Ms. Bonilla,

I would like to share my story with you and your company and the efforts put fourth of Ms. Kerns.  My family has undergone multiple 10 month family counseling sessions with another agency.  Both times they were through the same agency and both times the attempts were unsuccessful.  We had at one point put our daughter into residential treatment.  She was totally uncontrollable and was destroying our family unit.  Our lives revolved around her mood and if she had a good day so did we, as long as she got what she wanted. In the meantime we had a younger daughter that was being pushed aside because she was “the easy one”.  A few years later during our second attempt at family services we discovered what we had done was cause our youngest child to feel inferior to her sister and it was too late.  The damage had been done and now the family was in complete turmoil.  My husband and I, that sounded like a joke there was no relationship.  Everything was the kids.  If it wasn’t doctor appointments or calming unsettling nerves we had to run them to Wal-Mart or the mall to get them something they so desperately needed because if we didn’t that surely meant our night would be pure H***.  I took to drinking more every day and becoming very depressed and my husband became very angry.  He lashed out at everything with physical violence being his answer because he just could not take anymore.  We were at the point where at least one time a week one of us was threatening the kids and each other that we were moving out.  I was at the point where if it were not because I knew it would destroy my children I would have committed suicide because I just could not take it anymore.  The countless numbers of phone calls at work I would get because they were fighting.  Not just verbally but physically.  They were always pushing and shoving and hitting each other, sometimes through glass windows and braking doors.  I would get phone calls from neighbors asking me what is happening at my house because they could hear my children fighting.  This all came to a boiling point and my husband and my older daughter got into an argument and my husband got physically abusive.  Which I did not agree with AT ALL.  I told him that was not acceptable and he said he was moving out or she was.  I told him he could go I am not allowing my daughter to leave.  Well that night he came back after he calmed down.  Needless to say I was the peace maker all the time, I was tired of it.  My job suffered and my sanity.  I lost interest in everything including my family, I didn’t care anymore.  When the last incident happened my daughter asked me if she could talk to the school and I told her absolutely.  I never wanted her to feel like this was something she had to hide.  If she needed to talk about it, than she needed to talk.  The school in turn called Children and Youth Services.  They stated that my children are not being abused however my family could benefit from Family Counseling.  I agreed to this reluctantly because as I stated before we had undergone this before and it was a waste of time and energy.  Unless the family is invested in change nothing will change.  So we then met Ms. Kerns, at first I don’t mind telling you I was like this is not going to work she is a young punk with books on her mind and no experience.  She is going to just come in here and tell us what we do wrong and nothing is going to change and honestly I don’t want to hear it.  I think at one point I even told her this.  I could not be further from the truth.  Stephanie came in and asked us what was going on and she gave us possible solutions.  She did not say this is what you’re doing wrong or you should have done this or why are you doing it that way.  She listened to us and she gave us solutions.  This was refreshing from the past.  As I look back to our previous encounters with counseling I would like to share why they didn’t work.  The first set of people, well they were judgmental.  I felt that every time he came into my home he said Sherry why are you letting your children see you upset.  Why are you doing this?  Why aren’t you doing that?  I finally went off and told him that every time he comes into my home he makes me feel like a piece of shit and if my children would have come with instruction manuals on dealing with a child with anxiety I would have known a lot more.  To top it off he didn’t have children so all his knowledge was from a book.  The second group well they just never offered any solutions they were a lot nicer not as judgmental but never really did anything to help.   With Ms. Kerns she helped she listened to us and she didn’t come into our home pretending to be a stuck up snobby counselor.  She was just another person trying to help.  I would like to say, my family has never been better.  My kids do not fight every day.  They do argue but they are teenage girls so nothing will totally stop that.  My husband and I are finally able to go away alone without worrying about constant phone calls and worrying what we will find.  When I say I am going to do something I do it.  If they do something they shouldn’t, they lose a privilege.  My youngest daughter has gone from doing private counseling 2 times a week to one time every third week.  I do not drink anymore and my husband well he has no anger outbursts anymore.  It’s like a new family.  I have begun to do well at my job again and I do not cringe when I get an email or phone call from my children.  I am not totally sure what the difference was but I believe Stephanie Kerns was a great help to my family, and for this I will forever be indebted to her.  There are no words to say thank you for what she has given me back. I would wish that you could pass this along to her and that you would let her know that yes I would never say it to her because well I am just not that type of woman but let her know my family is indebted to her on a level she may never understand unless she herself is in this situation.  To be honest, I know she has a little boy and I think that little boy isn’t going to get away with squat, poor kid, just kidding. As much as I really liked Ms. Kerns I really hope to never see her again.

With sincerest gratitude
Tammy Smith

Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Stephanie Kerns, our Family Resource Specialist in Berks County.

Our ability to partner with probation and provide both support AND supervision maximizes public resources and gives troubled youth the opportunity to make the changes that lead to sustained positive behavior.

