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Giving a boost to provincial programs
When full funding from the province is not available, programs such as "Parent-Teen Conflicts" and "Children Who Witness Women Abuse" benefit from donations made to the Foundation.
"The cost of these groups is not funded by the government on a regular basis, so the Foundation has been used to help fund our share of these programs," says Steve Bailey, Executive Director at FACS-Elgin.
Parent-Teen Conflict is a group for adolescents and parents who are having difficulty at home. Led by social workers from FACS-Elgin and the Family Counselling Centre, the program helps a total of about 40 to 50 people a year.
"The goal of this group is to help the parents and the child communicate more effectively," says Teri Allen, Manager of Support Services at FACS-Elgin. Participants are encouraged to work out rules and roles within the family, and to develop a set of expectations from each side. The sessions are often a good method of intervention when the adolescent is at risk of leaving the home.
"We've found that the Parent-Teen Conflict group has been very successful," she adds. "Not only at helping the family communicate and get along better, but also at helping to keep adolescents from coming into foster care."
Children Who Witness Women Abuse is a 10-week program that helps area children deal with trauma they have experienced due to witnessing abuse in their homes. The program helps between 25 and 35 children a year, a figure that appears to be on the rise, with a waiting list for an upcoming group in January.
Offered two to three times a year in conjunction with Violence Against Women Services, the program has social workers conducting a variety of activities. Depending on their age group, the children may watch videos, have discussions, read stories or do crafts that relate to the violence they have witnessed.
"It helps them deal effectively with their own anger," Teri explains. "It also helps them realize that people can be angry with each other, people can disagree, and people can confront, and they won't always get a violent reaction."
What does
the Elgin Children's Foundation do?
The program allows children to identify the different kinds of violence, recognize the warning signs, and better cope with their own anger and that of others.
"The parents could really see changes in their kids over the course of the 10 weeks," says Teri. Social workers enjoy working with the program because they can help 6 to 8 children all at once, a "very time-and cost-effective use of services."
An excerpt from the Winter 2000 Edition of For The Children, the FACS-Elgin/Children's Foundation quarterly newsletter.
