Notre Dame of St. Agatha Inc.
ANNUAL REPORT
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
2010-2011
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
President’s Report Team successfully launched vision Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Being a director is like being one of the people in Washington or Ottawa in charge of the space program. You can say who should head the space program, how much money it will get, and how long they can take to send a manned spacecraft to Mars. You then check that the job is done. But all the credit goes to the people who really know how to do the job and do it well. And when they call down to Earth, “Houston, we’ve got a problem,” they don’t want you to pick up the phone. On the other hand, when the space program needs a new plan, new energy, critical thinking, new friends in the community, they do want you! This year, the Board of Directors at kidsLINK listened and talked to expert staff and external experts, and we made some decisions that will change the future for the organization and for the people we are responsible to: children and youth. Amazing. This year, we focused our energy on the 2011-2014 Strategic Plan. Our 2017 Vision of linking our treatment and practice with research and international training for professionals needs a lot of planning and preparation. Every three years, a new plan adjusts our course and provides new energy and focus to
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help kidsLINK achieve the Vision. In 2010, the most important thing we needed for building a new plan was information: we didn’t know what we didn’t know. So we assigned CEO Sonia Pouyat, to focus for four months on research, while Director of Services for Children’s Mental Health, Laurie Robinson, stepped in as Interim Executive Director. When Sonia completed the research in January 2011, she shared her learning with staff and Board. In late January, the Board and senior management took three days to focus on the impact of her research and the input of staff. Based on our conclusions, in February, we approved a new three-year strategic plan that will work like a booster rocket, helping kidsLINK stay on course toward its 2017 Vision. That’s the really big picture. The Board also signed off on other important work. The new Day Treatment Centre, for example: congratulations to everyone involved on seeing the project completed so well! Our social enterprise, Comprehensive Residential Services, had a difficult year. We’ve learned from the experience and change is under way. On behalf of the Board, I can say we’ve been active and involved. We welcomed Lisa Lishman and Emilio Cabral to join and re-join the Board, respectively.
Thank you to everyone at kidsLINK, CEO Sonia Pouyat and my fellow Board members, for the experience of being Board president, the opportunity to learn, and their patience as I did so. Judith Chopra, Chair of the Board
Board of Directors President - Judith Chopra Secretary / Treasurer - David Cornwall
Directors Emilio Cabral Josie D’Avernas Yaacov Iland Lisa Lishman Stefano Picone Richard Steinmann John Vieth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Chief Executive Officer’s Report On course...ready for a new way, for kids. Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
2010-2011 was an interesting year. The environment was one uncertainty as changes in various child and youth services were announced or anticipated. DevelopingkidsLINK tomorrow’s potential However, remained focused on our in today’s children and youth. purpose and our vision for kids, achieving outstanding treatment results. Our high standards were verified by near perfect results in accreditation and licensing reviews. We also produced a new strategic plan to guide our next 3 years.
As a result of an extensive strategic planning process including the board members, CEO, management and staff, we agreed to integrate knowledge in trauma, resilience and wellness in our services. We made a commitment to help children and youth to choose wellness. Going forward, kidsLINK will introduce high-impact, low-cost interventions in support of holistic wellness choices that kids may sustain after they have left our services.
Wellness for kids
We are about learning
This past year, we grew our capacity to respond to the effects of childhood trauma by increasing kidsLINK knowledge and expertise. We advanced our commitment to be a trauma-informed organization by being trained in and beginning to implement the Sanctuary Model (per Dr. Sandra Bloom). We also began sharing our trauma knowledge with other agencies and professionals.
kidsLINK has always shared its knowledge and innovations with others; facilitating learning has been our legacy for over a century. We are committed to growing this capacity, and in the past year, we extended our means for doing so on the internet, offering web-based training and consultation. The web has taken our scope beyond our physical geography, to the world. Our resources are becoming internationally accessible. Times have changed, but kidsLINK recognizes that education remains the best way to change the world!
