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National Youth Violence
Week April 6-10
Youth violence refers to harmful behaviors that can start early and continue into young adulthood. The young person can be a victim, an offender, or a witness to the violence.
Some violent acts-such as bullying, slapping, or hitting-can cause more emotional harm than physical harm. Others, such as robbery and assault (with or without weapons) can lead to serious injury or even death.
The ultimate goal is to stop youth violence before it starts. Several prevention strategies have been identified.
Take a look at this prevention fact sheet from the CDC: More....
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The first National Autism Awareness Month was declared by the Autism Society in April 1970
The aim of this month is educate the public about autism. Autism is a complex mental condition and developmental disability, characterized by difficulties in the way a person communicates and interacts with other people.
Autism can be present from birth or form during early childhood (typically within the first three years). Autism is a lifelong developmental disability with no single known cause.
People with autism are classed as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the terms autism and ASD are often used interchangeably. A wide spectrum disorder, people will autism have set of symptoms unique to themselves; no two people are the same.
For more information on National Autism Awareness Month
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We believe in our mission of "supporting family success in every community" and hope you do too.
Please consider helping us advance our mission by making a charitable contribution to Family Continuity today.
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March - April 2015 Newsletter
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Greetings from the CEO
Happy Spring Everyone! What a winter this has been. We have had record snow and school age children had many "snow days" much to their delight. They may remember this winter like many of you remember the Blizzard of '78. Hopefully we are done with the snow for this season.
The month of April brings transitions and change."April Showers bring May Flowers". April is also Autism Awareness month and National Youth Violence awareness week is April 6 - April 10th.
* Did you know that dating violence among 9 - 12 grade high school girls is extremely prevalent in this population in Massachusetts?
Most Intimate Partner Violence (IVP) is directed at women and girls. The rate of violence against females by intimate partners is 3 to 6 times that of IVP against males. Injuries that result from such violence are significantly more common among females for both adolescent and adult populations, and approximately 10% of intentional injuries to adolescent girls are reported to be the result of violence from male dating partners. Furthermore, according to Uniform Crime Reports from the US Department of Justice, females are approximately 10 times more likely to be killed by an intimate partner than are males. (1997 and 1999 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys). JAMA 2001
It's important that we talk to our Teenagers about dating violence, both sons and daughters. There are a variety of domestic violence programs across the state.
Get the facts and encourage your children to talk about what is going on with their friends as a way of starting the conversation, then ask them directly.
It's never too late to start the conversation!
Be well,
Barbara Wilson
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FAMILY CORNER
The Cape Cod Family Resource Center (FRC)
A program of Family Continuity, is slated to open its doors on May 1, 2015. The FRC will be located at 29 Bassett Lane near Main Street in Hyannis and covering all of the Cape Cod area. The hiring process is in motion and a Director and Family Partner have been hired. Paul Melville is the new Director, Cynthia Klopfer is the new Family
Partner, Terriann Polumbo is the new School Liason.
The FRC is designed to provide education and information, support groups, family activities, benefits resources, school support for children with specialized needs, assessment for mental health needs, a place to network and access the local community's resources, and much, much more!
Family Continuity is also opening a smaller version of the Family Resource center on Nantucket, also slated to open on May 1, 2015. Stay tuned for more information as we get closer to the opening date!
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Family Continuity Offers Safety Training
How it all began . . .
In 2008, Diruhi Mattian, a 53 year old social worker working for Family Continuity was killed by a 19 year old client during a routine home visit. In response to her death, NASW-MA, Schools of Social Work, Family Continuity, and other private and state agencies convened the Maximizing Social Worker Safety Task Force to address workplace safety for social workers.
Friday, February 15, 2013, Governor Patrick signed the NASW-MA Chapter's Social Work Safety in the Workplace legislation into law.
Family Continuity is listed on the DIA website as a safety training organization. EOHHS endorses Family Continuity's training as meeting and exceeding the requirements for human service workers. Training include topics such as:
- Assessing safety risks across a spectrum of situations
- Identifying potential crises and what to do in a crisis situation
- Managing power struggles
- Identifying when to get out of a situation
- Understanding aggression and anger
- Learning how to handle workplace violence such as abductions, domestic violence in the workplace, and active shooters on site
- Assessing violence risk
And many more eye-opening topics!
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Earth Day
The History of a Movement
Each year, Earth Day - - April 22nd - - marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The height of hippie and flower-child culture in the United States, protest was the order of the day, but saving the planet was not the cause.
At the time, Americans slurped leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted. "Environment" was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. Although mainstream America remained oblivious to environmental concerns, the state had been set for change by the publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962.
More than any other person, Ms. Carson raised public awareness and concern for living organisms, the environment and public health. Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center.
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