Family Corner

Are your children getting what they need?  

For most parents, their child's physical needs seem obvious: good food, warm clothes when it's cold, bedtime at a reasonable hour. However, a child's mental and emotional needs may be harder for many parents to get a handle on. We know that for children to think clearly, develop socially and learn new skills and to make and maintain friendships, good mental health is a prerequisite. But what contributes to good mental health? Certainly, the important adults in their lives are key to helping children develop self-confidence, high self-esteem, and a healthy emotional outlook on life.

The "Basics" for a child's good mental health include a wide variety of things that we, as adults, control:  

• Unconditional love from family
• The opportunity to play with other children
• Encouraging teachers and supportive caretakers
• Safe and secure surroundings
• Appropriate guidance and discipline

Love, security and acceptance should be at the heart of family life.  Children need to know that your love does not depend on his or her accomplishments. Mistakes and/or defeats should be expected and accepted. Confidence grows in a home that is full of unconditional love and affection. It is also important to nurture a child's confidence and self-esteem. Praise them- encouraging a child's first steps or their ability to learn a new game helps them develop a desire to explore and learn about their surroundings. Allow children to explore and play in a safe area where they cannot get hurt.  Assure them by smiling and talking to them often. Be an active participant in their activities. Your attention helps build their self-confidence and self-esteem.  Here are a few specific things you can do:

• Set Realistic Goals - Young children need realistic goals that match their ambitions with their abilities. With your help, older children can choose activities that test their abilities and increase their self-confidence.
• Be Honest - Do not hide your failures from your children. It is important for them to know that we all make mistakes. It can be very reassuring to know that adults are not perfect.
• Avoid Sarcastic Remarks - If a child loses a game or fails a test, find out how he or she feels about the situation. Children may get discouraged and need a pep talk. Later, when they are ready, talk and offer assurance.
• Encourage children - To not only strive to do their best, but also to enjoy the process. Trying new activities teaches children about teamwork, self-esteem and new skills.

Your children and your family will benefit from providing the "minimum daily requirements" of everything your family needs. 

Program News:  

2014 Safety Training program the best ever!    

On June 30, Family Continuity completed the 3rd year of its human services Worker Safety Training program, funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents. Each year the program has grown. In FY 2014 the program trained over 800 human services workers throughout the state, nearly 200 more than our goal. Altogether, over the last three years, the agency has trained over 2,100 workers, interns and volunteers from well over 100 organizations.

A feature that was added this year to our six- and four-hour skills trainings were shorter, two hour training sessions targeting administrators and leadership staff. These focused on the important decisions related to policies, procedures, human resources, and leadership that are necessary to change the agency culture to support safer practice and the training that staff members receive in the full course. This year's offering was capped off by the June 30, "Training of Trainers" that took place at our Peabody office, and was attended by 31 individuals from agencies where training was provided during the year who will now take the training, work within their own safety committees and establish ongoing training programs within their own agencies.

Throughout, the program has received exceedingly high evaluations from participants and the agencies they represent. This year, as in past years, we were unable to fill all of the requests, and as has been our practice, have already started developing a list of organizations that we will start training once our next grant proposal is accepted. A reminder to organizations who request the training, while it is a full year grant, we often do not receive written approval until October, and cannot provide training under the grant until that is received.

Finally, we want to acknowledge several organizations and individuals for their support. First, Cornell University's Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) program, that we gratefully draw upon for some of the early intervention and de-escalation material, we use with their permission.  Obviously, we could not provide the program to as many people as we do without the continued support of the Department of Industrial Accidents. We want to recognize the work of our Safety Committee and of our coordinator and trainers, Tom Byron, Kathleen Englehardt, Skip Stuck, Jon Ferguson and especially our master trainer, Kevin Nicastro.