Resilience is crucial to mitigating the potentially negative effects of emotional trauma, so we decided to expand the benefit of our resiliencebuilding prevention program, Tools for Life™, to our treatment programs in the coming year. The evidence on wellness practices points to a synergy between wellness and resilience that is of compelling value in helping kids cope with and heal from psychological trauma.
In 2010, kidsLINK temporarily suspended the professional student internship program. During this time, we confirmed the value of this investment and strengthened the program. Students from various disciplines will join us again in September 2011, and we hope to expand our internships in 2012.
Win some, lose some Two significant accomplishments in the year were the launch of a new website and the construction of a new day treatment facility, thanks to an infrastructure stimulus grant from the provincial and federal governments, and capital donations. Our children now enjoy a comfortable and attractive treatment and education facility in St. Agatha. After more than 40 years in well-used portables, it is a very welcome change! We also reduced our environmental footprint in the process by investing in geothermal heating and cooling, and natural lighting. We were not able to strengthen and enhance our IT, communications, and administration services as planned. Our ability to attract the talent we need was limited significantly by our uncompetitive compensation. Given limited provincial funding for this purpose, we continue to seek creative solutions to this challenge. While recruitment has become more difficult, kidsLINK has been fortunate to maintain a core group of very skilled and dedicated employees. It is their love for and skill in helping kids that produce the successful outcomes we are pleased to report on. Thanks to everyone on the kidsLINK Team for sharing in and helping us achieve our One Goal of improving the lives of children and youth. Sonia Pouyat, Chief Executive Officer
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Photo: kidsLINK staff Sulan Camplin and Amanda Castle in new day treatment facility
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Youth-based solutions “I like the “Walk-In” idea because you get to be with a person. You see each other; you get the voice and the body language.” - Andrew (grade 12 student) Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Teaming up with youth kidsLINK teamed up with youth and a group of professionals to promote the Walk-in service at Front Door. Andrew Kolacz and Will Robertson are grade 12 students at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. They are socially-minded and have a passion for communication. So when they learned of the challenges facing kidsLINK and Lutherwood’s “Walk-In” program, they decided to do something about it. They produced a video to help promote the service to the student body. “I have friends,” says Will, “who are dealing with stuff that came up in life that they can’t handle any more, so they inflict pain on themselves or take it out on others.” Both Andrew and Will agreed it is difficult to know how to best approach a friend dealing with mental health issues. Often they don’t recognize or are unwilling to admit they are struggling. Andrew adds, “I like the ‘Walk-In’ idea because you get to be with a person, you see each other, and you get the voice and the body language. People want to be alone, exactly when they need help the most. They don’t seek help because they don’t have someone to guide them to it, and they don’t want their friends to look down on them.”
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In the future, Andrew and Will would like to see the initiative include other students and make use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. They recommend when getting the word out, “to do it, do it again and then do it again. We are bombarded with information and you need to work to make the message stand out.” Neither Andrew nor Will knew about the “Walk-In” service before the campaign. Will admits, “I like to have people close. I’m very social. If you need closeness you are there, and not on the phone. I would use ‘Walk-In’ if I felt I couldn’t handle it on my own.”
The initiative worked The Front Door “Walk-In” service provides onetime easy to access counselling sessions for children and youth in the Waterloo Region. The challenge? Youth were not coming in! In 2010-2011, several groups (including student focus groups, the Student Support Leadership Initiative, kidsLINK, Lutherwood, Barefoot Creative, and guidance counsellors from four local schools) worked together to engage you – and it worked! The campaign was designed to break stigma and to make it more acceptable to seek help. The visuals and text emerged as a result of student input. The
participating schools put up the posters in strategic places throughout the school. Guidance counsellors made referrals; the school boards posted the information on their websites, along with the links to a website developed for the campaign. The results? The campaign led to a 30 percent increase in youth accessing the service! The effort attracted youth dealing with a variety of issues and young people who don’t normally express their inner struggles and pain. “Walk-In” provides youth with a plan for dealing with their issues. However, when the need is there, Front Door makes referrals for ongoing treatment.
