NEWS + RESOURCES

Fred Finch Youth Center is committed to providing resources and information for our stakeholders.

News and Resources offers a marketplace to find resources that we value and learn from as well as a library of our own publications.

We are proud to share with you what’s happening at Fred Finch Youth Center (FFYC) this Summer of 2010.

FFYC agency wide:

• Fred Finch was identified as one of the top performing agencies on the “Overall Staff Retention” measure of a Benchmarking evaluation for like agencies that serve children, adolescents, transition age youth, adults and/or older adults in California.
• We are supporting efforts led by the John Burton Foundation advocating passage of AB12, “California Fostering Connections to Success” authored by Jim Beall of Santa Clara County.  This bill recognizes the challenges faced by youth who have grown up in foster care, and because of age are abruptly no longer eligible for services or supports for basicneeds.  It is not realistic to expect these youth to be successful with no assistance or support beginning with their 18th birthday.  We all know the majority of youth need some support and assistance at this difficult transition time.  Research shows that foster youth, who do not receive assistance that families commonly provide, are less likely to be able to go on to higher education or obtain and retain employment and safe, stable housing.  While not solving the problem completely, AB12 will provide much needed assistance to these youth who are facing multiple challenges.
• The Training Department expanded significantly during the just completed fiscal year.  The number of persons trained increased by 36%.  The number of classes provided, 550, was an increase of 108 over the number of classes provided the prior year.  Revenue increased by 34%.  In addition to providing training to our own staff, the number of outside participants who serve foster youth increased by 363%.  We are proud to make this resource available to the community.

• Our Avalon specialized school and day treatment program has, for a long time, had room to serve two youth who live at home in addition to youth who are served by the Avalon residential program.  To better meet needs in the community and in partnership with Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services, we expanded the school by adding another classroom.  We can now serve eight students from the community.

• Our school in San Diego also expanded.  We can now serve an additional six students from the community.  As in Alameda County, San Diego has unmet needs for specialized educational programs.
• We relocated both the school and a number of offices to a larger site because of continuing expansion of services to San Diego.

Watch for our next newsletter and/or update for information about two other programs in development in San Diego and for an invitation to an open house at the new site.

RECENT NEWS - FFYC STAFF PRESENT AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

On June 25, 2009 two FFYC staff members presented at the Building on Family Strengths Conference - Research and Services in Support of Children and Their Families, hosted by Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

The national conference provided the latest research and best practice information on two very important aspects of service provision: the inclusion of youth voice, and philosophies of wraparound in mental health care and social services.

Mr. Wendell Webber, Youth Partner, and Mr. Benjamin Blake, MFT, Wraparound Services Program Director, co-presented their paper on Hiring, Training and Retaining Former Foster Youth as Youth Partners on Wraparound Teams.  The presentation focused on recruiting former foster youth and working to meet the specific needs of the former foster youth population.

Wendell is a former foster youth who was hired as a youth partner at FFYC in 2008.  His previous experience navigating the foster care system is now part of a unique tool kit he uses in his work with the youth and families in the Wraparound Program in San Diego County.  "Everything you live, let it be your strength; let it be a part of you and enable it to help someone else," Wendell states of his daily work helping youth and families in need.

What did Wendell think of his experience traveling to Oregon to present at the Building Strengths Conference?  "I always had dreams of traveling and going to Oregon opened me up to a whole new world"the conference was an amazing opportunity and made me realize I am an expert in providing high quality wraparound services.  I will never forget the impact I had on the audience and how engaged they were.���

Ben Blake, who directs the Wraparound Services Program in San Diego County, underscored FFYC's expertise at the conference and in the field.  "Fred Finch Youth Center has been a pioneer in California's implementation of wraparound services, and the success and effectiveness we have in helping families change their  lives  demonstrates our abilities and expertise in the field.  The Conference was a compliment to our work."

For more information on how you can get involved and help change lives, please contact us at development@fredfinch.org or 510.485.5301.