Sevon is a former firefighter with a profound commitment to kids and the community and we appreciate his sincere devotion to make a difference.

I just wanted to take a moment to recognize the work of Noelle with the Thompson family. I know she has put in a great deal of time with the family and today that has paid off with her getting what amounts to over $4,000 in rental assistance for the family and preventing them from being evicted. I truly do appreciate the amazing work that Noelle and Justiceworks does for our families and just thought you should know yet another example of this!

Sincerely,

Gregory J. Gerdeman, MSW, LSW
Berks County Children and Youth Services

Mike Walker/Gazette

On December 9^th, 2011 JusticeWorks’ Indiana County office held an Open House for the community.  We provide our STOPP®, JustCare® and Independent Living programs there.  The Indiana Gazette kindly published the event.  We were pleased to see many  staff from Children and Youth, local school districts, adult and juvenile probation departments, MHMR and other providers.  Indiana’s Mayor George Hood, and local Judges honored us by their participation.

In a few months, we’ve grown substantially in Indiana County and we appreciate the support of our public stakeholders there.

Client attended school where FRS previously worked, so FRS knew client’s potential when it came to in the classroom. Client attended the alternative education school, River Rock, for quite some time and was becoming defiant when it came to doing work, which not only hurt her grades, but brought on behavior altercations as well with the staff.

FRS would visit school and sit down with client and watch her finish all work sheets or classroom assisgnments. FRS did this until client got to point where she was back on track with school and client would complete work without FRS being there. This completely nipped all behavior issues in the bud, and also allowed client’s grades to bounce back quickly before total grades were affected. Client began to attend school at all times also because client never knew when FRS was going to stop in and check in. FRS checked in 2-3 times a week for a while, and this made client understand that she needs to attend every day. On days when client would skip school, mother or school would call FRS and FRS would pickup client and bring client to school.

Client’s grades got to a point where FRS and client began to apply for colleges. Client had all applications and essay letters finished with the assistance of FRS. FRS and client would sit down for hours in school to get these done. At this time client had minimal credits left and grades were superb so client could direct attention to college and job hunting.

FRS also assisted client with job applications. Client applied to numerous places of employment all over York. Client eventually got a job with Frank’s Movie Theatre.

Client has things all going swell when client hit a big bump in the road. Client was not really allowed to be with her ex-boyfriend, as boyfriend had abusive history, disrespect issues with client’s mother, and was on probation for drug usage as well.

One night client and ex had an altercation, prompting boyfriend to put a pillow on client’s face and attempt to suffocate client, then elbowing pillow on top of client’s face. Ex then headbutted client above eye and punched client twice in back of head.

This happened late one evening, and FRS received call early next morning about incident. FRS picked up client at school and took client to hospital for over 7 hours of testing. FRS spent every second with client. After this, FRS transported client to her safe haven. FRS spent over 8 hours with client that day helping client cope and manage her feelings and frustrations with situation. Client later filed for a PFA against ex, a process in which FRS was again beside client every step of the way.

Client seemed to be doing very well again. Client was scheduled for the SAT’s, and was to begin job at Frank’s Theatre in late November. However, then until it was brought to FRS attention that client had failed a urinalysis exam for pills. Client had been fighting drug abuse for quite some time now. FRS, along with probation officer of client and client’s mother expressed to client that she should think about rehab to help fight drug abuse. Client voluntarily entered rehab at Pyramid in Philadelphia in early November. FRS is extremely proud that client would take matters into own hands to make changes. Client wrote to FRS a week after enrolling in rehab. Client thanks FRS for all the help he had given, and also updated FRS on client’s process at rehab.

Upon client’s exit from rehab, client’s job at the movie theatre still awaits and the possability of college is not out of question yet.

We’re very appreciative of the tireless dedication and commitment shown by our York County Family Resource Specialist Nick Brady. His clients are fortunate to have him in their corner.

We will work with Alameda County Juvenile Probation Department and implement a full continuum of care including our JustCare^® Program (Institutional Case Management & Community Continuing Care) and our VIP^® program intensively targeting chronic probation violators.  Services will begin the week of December 12, 2011.  Our Executive Director is Donald DeVore, former Secretary of Juvenile Services for the State of Maryland and we have assembled an expert and dedicated staff to be able to hit the ground running.

We are appreciative of the support and consideration from Chief Probation Officer David Muhammad and his Chief of Staff Brian Richart throughout the contract process.  We have been welcomed by the Probation Department staff who are closely teaming with us to make sure our programs target their needs.

We are excited about extending our services to the West Coast and already have had inquiries from other California Counties.   As we continue to grow across the country, our commitment to do “whatever it takes” to achieve positive outcomes remains unwavering.