Trauma screening This past year, kidsLINK developed a trauma screening tool. Front Door uses this tool at intake to determine the occurrence and impact of emotional trauma. Those who are identified as dealing with trauma are then assessed by our psychologist and may receive trauma-specific therapy. More than 70 percent of those screened reveal serious one-time or recurring trauma in their lives. This year, kidsLINK met “Walk-In” annual targets and, as of March 2011, there was a waiting period of more than a year for trauma-specific therapy services.
Photo: St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School students Andrew Kolacz and Will Robertson
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Getting past the tough times Parents of a child who is traumatized “need the patience of an ocean.” Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Healing trauma
for others, children who are responsible citizens.”
Moving to Canada was a traumatic experience for Makilda, 8, and her two brothers, Wisdom, 10, and David, 9. It meant adjusting to a new mother, a new country, a new school system, an unfamiliar culture and a new baby sister (Lele, 3). If there were a stress scale for parents, Nii (a Ghanaian immigrant to Canada) and Bronwyn Addico, parents to these four young children, it would be at top of the chart.
Nii explains that parents of a child who is traumatized “need the patience of an ocean,” and, “need to draw on all resources and expertise they can find.” kidsLINK was one of the main resources that Nii and Bronwyn drew on to learn ways to better parent Makilda through her traumatic experience and the trauma-induced behaviours. Bronwyn and Nii attended early years parenting sessions held by kidsLINK and gained perspective on their parenting styles and strategies to deal with behaviours. “I learned that it is important to confront behaviours but it is equally important for a father to be ‘there’ for the child, …giving them a voice and taking the time to allow the voice to be heard.” As a result of kidsLINK training, Nii spends a great deal of time to listen and talk with Makilda and his other children.
Stress on young families is temporary but harm caused by trauma can take root and stay with children for their entire lives. The trauma resulting from situations that Nii’s older children faced in Africa while separated from Nii and Bronwyn for a period of time (due to the “red tape” of Canadian immigration) is still being felt by the children. The middle child, Makilda in particularly has had a difficult time, Nii acknowledges. “Makilda has always been very bright, very energetic” says Nii, “but because of the trauma of the past, that energy sometimes gets out of control and she is unable to calm down.” Makilda’s excess energy results in behaviours that are difficult to handle. “Parenting is the most important thing you do” says Nii, “so why would you not seek the wisdom of the experts?” As a father, Nii wants to raise “happy children who care
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Nii and his family also participated in the Partners Program, where staff come into the home and help the family learn better ways to communicate with each other. Having another perspective on the family helps, Nii asserts. “kidsLINK’s Partners Program staff observe the parent interacting with the child at home, and help parents realize when they need to stop and listen to their children. They can
Nii Addico, father of Makilda
also point out when children need to listen to their parents.” According to Nii and Bronwyn, the kidsLINK approach to assisting children dealing with trauma and their families provided Makilda and her family the support and tools they needed to cope. Or as eight-year-old Makilda more simply puts it, “Now, I am not so sad anymore.” In 2010-2011, as a trauma-informed organization offering trauma-specific therapy, kidsLINK Child and Family Therapists continued to deliver Traumafocused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to children like Makilda. The demand for trauma treatment services is increasing; kidsLINK now has a waiting list.
Partners Program In 2010-2011, 71 families, like Makilda’s family, received support through the Partners Program, an intensive in-home service. Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) results for the Partners program were 9% better than targeting. Mean scores for 79% of clients show “clinically meaningful improvement” of 20 points or better at discharge.
