi-County Counseling, Seminole & Pontotoc Systems The free event will include food, prize drawings, guest of Care, Ada City Schools, Ada Regional United Way, Seminole Nation, speakers, and information about local community services. Chickasaw Nation, Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma Department of HuFamilies are the most basic building block of any community man Services, Oklahoma Parents as Teachers, Mental Health Services and the statistics in eastern Oklahoma indicate there are high of Southern Oklahoma Systems of Care, Smart Start South Central, numbers of children and families at risk for experiencing some Oklahoma Family Network, Office of Juvenile Affairs, 1-1-1 Project, and type of stress that often leads to undesirable outcomes such Oklahoma Federation of Families, just to name a few. as divorce, incarceration, or children entering state custody. Information about the event and the Communities of Care initiative These situations add stress to theAdult entire and community and are can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/OKCommunitiesOfCare or Pediatric concerning to local businesses, faith-based organizations, by calling (580) 235-0210. Additional information about resources for tribes and community partners. families and how everyone can help will be available at the event. Families can become fragile for many reasons. Most often CARRY these reasons include divorce, unemployment, WE school dropout, unintended pregnancies, homelessness, crime,PAP’S incarceration, & injuries and loss of life. When families are impacted, the entire SUPPLIES! Supplies and Equipment community is impacted. “Communities are one living organism just like our bodies,” explains Lynn Smith, MPH, CHES, Communications and Event Specialist at Oklahoma Systems of Care. “If a child suffers from 439 a broken arm, theVista, wholeAda body N. Monte and soul is affected. When communities suffer from broken (Across from Valley View Hosp) family units, we all are impacted. From a less productive work(580) 332-3353 force to increased crime and children entering the system, our communities suffer. We all need to work together to invest in our future on the front end. The time is NOW. Together we can create a stronger, healthier future.” 439 N. Monte Vista, Ada (Across from Mercy Hospital) In eastern Oklahoma alone, in 2013, there were 1,498 con(580) 332-3353 firmed reports of child abuse and neglect representing Home owned 2,781 and operated
Nebulizers
CPAP & BiPAP
Equip Care
Equip Care
8 • www.adahub.com