Interview with Tracy Perks: Independent Living Program for Clark County Foster Kids | Part 2

We recently spoke to Tracy Perks, the independent living coordinator for Clark County Family and Children Services, and she shared with us a little bit about her role and how the Independent Living program helps foster kids in Clark County.

How do you determine which foster child gets independent living services?
All foster children can receive independent living services. We want to provide services to them in any way we can.

What are the services provided to 15-18 year olds?

The big indicator that helps us determine what services a child needs is how they score on the Daniel Memorial Institute Assessment.
The first category on the assessment is money management. We help the youth set up a bank account. This helps the youth start a savings account, and then when they start working they can open a checking account. We also help them make a budget.

Category 2 is food management. We try to help them realize that they can’t eat out all the time and also try to instill the value of using coupons and eating healthy meals at home.

Personal appearance is category 3. Most know how to care for themselves, but others may have developmental disabilities, and they need more help.

Health is category 4 on the assessment. We educate and train youth in foster care on finding a doctor and making medical appointments. While in the program, the youth continue receiving medical coverage. Homemaking is category 5. We emphasize the importance of how to keep a clean and safe home.

Transportation is the next category. We help the youth learn how to use the bus system, and we can help pay for driver’s education. Once the youth turns 18 and they have their driver’s license, if they have $2,000 in their savings account, we will match that amount to help the youth purchase a car. One girl we worked with had $2,200 in her savings account, and the car she was looking at was $4,500. The gentleman who was selling the car lowered the price, and the girl paid half and we paid half to help her buy her first car. The youth are responsible for paying for their own car insurance, but we assist in helping them get that set up.

In addition, we have a certain amount of money set aside in our budget for extracurricular activities at school, school trips, senior pictures and other graduation costs. It is something that we enjoy doing because we do not want our youth to miss out on those important events in a teenager’s life.

Education planning is category 7. For education planning, the big thing is getting the youth to graduate, making sure they are in the right classes, and making sure the students are receiving tutoring if they need it. I have a packet for juniors and seniors titled “How foster kids can get into college?” and it shows them what they should be doing every month during their junior and senior year to prepare for college.

We make sure school counselors are in contact with us, college applications are being filled out and financial aid paperwork is getting done. We also take the youth on college tours. We continue education planning all the way through college to achieve the best possible outcome. We would not be doing our youth justice if we stopped providing services to them, halfway.

Do you have any success stories you would like to share?

A couple girls who are sisters come immediately to mind. They came from a challenging family background and had been involved with our system for a long time along with their brothers.

Both of the girls graduated from high school with honors. One of the sisters received her LPN from Clark State. She participated in our independent living program and had her own apartment through Choices. She successfully completed the program and is working towards her RN license.

The other sister is doing the same thing. She is in the independent living program, has her apartment through Choices, works at a nursing home almost full time and goes to Clark State full time. She will graduate this year from Clark State with her LPN license.

These two girls are a big part of the reason why I do what I do. Knowing our Agency helped them achieve their goals to become successful citizens and make a change within their family dynamic. That is all the thanks I need!

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Q&A with Wendy Holt: Fighting Child Abuse in Clark County

We recently sat down with Wendy Holt, director of the Clark County Child Advocacy Center (CAC), and talked about what the CAC does and how it works with other organizations like Family & Children Services.

Question: Can you share how you came to work with the Child Advocacy Center?

Answer: I have been working in the child welfare field since 1989. In the 90s, I was an intake worker who investigated sexual abuse allegations. At that time, kids were being interviewed several times because each discipline needed information. I empathized for the children and their families, having to “re-tell what happened.” It was reliving their trauma over again.

I worked with a core group of people from agencies in Clark County that agreed we needed a more child-friendly and collaborative process for investigating reports of abuse. We also saw the need for agencies to partner collaboratively to improve services for children and families. I learned of the National Child Advocacy Center (NCAC) model and the grant funds available. We were awarded a grant to send an initial MDT team of people from differing disciplines to training and learned the initial steps to becoming a CAC.

Pam Meermans became the first director of the CAC when it was established. About six months ago, Pam became Deputy Director of Family & Children Services (FCS).  This opened up the director position at the CAC. I applied for the position and was appointed the position in September 2011, leaving my position as supervisor of Foster Care and Adoption at FCS.

Question: What does your role involve?

Answer: My focus has been on developing and maintaining inter-agency coordination and cooperation amongst partner agencies who are involved with CAC child abuse cases. I work closely with the CAC Advisory Board and multidisciplinary team members. Our core multidisciplinary team consists of six disciplines: FCS, Law Enforcement, Prosecutor, Victim Witness, Medical and Mental Health.

The CAC is accredited by the National Children’s Alliance so I work to ensure the accreditation standards are maintained. I am also responsible for organizational policies, program/service delivery, strategic planning and quality improvement. I continue regular contact with the Director of the Ohio Network of Child Advocacy Centers (ONCAC) and other partner CAC directors in our state as well.

Question: What exactly does the CAC do?

Answer: The CAC provides services for child and severe physical abuse victims and their families through a cooperative, multi-disciplinary team. CAC cases are referred by FCS, law enforcement or the prosecutor’s office. The CAC provides a child-friendly environment for children and families to speak with social workers, law enforcement detectives and CAC staff. The CAC also offers advocacy services and linkages for medical exams and counseling.

Twice a month, we meet as a team to make decisions about investigation, treatment, management and prosecution of child abuse. We are currently working on a database to organize information so we can track and measure the outcomes of cases. We will be able to use this data as a way to see areas in which our MDT is producing positive outcomes, as well as to identify the areas that need improvement.

It’s critical that the MDT members are trained to do what they do. I want to make sure that each discipline involved with CAC cases is provided with opportunities to get specialized, up-to-date training.

Question: Why do we need any organization like CAC in our community?

Answer: The CAC is key in coordinating and centralizing all the experts involved in child abuse cases. Our facility provides a child-friendly environment; children don’t have to go through unnecessary trauma of multiple interviews. They are interviewed by a forensic interviewer who has been specifically trained in this area. All interviews are recorded. The investigation is streamlined; information is shared; and decisions are based on more expert information. Also, any services such as medical evaluations and counseling are coordinated via the CAC case manager. As a result, children are able to begin their healing process faster.

The majority of child abuse cases are preventable. We want to give attention to prevention programs and educating others on how they can help. We encourage everyone to learn the resources available and to learn more about the signs and symptoms of abuse, so together we prevent abuse in Clark County.

Learn more about Clark County DJFS by visiting our website.

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Summer Sky Is Almost Here!

It’s that time of year again!

Mark your calendars for Summer Sky on Saturday, August 20, from 1:00pm-5:00pm at the Heritage Center in Springfield.

Summer Sky is an annual family fun festival sponsored by Clark County Family & Children Services and other community organizations.  Best of all, there’s no charge to join in on the fun!

There are many exciting activities to forward to, including:

• 10 Mobile Science Stations from COSI Science Center
• Traveling Exotic Animals from Columbus Zoo Mobile
• SuperGames Giant Inflatable Moonwalks
• Boonshoft Museum of Discovery Animals
• Face Painting
• Live Music
• Carnival Games
• And Much More!

The Heritage Center is located at 117 S. Fountain Ave. in Springfield.  Parking is available at the Clark State Community College Performing Arts Center parking lot.

For more information, and to check out the full schedule, visit www.flysummersky.com.

Summer Sky:  The Fun Never Stops!  Hope to see you there!

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