Spotlight on: School Based Services
The philosophy of School Based is simple: problem kids are not bad kids, they’re kids who simply need more support. This is the very sentiment Skills Development Specialist Chad Ridge tries to embody daily as he winds through the halls of Grassy Creek Elementary throwing out high fives to children passing in lines and advice to ‘make better choices’ to those working at ‘time out desks’ in the hallway. As a Skills Development Specialist, Chad has a unique but often necessary position in the school. He helps kids on his caseload work through issues such as ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a tendency to flee, a tendency to hit. Therapists on the team do the hard, emotional work with the kids one-on-one to help them address what they feel and why they feel it. Skills Development Specialists (SDS) work with the kids on their actions and how to make better behavioral choices, both in one-on-one sessions and in the classroom. “You kind of have to play a little dance with your caseload,” said Chad, referencing the relatively unstructured day-to-day operations of a Skills Development Specialist. There are a certain number of meetings they must have with their clients per week depending on their level of need, but the landscape always seems to be changing. The caseload rotates slowly, but teachers have different preferences, schedules for extra activities blend and shift, a client may have an outburst in the morning, or an emergency might pop up in the afternoon. Chad manages by staying flexible and spending his day weaving in and out of classrooms, talking with teachers and dropping in on clients to assess the needs of the day. “You have to feel out who needs what at what time and adjust accordingly.” Kids usually end up on the School Based caseload through a teacher recommendation. Teachers approach parents about working with Adult and Child to help their child tackle behavioral issues. Often the option is discussed when working out Individualized Education Plans. When a child is added to the caseload, a team will take around 30 days to really get to know them. They assess the child’s struggles and develop an individually tailored plan with goals to work on. This happens through classroom observation, discussions with parents and teachers, and familiarizing the child with the School Based team. After 30 days, the SDS will confer about their findings with a psychologist who will provide their own feedback, and then the intensive work begins. SDSs will often work through storybook-type models that encourage children to examine their own behavior. Titles like “Jake the Frog Settles Down” and “Hunter and His Amazing Remote Control” are designed to illustrate what it looks like to use self behavior modification skills through the example of cheerful cartoon characters. An SDS will also spend time with their clients in the classroom, physically sitting beside them and helping to navigate different types of stimulation, distraction, emotions, etc. One other important piece of the School Based puzzle is parent interaction. When parents sign up their child, they also sign up themselves. Chad says that he usually meets with parents twice a month both to discuss their child’s progress and to involve them in the curriculum. “My work with parents and their children looks a lot like play,” said Chad. He says he often plays games to model and facilitate new types of parent-child interaction individualized to the child’s struggles. “If parents are on board and they’re actively involved in the child’s therapy or skills, then it goes a lot smoother and you move a lot faster toward a graduation or resolution.” The ultimate goal of School Based is graduation from the program. Once a child is consistently meeting their goals with less and less support from the team, that’s when it’s time to transition them out of the program. Chad has worked in School Based for over a decade and has seen so many kids work through their behavioral problems and function well in school. “School Based works,” he said simply. “We’re there for the kids when they need us.” Supplying that line of defense helps children who might otherwise escalate their behavior so much that it leads to expulsion, a consequence where nobody’s happy and nobody’s learning. But with School Based interaction, Chad has seen that happen much less frequently, a factor that drives his passion for working with kids. “I wouldn’t work anywhere else,” he said, “I love it to pieces.”