Photo: kidsLINK service recipient Makilda
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Courageous Kids deal with trauma! “Before I came here, I felt really hurt and alone; I didn’t know that it was wrong for people to abuse me.” Kirk (12 years old) Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Finding the good When 12 year old Kirk first talked to Miguel, a kidsLINK staff member, he felt an immediate connection. “Miguel has a sarcastic sense of humour like me – not everybody gets me, but he did.” And when it came to understanding what was happening with Kirk, “Miguel definitely knew what he was talking about.” After Kirk started in the residential program at kidsLINK, he was also invited to participate in the intensive eight week play therapy group called Courageous Kids. To Kirk, the residential service and Courageous Kids groups were an important part of the change he experienced in the last year and which helped him move to “a different place.” “Before I came here, I felt really hurt and alone; I didn’t know that it was wrong for people to abuse me. It’s reassuring to know that it is wrong.” The hurt from the trauma and abuse that Kirk suffered in his past contributed to excessive “worry” about the present. This prevented Kirk from
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enjoying life, even when the abuse stopped and he returned to a home with a “cool dad and a loving step-mother.” After his time at kidsLINK, Kirk says he is more likely to see the present and the future not the past. “If you have a loving home,” says Kirk, “why worry about the past?” The Courageous Kids program further helped Kirk’s journey to wellness. “I thought I was the only one who had problems, but [in Courageous Kids] I realized that we all had trauma and abuse in our lives and we could all help each other.” The program allows you to talk with other kids and to know there are people you can go to for help. To Kirk, kidsLINK is “an amazing place.” According to Kirk, the staff at kidsLINK are “not trying to find the bad in you, they are trying to find the good in you!”
Addressing trauma Courageous Kids, developed by kidsLINK, is an intensive play therapy group made up of four to six
children who have been removed from their family of origin and are permanently in the care of others. This trauma-informed group assists children with grief and loss issues. The Courageous Kids group experience helped Kirk and the other children in his group acknowledge and resolve their many feelings, (love, hate, disappointment, rejection) toward their biological parents. It is vital to children’s recovery that they are able to acknowledge and cope with and manage these complex feelings in an appropriate manner. Two Courageous Kids groups were run in 2010 with 9 participants in total. kidsLINK collaborated with neighbouring Children’s Aid Societies in Waterloo, Wellington, Huron Perth and Oxford counties to continue to offer the program. Thanks to the generous support of Notre Dame Foundation (Burlington) Inc., kidsLINK was able to resume offering Courageous Kids in 2010-2011.
Photo: kidsLINK resident Kirk
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Compromise in the school playground Tools for Life™ “helps children do better at getting along with each other, and at knowing ways to calm down.” Christian (six years old) Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Talk it out
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Six-year-old Christian doesn’t bat an eye when you ask him what getting along in Grade One is all about. “Compromise,” the six-year-old tells you and lest you think he is just repeating an adult word, he tells you exactly what that means in the real language of the elementary school playground. “When you are having a fight about a ball and you both want to play with it, instead of fighting, you say, ‘OK, you have it for now, but then how about we take turns?’” When asked, Christian can pull up at least four tools to draw on when he finds himself in conflict at home with his brother or with the kids at school: “Mostly I talk it out,” reflects Christian, “but I can also walk away, ignore the problem or apologize.” Tools for Life™ equips children with helpful strategies and a common language to use in everyday life at home and at school. “We often talk about Christian’s handouts around the dinner table,” says Vicki, Christian’s mother. Like any parents, Vicki and her husband, Richard, want success for their children. They believe part of that success depends on mental wellness that results from children being at peace with themselves and with those they see on a daily basis. “Tools for Life™ helps us connect with our boys and their life at school.
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It provides us with a common language we can use with Christian and his brother Noah when they are dealing with emotions and conflict.” The Tools for Life™ culture that is developed with teachers, administrators, parents and children challenges the assumption that “might makes right” asserts Vicki. “It offers a better approach to problem solving with an overall focus on the well-being of the child.” Vicki also appreciates that the model encourages kids to use “kid-focused” solutions to problems rather than administrator, teacher or parent-focused solutions. As Christian puts it, Tools for Life™ “helps children do better at getting along with each other, and at knowing ways to calm down.”
