To Whom it may concern,

In the six years since our son’s adoption we have worked with many people to help him.

JusticeWorks Family Resource Specialist Steve Pearson has been a shining star since the moment he walked into our home.

From the start he has listened to our story and was eager to work with Joey.

He wasn’t in our home very long on the first visit and Joey walked into the kitchen with a lot of attitude. Steve volunteered to help him with a chore that needed done.

That was the start of an impressive relationship. We were stunned that Joey (who is 15) took to Steve that fast. It was amazing. Joey says that he likes that he can relate to Steve.

Steve is always courteous, caring and kind. He listens very attentively and is genuinely interested in Joey’s care.

When Joey’s situation changed, Steve was willing to “stick with him” and keep the curriculum going while we were getting Joey situated in a therapeutic foster home and in a new school.

Every step of the way has been positive with Steve. He always have the “can do” attitude and he follows thru on things.

I wish more people has his attitude and work ethic.  He is extraordinary. I have dealt with dozens of people in the last six years and he is the cream of the crop.

Right now he is saving my sanity. We are dealing with an organization who – to put it nicely – is testing my patience.

It is awesome to deal with some who is passionate about their job and can relate to our son.

Sincerely,

We salute them for this meaningful achievement and for exemplifying JusticeWorks’ whatever it takes philosophy.  Congratulations!

Hello Dan,

I hope you are doing well.

I just received the testimony and notes from PCYA regarding the FGDM presentation in Harrisburg (House C&Y Committee) that Amy Carr was involved in. I just wanted to extend my congratulations to you and Amy. Great job! I also want you to know that Renee’ is most appreciated by us here in Lehigh – she has done a great deal of work putting the outcomes data together for our shared FGDM efforts and it is very fine work.

I appreciate the partnership and am honored to have JW here in Lehigh!

Have a good day!

Pam

We appreciate CYS director Pam Buehrle for taking the time to recognize our fantastic staff, Amy Carr and Renee Kresge. Lehigh was our first CYS project and Pam has been an exemplary leader and partner committed to achieving excellence.

Facilitator- “How is your relationship with your provider Sean?”

Mom- “He is the coolest worker I have ever known, he doesn’t judge me,
assume anything negative on me, he makes me feel comfortable, I mean he
would even sits Indian style on the floor with me, which says a lot, him
being comfortable makes me feel comfortable and I work better like that. He
is not uptight and doesn’t use words I don’t know. He makes me feel so
comfortable that he makes me want to be motivated, and when I have a good
relationship with someone I want to be motivated. I even try avoiding him
sometimes and I can’t duck him for nothing, he will be outside waiting
because he knows I am inside, and…I like that because I know he is not
giving up on me.”

I thought this would be a reminder of why we do what we do. We don’t realize
how much we affect someone until moments like these. All though there are
those clients we stress over so much it’s the little successes like these
that remind us the power of empowering our clients..

Have a Happy Friday!!!!
Thank You,
Minerva F. Ruiz, MSW  :)

We thank Berks County Caseworker Ruiz for taking the time to write and
remind us of what’s really important.  And, our appreciation goes to our
Family Resource Specialist Sean Haggerty.   We think he’s pretty cool, too!

Hi Marc,

I wanted to email you this morning to let you know about some outstanding work that Frank Maurer has done for one of my clients.  I’m supervising a juvenile named Bobby Jones.   Frank took over the case a few months ago.

Since Frank has been working with Bobby, he has gone above and beyond what’s expected of him.  Bobby’s mother is very difficult to engage and terribly unreliable.  Frank went out of his way on several occasions to make sure that Bobby’s mother was involved in his probation plan and taking care of her obligations.

Frank also worked very diligently with Bobby in helping him secure his birth certificate and social security card, so he could begin to search for employment.  Frank also woke Bobby out of bed several times to get him to school when he was attending and also made sure that he got to his appointments with me, which he otherwise would have missed and been violated for, had it not been for Frank.

In times where we often receive lackluster services from providers, it’s so refreshing to see someone like Frank tackle his job with such tenacity; he truly is an asset to your agency.

Please recognize Frank for a job well done and let him know that I look forward to working with him again in the future.

Thanks,

Travis Johnson
Berks County School-Based Juvenile Probation Officer

We just learned that Bobby has paid off his restitution and has been released from court supervision.  We thank Frank Maurer, our dedicated Family Resource Specialist, for going above and beyond (in other words: JusticeWorks’ normal!).  And, thank you Probation Officer Travis Johnson for taking the time to point out something going right!

The GEM program consists of a combination of group and individual counseling.  It will utilize Evidence Based Programming along with specialized trauma related services.

We are proud that the selection committee unanimously chose JusticeWorks to implement this important service.  We look forward to a continued partnership with York County Juvenile Probation Department.  We are planning to begin services in March, 2012.

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.