Mission Moment: Reducing Anxiety to Help a Student Stay in the Classroom
Late in September of 2023, Dorian Villanueva, Skills Development Specialist, received a referral for a student experiencing severe separation anxiety that was impacting their ability to come to school and allow their parents to leave. The student eventually stopped attending school altogether. During this student’s intake, Dorian involved the student in coming up with a plan to attend school and spend a couple of hours with her for skills sessions. After a challenging first session, they worked out a schedule that utilized classroom visits where the student’s parents remained in the A&C office and Dorian attended class with the student. Over time, they were able to increase the student’s classroom time and school time, while decreasing Dorian’s classroom and session time and the parents’ presence in the building. “There really wasn’t anything we didn’t try with this student and their family,” Dorian said. She and the student worked together to build up coping skills and implement them into a morning routine to reduce anxiety before school. They modeled a classroom environment and completed activities to improve self-awareness, self-esteem, positive thinking, identifying triggers, self-calming ability, and problem-solving. Dorian was also able to coach the student’s parents on positive and negative reinforcement, extinguishing behaviors, psychoeducation on anxiety, and possible reasons for the student’s increase in anxiety. As of late January 2024, the student had been attending full school days without reporting any separation anxiety and even asked to go to bed earlier so school could come sooner. “This is really a testament to how much students across all backgrounds might benefit from our service,” said Dorian of the student’s success.
Mission Moment: Black Cultural Awareness Taskforce Leads A&C Participation in New Events
The Black Cultural Awareness Taskforce (BCA) at A&C expanded their community impact this summer by leading Adult & Child Health’s participation in two exciting local events. A&C was represented for the first time at the Indianapolis Juneteenth Celebration this June, where staff hosted a table to educate the community about A&C’s services and hand BCA swag and resources. Eight staff members and several family members also marched in the parade that morning, showing support of Indy Juneteenth, Inc.‘s mission to “improve the quality and narrative of life around the black community in Indiana by creating avenues for celebration and economic growth.” Adult & Child staff were also thrilled to participate for the first time in the Indiana Black Expo in July as a vendor in the minority health fair. Indiana Black Expo acts as a voice and vehicle for the social and economic advancement of African American youth and families. Their main goals are to educate, empower and elevate communities through programming and community partnerships. “We spent three days sharing the mission and vision of A&C as well as information about all of the services that we offer. In addition, we were able to highlight our diversity and inclusion efforts through our task force,” said Jaymee Cummings, Team Leader for Perry School Based 2 and Co-Chair of the BCA. “It was awesome to share our services and information with the community and to highlight the amazing work that is being provided by our agency. Mayor Joe Hogsett stopped by the booth several times to thank our agency for the services that we are providing to the community and special populations.” For anyone interested in supporting the BCA’s continued efforts and initiatives, you can visit their Bonfire apparel fundraising page here.
School Based Staff Gear Up For Year Three Of Kendrick Foundation Grant Funded Program Supporting Morgan County Schools
Adult & Child Health (A&C) is excited to head into the third year of their partnership with Kendrick Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports education and initiatives that improve the health and well-being of Morgan County residents. This three-year commitment aims to support school-based and school-linked mental health services for Morgan County school-aged youth. During the first year of the program, A&C served nearly 200 students across Mooresville, Martinsville, and Monrovia school districts. Beyond the school setting, A&C staff worked with more than 40 families of enrolled students as a link to clinical services and family therapy sessions. “We are very grateful for our partnership with Adult and Child. We know working together we can better serve our students and meet their mental health needs,” said Windy McGowen, Mooresville County School District. Year two concluded with incredible growth for the program, which directly served nearly 800 youth and families. Also new this year for A&C were an increase in community outreach, caregiver support and training, teacher support and training, building connections across Morgan County, increased mental health awareness education, and continued service provision for more youth and families across Morgan County. “We are so excited to continue our partnership with the Kendrick Foundation and appreciate the collaboration with Mooresville, Martinsville, and Monrovia Schools. It has been a pleasure to lead our teams through this growth and program development over the last two years and now excited to see what we can offer in year three!” said Elizabeth Stirn, LCSW, Assistant Director of School-based Services. “We are proud to be a part of this mental health initiative with the Kendrick Foundation and work to improve the overall well-being of students and families in Morgan County.” Keylee Wright, Executive Director at Kendrick Foundation, Inc., said of the program, “When we invest in children’s mental health to make sure they can get the right care at the right time, we improve the lives of children, youth, and families — and our communities. As a result of this initiative, Morgan County residents have greater access to mental health practitioners and services regardless of their ability to pay.” Adult & Child Health is an accredited nonprofit primary care, behavioral health, and social services provider with multiple locations in central Indiana. We strive for caring communities, where every child, adult and family have the opportunities they need to live healthy, happy, productive lives.
Mission Moment: Marion & Johnson County School Based Teams Celebrate Summer
While students enjoy their summer breaks, A&C staff are still collaborating and working hard to ensure that those students have access to fun and resources all year long. School based leaders Jaymee Cummings, Team Leader for Perry School Based 2, Aja Bridgewater, Director of School Based Services, Aby Wischmeier, Assistant Director of School Based Services, Liz Stern, Assistant Director of School Based Services, and the staff of Perry Township School Based 2 welcomed staff, clients, and families to A&C’s 8404 Siear Terrace location on June 21 to celebrate summer and enjoy a day of fun, resources, movement, food, and games. Preparation for this event started with the approval of summer funding through the Indy Summer Youth Programs/Summer Youth Program Fund, which aims to supplement existing programs in order to enrich, enhance, and expand summer offerings for children and youth. A&C received funds specifically through Lilly Endowment, Inc. Once the team received funding, they set to work brainstorming ideas that would be both creative and fun for clients, their families, and staff. Their goal this year was to utilize the funds differently from years past, and they landed on a proposal to provide youth and families with experiences and activities they might not otherwise get to experience during the summer weeks, including the inaugural Summer Celebration and multiple park days throughout Marion County. After 3-4 weeks of planning, the team was able to pull off an exciting and interactive event with not only participation from multiple other A&C teams, but outside vendors including Kona Ice, DJ Duane Curry, caricature artist Bob East, Good Moves yogi Monica Wearren, and Indianapolis Fire Department – Station 35. Taste of Grace food truck provided lunch for the event, donating their time, supplies, tables, canopies, and a team of seven to serve food and drinks. Approximately 150 guests were in attendance throughout the day. When asked about her favorite aspect of the Summer Celebration, what stood out for Jaymee was all of the family participation. “Some families attended the event with a provider as well as on their own. We saw many smiling faces as children and families won giveaways throughout the day, they were very excited to win activities that will keep them busy through the summer,” she said. “We also enjoyed all of the participants who engaged in the live motion and movement sessions with Monica Wearren.” Jaymee wants to extend a special thank you to all of the staff, students, clients and their families who made this day a success. “It was very awesome to see this all come together,” said Jaymee. “Definitely a mission moment.”