Tools for Life™ valued The tools Christian refers to were developed by kidsLINK based on 22 years of experience in school classrooms. They provide “handles” for children to use when dealing with their emotions and with conflict. Thousands of children currently use the tools on a daily basis in the Waterloo Region. By the end of 2010-2011, two new training methods were added to accommodate growing interest in Tools for Life™ (TFL). The “Train-the-Trainer”
approach was developed for organizations to provide in-house training, and Individual Training now allows for training for individual professionals. The program is being embraced by groups in Northern Ontario. TFL entered its third year of a three year study. Overall, teacher surveys indicate classrooms exposed to the TFL program show significant improvements in managing the classroom, the effectiveness of the teacher, relationships between students and student use of appropriate social skills. These results encourage kidsLINK to continue its research agenda. Social marketing capabilities now permit online seminars and other communication practices that support customers and nurture leads. These led to sales and to new prospects for training. During this fiscal year, kidsLINK conducted a TFL market assessment. The data gathered suggests that there is commercialization potential for TFL.
Compromise Photo: Tools for Life family - Christian, Vickie, Noah
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Always results-focused Research evidence is being used to shape service offerings and decision-making. Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
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80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
ACTUAL
Parents reported that since becoming involved with kidsLINK, children’s symptoms had been reduced, and that overall family functioning had improved.
CAFAS Results
GOAL
During the past year, kidsLINK again used standardized evaluation tools to collect data from participants and parents in several of its programs in order to ensure that excellent programming for children and youth continues. 100% of those surveyed gave overall ratings of “very good” to “excellent” for quality of treatment services delivered by Day Treatment Program and Residential Treatment Services in the past two years. For the Partners Program, (a program that assists parents in dealing with their children in their own homes) 92% of 83 clients surveyed gave overall service quality ratings of “very good” to “excellent”.
In addition, this past year, the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) helped kidsLINK to compare children’s functioning before and after kidsLINK intervention. Mean scores for 71 percent of children surveyed showed that the child displayed “clinically meaningful improvement” of 20 points or better. We met our targeted result of 70%.
ACTUAL
This past year kidsLINK was pleased to reinforce its commitment to research-based practice by developing a new Director of Research and Evaluation position. The Director provided active direction to staff on how to approach the various aspects of kidsLINK’s work so that it can be properly evaluated and the learning applied to improve practice.
The survey also identified areas for improvement, and it is anticipated that the introduction of new training modules for staff will result in even better outcomes in future years.
GOAL
Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
% of children served showing “clinically significant” improvement of 20 points or better at discharge
Growing research, linking practice
0 Residential & Day Treatment Services
Partners Program
Academic publication kidsLINK staff co-authored a research article titled, Long-term Outcomes of Children and Youth accessing Residential or Intensive Home-based Treatment: Three year follow up, with partners from the University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University, Lutherwood and Lynwood Hall. The report was published in the academic journal - Journal of Child and Family Studies.
Parenting sessions In 2010-2011, Pre-school Support Services surpassed their goal of providing 90 workshops to the parents and early childhood professionals and delivered 116 workshops to over 2000 parents and early childhood educators in the Region. These workshops focus on children’s social and emotional development. Based on 1051 evaluations, 86% of attendees found the information very useful, 92% agreed that the material was clearly presented, and 72% agreed that the issues discussed were very useful.
Gourmet Trail’s new venue
Financial report
The twelfth annual Gourmet Trail featured a new starting point, the University of Waterloo’s Federation Hall. The location was the perfect beginning to a wonderful day of great food, and great fun. Participants toured Waterloo Region’s best restaurants, where they sampled creative gourmet offerings.
For the first time in more than 20 years, kidsLINK’s operating expenses surpassed its income. A deficit resulted from a significant dip in the occupancy rate for the Comprehensive Residential Service (CRS). Because CRS has been supporting costs previously carried by our government-funded services, the impact was felt across the entire organization.
Thanks to the support of the restaurants, sponsors and all of our volunteers Gourmet Trail 2010 was a huge success raising more tham $43,000 for family services and Respite Services.
