Great News!!
Thanks to grants from the following list of generous supporters, Gateway's Consumer Credit Counseling Service will be able to make much-needed upgrades to its phone system, which was the major component of its total technology upgrade plan. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham The Hugh Kaul Foundation Regions Bank The Robert Meyer Foundation Gateway's Community Connections will be receiving two years of funding from a Health & Human Services and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention grant made to the Jefferson County Department of Health. The funding will be used to provide services to local schools to reduce tobacco use in our community. Gateway's grant writer, Susanna Cornett, was loaned to the Department of Public Health to write the $7 million grant, from which Gateway will receive more than $430,000. Gateway will be benefiting from two Kresge Foundation grants. See the official announcements below. Both grants will fund therapeutic activiities for residents of Gateway's Airport Highway Campus. The first is from a grant request that Gateway wrote. The second grant request was written by AIDS Alabama on behalf of Gateway. Gateway. $7,325 to support Children's Dance Foundation in providing three months of twice-weekly classes in dance, movement, drama and drumming to 30 adolescents living on the Gateway campus. Alabama Community AIDS Fund/AIDS Alabama. $5,100 to support "Giving Voice at Gateway," a creative writing program for 15 adolescent girls in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
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Please help us keep our Speakers' Bureau busy this summer and fall...Our speakers are favorites of United Way and the local media; and we'd like to extend that popularity to local corporate, church, and civic groups. If you know of a group that would like to hear more about Gateway or about becoming Therapeutic Foster Parents, please call Kathleen Ross at 510-2612. Our Consumer Credit Counseling Service staff can even tailor a brown-bag-lunch seminar for groups wanting to learn more about budgeting and money management.
We are still looking for companies/groups that would like to help fund (or supply tickets for) summer activities for our Residential and Therapeutic Foster Care programs.
And we will definitely be needing help to provide school uniforms and supplies for back-to-school.
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| Kathleen Ross
Gateway
1401 20th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35205 205-510-2612
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| Greetings!
For 12 years, the Gateway Junior Board has been hosting its Gateway Classic Golf Tournament, and for 12 years, our faithful supporters have made it a success...Thank you!! As always, proceeds from this year's event will be used to provide educational/recreational activities for the youth on our Airport Highway Campus and to provide for unbudgeted needs of other Gateway Programs.
This month, we're featuring our FOCUS program in this newsletter. I hope you find the information about Gateway's newest program of interest. Please feel free to let me know of anything else you would like to see in these e-mails. |
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FOCUS - Family Outcome Centered Unification Services
FOCUS addresses a variety of community problems, all of which could lead to a child being removed from the parental home or, having already been removed from the home, being unable to safely return to it. Children raised in a home where abuse, domestic violence, and substance abuse are present are significantly more likely to run away or drop out of school and to experience the same abuse, domestic violence, substance abuse, or become involved in other illegal activities in their adult lives. Interventions are skill based to address the safety concerns and to assist in keeping families together or helping them reunify.
FOCUS identifies strengths and needs, develops a safety plan to ensure the crisis does not occur again, and teaches skills that address the family members' needs. FOCUS individualizes lessons using role-playing, modeling, demonstration, homework assignments to reinforce the teaching, videos to provide examples, etc. Lessons develop communication, conflict resolution, decision making, anger/stress management, parenting, substance abuse relapse prevention, coping, depression management, time management, and job skills. FOCUS also provides for hard service needs such as transportation, food, clothing, furniture, and financial assistance with utility bills.
FOCUS works with other community resources to meet families' basic needs of food, transportation, furniture, etc., and often makes referrals for drug assessments, psychological evaluations, and counseling (individual, family, marital, etc.)
Outcomes
1. At discharge, 100% of clients reported that they learned skills that will improve their lives.
2. Reunification Results - 93% of children home at discharge. 94% at 3 months. 98% at 6 months. 99% at 12 months.
3. Preservation Results - 93% of children home at discharge. 89% at 3 months. 87% at 6 months. 96% at 12 months.
Results are cumulative. Home is defined as "not in state-funded placement."
David Gillock |
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FOCUS Success Story
Jane is a 32 year old single mother of two. She became involved with Jefferson County DHR recently when they received a report concerning physical abuse of her 7 year old daughter. She also has an 8 year old son. Jane admitted to spanking her 7 year old and leaving bruises on her. She reported numerous stressors in her life to include working a "dead end" job and having little to no support from family/friends. She explained that the children's father is not involved in their life. She reported her relationship with their father was volatile and she was often a victim of domestic violence while in a relationship with him. She agreed to work with Gateway FOCUS.
Jane was open and receptive to parenting skills taught, including age-appropriate discipline skills. During the intervention, Jane completed a psychological evaluation and was diagnosed with Depression and Anxiety. FOCUS taught her stress management skills and the importance of "choosing her battles" with the children. For example, the Specialist noted that Jane reacted to everything the children did and took lies/dishonesty personally. The Specialist taught/coached Jane through ignoring some behavior such as interruptions by the children and crying/whining spells. She was happy when she noticed how the skills worked for her household.
The Specialist assisted Jane with establishing house rules and a behavior chart for the children. She credits the behavior charts for the elimination of certain problem behavior the children were having. FOCUS taught the children behavior modification skills to include the S.T.O.P Plan to assist with impulse management and accepting "No" for an answer. Jane reported improvement in the children's behavior. She also reported that she discontinued use of corporal punishment.
During the intervention, Jane lost her job and was unemployed for several weeks. FOCUS provided the family some financial assistance. She began participating with the JOBS Program and received employment days later. She also started attending college courses at Virginia College and anticipates receiving a degree in Medical Office Management.
*Name has been changed to protect the client's privacy.
Lela McKinney
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