Spotlight on: Team Zenith
Team Zenith might sound like a superhero squad that fights crime and lives on a mountain, but at A&C, these individuals are simply superheroes who walk people through mental illness and drink lots of coffee. Today, Team Zenith is an iteration of a program that has existed at Adult and Child for the past 20 years. As long as the agency has provided community services to adults, Team Zenith has been there, sometimes operating under different names. “We still have a lot of clients who have actually been a part of Zenith for 15 to 20 years,” said Team Leader, AhNonda Bates. AhNonda and her colleague, Ashley Eppich, are Team Leaders and both manage teams of Skills Development Specialists. Team Zenith also employs a Community Based Therapist to provide traditional therapy sessions and a Peer Recovery Specialist who has dealt firsthand with the issues clients face and can counsel from experience. At the core, Zenith is dedicated to providing skills development and community based treatment to adults with serious mental illness. For Skills Development Specialists, that means driving around the metropolitan area, meeting with clients in their homes or anywhere they can. It means driving people to doctor’s appointments or the grocery store. It means counseling clients one-on-one about how to manage finances or find new housing. It means making sure a client understands as much as they can about their mental illness & medications, and being there in the moment to help them use coping skills. “Because of their mental illness, it’s easier for us to go to them rather than them coming to us… [Our Skills staff] could literally be teaching [clients] almost anything,” said AhNonda, who speaks highly of the hard work and flexibility of the team. And there is no typical day for Team Zenith. Much of the work is handling a constantly moving caseload of clients who all have different needs at different times. Crises also happen on a fairly regular basis. If a client suddenly loses housing or has their medication stolen, the staff often has to work quickly and adapt on the fly. Clients usually enter the Team Zenith caseload by way of referrals. Common sources are A&C’s Homeless and Housing Resource Team outreach, the Wheeler Mission, Valle Vista, and Community North, who often refers patients recently released from hospitalization. Sometimes there are referrals from friends or family members familiar with the program themselves. Once a referral is made, Team Zenith often uses Open Access times to serve as an intake for new clients to get them into service faster. Team Zenith is a service line that takes the title of ‘team’ to heart. Dealing with seriously mentally ill patients on a day to day basis is never easy and never linear. Relying on other members of the team is sometimes a necessity. AhNonda spoke about a client who lost her Skills Development Specialist and because of her connection and rapport with that client, AhNonda became her primary contact while also serving as Team Leader. Because of this client’s precarious emotional state and tendency to self-harm, it took considerable effort on AhNonda’s part to keep moving her in the right direction. In the toughest times, she’d have to drop everything at the office and drive to Adult Transitional Living to coax her out of a downward spiral of self-harm. This is a true example of embodying the spirit of their work. While many clients progress differently, the goal of Team Zenith is always to move people forward. AhNonda’s client, still with A&C, has not been hospitalized since February, a huge accomplishment for her. Putting in the hard work to help clients reach independence and management of their mental health, is what keeps Team Zenith on the streets of downtown Indy responding to calls of crisis and need. “The work that we do is really important,” said AhNonda. “Whether it takes two years or twenty years, [the result] just really shows that what we do is important to somebody.”
First Ever Foster Care Benefit A Mansion-Sized Success
Sunday August 6th, Adult & Child Health and the Gaunt Family hosted The Mansion on the Mile Tour for Foster Youth. The event served as a fundraiser for foster care with donations at the door affording guests the chance to tour the historic Tate Mansion on 228 N. East Street in Indianapolis. The home first belonged to the affluent Warren and Helen Tate at the turn of the twentieth century. Warren, infamous for how we conducted his public business and personal affairs, is best known as the person who murdered a witness in the Marion County courthouse in 1878. Helen was once arrested for operating a house of “ill repute” in downtown Indy. Both were salacious; certainly not known for having warm, nurturing dispositions. Fast forward over a century, when Tom & Jean Gaunt purchased the house with the intention of transforming it into a bed and breakfast. That dream was quickly placed on hold when the Tom & Jean, seasoned foster parents, adopted nine children at once. Turning a once nefarious and relatively empty mansion, into a full and loving home. Tom is a member of the Adult and Child Health’s Board of Directors, he and his wife have fostered over 100 children and adopted 11. Now empty nesters, the couple converted the home into a Bed and Breakfast, and graciously offered to open it to the public for A&C’s benefit. The event had an incredible turnout with over 350 visitors and a total of $4,127.25 in donations. A network of volunteers led guests through the house, describing the rich historic significance of each room. Staff from Therapeutic Foster Care, ELT, and Development as well as Foster Parents, Foster Youth, and members of the Gaunt Family worked tirelessly, to make the event an absolute success! With such a large volume of attendance, we are truly grateful for all the effort put into their roles. A huge thank you to everyone involved with the event! We are so excited for every opportunity to share our mission & engage with the community. The Gaunt’s story beautifully portrays what’s possible when parents are committed to providing a safe and loving home to foster children. Their large & loving family truly shows us that #ThisisWhy. Visit here, for more information on the Mansion on the Mile Bed & Breakfast. Interested in learning more about becoming a Foster Parent, or supporting Foster Care?
Foster Youth Make ‘Goals’ in Football Tuition Toss Event
Summer 2017 came with an opportunity for four graduating foster youths. During A&C’s Tuition Toss event, funds and footballs were up for grabs as four soon-to-be college freshmen competed for $5,000 of college tuition money. The goal: throw as many footballs as possible through a single hole in 30 seconds. Sponsored by Dr. Pepper, the Tuition Toss challenge is intended to encourage foster children to further their education by providing a financial boost. The winner of the coveted $5,000, was able to land 11 footballs through the hole of the 8 foot structure. His winnings will be transmitted to Vincennes University as he begins his educational adventure this fall. The remaining participants all split another $5,000, each receiving a total of $1,665. Those grads are grateful for the additional funds as they journey to Ball State, IUPUI, and Ivy Tech. Family & friends of the youth were invited, as well as the foster care staff, to celebrate their truly momentous accomplishment. This was the second Tuition Toss for Adult & Child Foster Youth. Dr. Pepper has been a dear and valued community partner to A&C, committed to empowering foster youth in pursing their passions.