Thanks to our volunteers A special thank you to our 93 volunteers who contributed 3,251 hours of service to Preschool Support Services and Respite Services.
April 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011
Mid-year found us implementing constraint measures in all our services. The end result has been a year-end loss of $22,560 and reduced service levels across all programs. Although CRS did recover somewhat in the fiscal period, it has not returned to previous levels. This means that service reductions must continue into 2011-2012 in order to balance the budget.
Kids served*
Professional services
Program/Services Child and Family Therapy School Treatment Program
Workshops Workshop Participants
116
Early Learning and Child Care Conference Participants Tools for Life: Organizations Trained
473
Tools for Life: Parent Webinars
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Tools for Life: Parent Workshops
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111 59
Residential Treatment Services Early Identification Early Intervention
15
Preschool Support Services Respite Services
489
Front Door (Intake Services)
728
Partners/Intensive Family Services
69
5,473 117
Zero 2 Six Program (for children 0-6 in age) 234 Mobile Crisis Response 216 Comprehensive Residential Services
Where the Money Came From
Provincial Government Regional Government Fees for Service Fundraising / Donations Other Revenue Prior period reserves Total
3,969,612 923,817 1,288,650 139,930 375,652 64,077
59.3% 13.8% 19.2% 2.1% 5.6% 0.9%
6,761,738 100%
2,343
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Where the Money Went Children’s Mental Health Early Intervention Services Respite Services Other Programs Total
5,078,503 74.9% 1,219,016 18.0% 225,632 3.3% 261,147 3.8% 6,784,298 100.0%
Audit report is available upon request. Auditors: Graham Mathew Professional Corporation, Chartered Accountants.
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*In some cases children, youth, and families were served by more than one program.
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Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth
Our partnerships and alliances
Reaching out to our community
kidsLINK works in collaboration with more than 100 organizations, community groups, Developing tomorrow’s potential government agencies, in today’s children and youth educational institutions, professional associations and planning bodies.
At kidsLINK, we encourage, support and promote social responsibility as a means of affecting positive change and fostering social awareness and development. We welcome the opportunity to work with businesses, groups, clubs, organizations and interested individuals to support and strengthen the communities where we live and work.
We work closely with: Developing tomorrow’s potential in today’s children and youth.
Lutherwood Waterloo Catholic District School Board Waterloo Region District School Board Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Hamilton Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County Wilfrid Laurier University, Faculty of Social Work Fanshaw College Mohawk College Children’s Mental Health Ontario Family Service Canada Social Enterprise Alliance Social Enterprise Council of Canada Communitech kidsLINK is grateful to our 2010-2011 funders and donors, especially:
The photos in this year’s report feature children and families engaged with kidsLINK. These images serve as a reminder of children, youth, and families whom we serve. For ideas on working together with kidsLINK, please visit us online at www.kidsLINKcares.com. We welcome your suggestions and participation.
Head office 1855 Notre Dame Drive P.O. Box 190 St. Agatha, Ontario Canada N0B 2L0 Phone: 519-746-KIDS (5437) Fax: 519-746-3055 Email: communications@kidsLINKcares.com
Government of Canada Province of Ontario Region of Waterloo Notre Dame Foundation (Burlington) Inc.
www.kidsLINKcares.com kidsLINK is the operating name of Notre Dame of St. Agatha Inc. © Notre Dame of St. Agatha Inc., 2011. All rights reserved. kidsLINK and the kidsLINK logo are registered trademarks of Notre Dame of St. Agatha Inc.
At kidsLINK, we’re not only committed to helping the children, youth and families we serve enjoy a healthier future, we’re also working towards a healthier future for our environment. To that end, this document is printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. FSC certification ensures that the paper in this document contains fibre from well-managed and responsibly-harvested forests that meet strict environmental standards. Want to help? You can assist us in our environmental efforts by requesting to receive future annual reports in electronic PDF format. To participate, simply email communications@kidsLINKcares.com with your request.