We are very appreciative to “Adam” for acknowledging the positive difference that Compass Academy has made for him.  His senior thesis follows and we know he has taken the right steps to give himself a good future.  We congratulate him for his hard work and his spirit of giving back.

Out With the Old, In With the New

11-16-11 My name is “Adam” . A couple years back I was in high school. It was fun and nice being there but I had some problems. The problems I always had in school were I didn’t like people looking at me or touching me so I would either yell or hit that person. People that stared at me I wouldn’t listen to, I wouldn’t even listen to my mother. I was a typical teenager not listening; I acted like I knew everything in the world, then one day I said to myself ‘I can’t keep living life this way.’ So I said, ‘either I’m going to end up without a job, on the streets, or in jail because of all the stupid decisions I made while I was a teenager.’

So I started to listen to my mother’s directions, but since I made mistakes in Shamokin, I got sent to a little place up in Mount Carmel that was called YSA. Every day I was there made me think, hey I’m not learning a single bit of academics in this program, I’ve been here for three and a half years, and out of the whole time I’ve been here I still didn’t learn anything. It made me upset because I wanted to learn but I didn’t learn anything. I mean basically school was like you were at your own house watching television all day, or like you were in town hanging out with friends all day just walking around and chilling. All the teachers and principals that were here last year let every single one of these students do whatever they felt like doing. They would let the kids walk out of school every single day and none of them ever got in a single ounce of trouble for their actions. Also they let the students go to the store or let them go into the bathroom which allowed them to smoke cigarettes. These teachers pretty much set no examples or role models for these students. They would tell most of the students to drop out for no reason at all, so there was no one there to push us and to keep us going every day.

So when YSA turned into the Compass Academy it felt like to me, ‘oh great this is going to be exactly the same like the last three and a half years,’ I just basically gave up like this is my senior year, I’m not going to learn anything and going to be living in my mother’s and step father’s house till I die there. Then Mr. Silvetti, Ms. Semmel, Mrs. Flowers and Mr. Kitchen were basically telling me, hey you kids deserve teachers, and people that want to see you kids go somewhere in life. Since I’ve been here at the Compass Academy they got me into Shiccitanos, which is Ace Hardware, and I like it because I’m learning new things every single day. Then basically I said to myself, ‘see there are people and teachers that are out there that care and that they’re not going to give up on us.’  Since each kid in this school is in a new and healthier environment, I wanted to paint over the patches that were in the walls. Because of the teachers that were here last year, they had thrown kids through the walls for absolutely not a single reason at all. Through the hallways there were scuffs on the walls from people putting their feet on the walls and from kids leaning on them. So when I painted over the old YSA marks and scars, plus also the bad memories that where here and I made Compass Academy look like a better place to come to each and every day. Now we have a clean hallway, and clean classrooms to come to because there are no more negative memories. I am glad for myself because I’m learning and having people to care for us students. Instead of the awesome teachers doing something for me I did something for them. I painted over the old place and made it new and I did it for everyone. So when someone steps in these doors with a new individual they won’t think this place is all beat up. I just want to say thanks for every teacher at Compass Academy for being here and I’m very thankful for you teachers for finally teaching me something. I’ll tell you now that you guys made me happy, because if this place was the same as last year I was going to seriously drop out.  I want to thank Mr.Silvetti, Ms.Semmel, Mrs.Flowers and Mr. Kitchen very much for answering my prayers for you guys rescuing this place. Now I can learn and have a better shot at a decent life and that I’m going to go somewhere in life and for a great last year and pushing me to graduate.

Dave – thought I would forward this on to you as you don’t always hear the good stuff!  Plus, I just read your email to me, so you were on my mind.

Sue A. Cohick  MSW LSW
Administrator
Dauphin County Social Services for Children & Youth

I want you to know that JW has done an amazing job since Friday to prevent us from placing 7 kids in two different families!

Emily and their new worker, Kathleen, spent 6 hours with a family on Friday to figure out where a family could stay since they were being kicked out of the shelter.  A caseworker would have not had 6 hours to devote to mom and would have easily accepted NO RESOURCES to mean new resources.  Actually, a group of us met about this family around 1:15 and agreed it was enough if we had to place them but they didn’t give up.

Yesterday, a single mother with 4 children got kicked out of her mom’s house.  Sharrod went to the home where he picked up mom, the 3 kids and all of their worldly possessions and was with them until about 4pm when we put them up in a hotel.  He picked them up bright and early today to get the oldest to school and mom to the Help Office and is helping her get diapers and other supplies so they can move in to the Shalom House around 4pm.  Again, we don’t have 15 hours to spend with a family in 2 days!!!!!

Wanted to make sure you both heard some good news at the end of the day.  Don’t know what we did without them.

Becca Tweet, MSW
Protective Supervisor
Dauphin County Children and Youth

We are honored to have been chosen to implement this important service and look forward to a strong and effective partnership with Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.