Epiphany!!

Happy New Year to some!

(We have many versions of New Year celebrated here at Center For Family Connections - CFFC - where our diversity is

quite impressive and expansive).

I wanted to share that we have interesting trends here at CFFC.  During the holidays we had a couple of emergency calls from families and individuals who were having a hard time with holiday depressions.  It is this first couple of weeks after the holidays that our intakes soar and that people call us.  I'm not sure if they staved off the problems to celebrate the holidays and then called or if the New Year brings resolutions to address challenges and issues.

We have various trends in kinds of situations that are presented at intake.

Recently there are many families calling with middle schoolers - and some high schoolers - who are being bullied.  Badly.  In Massachusetts, we have a great anti-bullying law.  Some of our school systems can look forward to serious law suits as we can only address the mental health issues, but forward the families on to lawyers to deal with the unethical and illegal actions of not only students, but some teachers and coaches who turn their heads, or collude with the abuse of students.

There are many parents who have come back from military duty and because of traumatic brain injury and PTSD are not able to safely parent their children - there is an increase in kinship guardianships and adoptions within their extended families and much work to be done with the families and with the children.

There is an increase in children searching and finding birth relatives on Facebook and keeping it a secret from their parents.

There is an increase in families that understand that it would be better to do a search and talk about it at home while the child is still a live-in member of the family rather than waiting until they are in college or beyond and have to compartmentalize more of both of their families.

There is an increase in families realizing that their children were 'trafficked' and did not come to them in the way that they had believed.  More families realize that as ill-prepared as the parents felt for the challenges of internationally adopted older children, the children were even less prepared and often had no real understanding of where they were going and why.

There is an increase in post adoption cases and no funding - as we were totally cut by our state over a year ago.  The cases have increased and doubled.

There is an increase of permanency planning issues for families in foster care, pre-adoption, and kinship and very little support from DCF as they have cut our funding and the number of hours we can see each family under contract - this results in us doing double the pro-bono work that we have done in the past and it highlights how poorly our Commonwealth cares for it's most vulnerable children and families and how fiscally foolish they can be....  Every family and child that receives adequate and expert services before and after adoption may prevent further hospitalizations, residential treatment, homelessness and even prison - which are far more costly than providing the needed services for children who have suffered trauma and loss.

These are the trends that we are seeing.  Our team of clinicians is fabulous and is working over and above what is allotted by insurance.  In many cases our clinicians are doing the work that other providers are being paid for but are not tending to.  Frustrating?  Indeed.

Our hope for the New Year is that we are able to procure funding that will allow us to stay available to our families and children and to provide even more of our expert and unique services in 2011.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao

A Cherokee wise man was telling his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, there are two wolves struggling inside each of us.

One is vengefulness, self pity, resentfulness, anger, and fear.

The other is compassion, faithfulness, hope, truth, and love."

The boy sat thinking, then asked, "Which wolf wins, Grandfather?"

The old man replied, "The one you feed."

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Boston Children's Theatre and Boston Casting Join Forces to Cast Lead Role in "To Kill a Mockingbird" --Open Call to be held on January 22 to discover a young talent to play Scout-- Boston Children's Theatre (BCT) and Boston Casting will be holding an Open Casting Call to discover a young local talent to play the lead role of "Scout" in BCT's landmark production of "To Kill A Mockingbird."  The Open Call will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at the BCT Studios, 316 Huntington Avenue at 10:00 am.  The production will run May 7 - May 15, 2011 at the Boston Center for the Arts.  Tickets go on sale March 1, 2011. Nine year old newcomer Mary Badham was cast as Scout in the 1962 film after attending an open casting call in Alabama.  With no prior acting experience, Ms. Badham was chosen to play role opposite Academy Award winning actor Gregory Peck.  Badham received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role.   To give young actors a similar opportunity to be discovered, Burgess Clark, BCT Artistic Director, is inviting girls between the ages of 8 - 12 to audition to be part of this unique theatrical experience.  He is also excited to partner with Boston Casting.  "With Boston Casting's extensive database, I hope to find that diamond in the rough," said Clark.  "Boston Casting has a stellar reputation for finding just the right talent for any role. With their casting expertise, I know we'll find just the right girl for the part.  If anyone has a dream about being discovered, this is the opportunity to shine." In addition to casting Scout, BCT is also casting for the roles of Jem (age 8 to 14, Scout's older brother, smart, good with words, wise beyond his years) and Dill (age 8 to 11, energetic, intelligent, Jem and Scout's neighbor during the summer), as well as several older teen and adult roles.     Open Casting Call for the Roles of Scout, Jem and Dill Date:   Saturday, January 22, 2011 Time:  10:00 am - 2:00 pm Location:  BCT Studios, 316 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA Please Bring:  Water bottle, comfortable clothes, and be prepared to read a short selection from the script.   Open Casting Call for Older Teen and Adult Roles Date:  Sunday, January 23, 2011 Time:  10:00 am - 2:00 pm Location:  BCT Studios, 316 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA Please Bring:  Water bottle, comfortable clothes, and be prepared to read a short selection from the script. For more information, please visit Boston Children's Theatre

350 Cambridge Street

Cambridge, MA 02141

617-547-0909