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In This Issue
Mental Health Advocates 'Say It Out Loud' Across Illinois
When Letechia Williams’ teenaged daughter Jasmine was acting out, she didn’t know where to turn: “I didn’t think I could trust anybody,” she remembers. Many of us have been there, but we don’t always hear how people like Letechia—an SFI Team member—got support and strengthened their families.
That’s why IDHS/Division of Mental Health and the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership started the Say It Out Loud campaign, which kicked off May 1. On the campaign’s Web site, t-shirts, ads, and billboards, people tell their own stories of how they took steps to promote mental health for themselves and people they care about.
“Say it out loud will help remove the stigma that prevents people from either seeking or offering help and support for mental illness which impacts as many as one in five Illinoisans,” said Governor Blagojevich announcing the campaign last week.
As for Letechia’s family—life started improving when Letechia got Jasmine involved in the Sisters In Unity program at Family Matters: “We learned how to speak out in the world and voice our own opinion,” recalls Jasmine, now 18. To hear Letechia and Jasmine and other families share their success stories—and for links to programs and resources that can help parents meet their families’ mental health needs, visit the Say It Out Loud Web site.
New Learning Network Kicks Off With Early Childhood Collaboration
On April 9, SFI partner Kids Hope United launched a new Learning Network—one that brings together early childhood providers and child welfare caseworkers from the very beginning. “Our mission is to protect children and strengthen families—so this work is really who we are as an agency,” says Learning Network coordinator Kareen Nunnally. Kids Hope United is fertile ground for the collaboration, because it is a child welfare agency that also runs early care and education programs. The network is made up of staff from six early care and education programs in Chicago, Elgin, and Waukegan and caseworkers serving those areas.
More than 40 staff from both fields attended a launch at Kids Hope United / Bridgeport Child Development Center to learn how incorporating Strengthening Families will support their work. The group was welcomed by Kids Hope United Executive Director Mark McHugh, and the launch also featured IDCFS Director Erwin McEwen, who presented his vision for SFI and the protective timeline for kids in the system. Participants then planned next steps for the network, which include getting staff trained on the Protective Factors and providing Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafes to foster and birth parents participating in the network’s programs. To learn more about Kids Hope United, click here.
Database Helps Caseworkers Place Kids in Quality Early Care & Education
Since 2007, thanks to IDFCS Procedure 314, child welfare workers have been required to enroll all wards in quality early care and education programs at least part of every day. It’s a great step in strengthening the Protective Factors around young children and their families—but how do child welfare workers find these programs?
The IDCFS Statewide Provider database makes it easy. The new database lists all early care and education programs that are involved in Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Networks and is available to all IDCFS staff and contracted agencies. The database also includes providers of mental health services, medical treatment, and other services—all in the neighborhood of the child and his or her family. Case workers can then make these services part of the child’s safety plan.
“More than 6,000 caseworkers and staff have access to the database, and since it launched on March 17, about 1,100 have taken advantage of it,” reports Dana Weiner, Ph.D. Dana created the database and is overseeing its implementation—she is affiliated with Northwestern University and is Special Assistant to IDCFS Director Erwin McEwen.
If you work at a Strengthening Families early care and education center, you might be getting a call from a member of Dana’s team. Answering their questions will ensure you’re listed accurately so that child welfare staff can send families your way who qualify for your services.
Parents Find Their Voices at Spanish-English Parent Cafés
What would it take to get you to drive in a snowstorm? For about 40 parents in Cicero, it was a bilingual Parent Café in Spanish and English. The January 24th event was the start of a series of “Love Is Not Enough” Parent Cafés that drew upwards of 30 parents each night, including many repeat attendees, couples, and fathers.
“I found my voice there,” said one participant, who had spoken in a large group for the first time at the café. Other parents said they appreciated:
- “Learning that I am not alone with my problems”
- Sharing “how our children will have a better quality of life”
- “Being able to trust other people”
- Discussing “questions that made me think”
The cafés were an activity of the Cook County AOK Network with collaboration from The Children's Center of Cicero / Berwyn (which provided bilingual Parent Hosts and paid for food), Nuestra Familia and St. Francis of Rome Church (which hosted the cafés and provided child care), and local college students (who staffed the child care activities). Facilitator Celina Orozco of the AOK Network created a respectful, personal environment in which parents could reflect, listen, and connect.
“Parents had a powerful experience reflecting on how they had been parented, and how they wanted to try a new way,” recalls John Vizuete, a Parent Café Host who is a staff member at Family Focus, Inc. “Many parents talked about how their own parents had considered them weak if they needed help or affection. Now, they’re building their children’s self-esteem by telling them how much they care about them.”
“When offered in trusted community settings, in the language(s) of the families, the cafés help parents find their voices and connect with others who share similar hopes and face similar challenges.” says Lina Cramer of Illinois Family Partnership Network, which developed the Parent Cafés as an SFI partner.
To find out about Parent Cafés happening across Illinois, click here.
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