The Girls Center for Intensive Residential Treatment in Memphis is just one Youth Villages location benefiting from the $7.4 million grant from Microsoft.

Microsoft has awarded a grant of more than $7.4 million in software and technology to Youth Villages, one of the nation’s largest providers of help to children with emotional and behavioral problems and their families.

The grant is part of Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative, which is designed to create opportunities for 300 million youth around the world. It will provide software and support on Youth Villages’ residential campuses, supply technology for young adults being helped through its transitional living program and improve the organization’s internal and external communications systems.

“Microsoft is one of our most important partners,” said Patrick Lawler, Youth Villages CEO. “Since 1997, their generosity has allowed us to provide the best computer technology to our kids. This grant means Microsoft’s total support of Youth Villages’ children comes to nearly $13 million, which has helped our youth learn computer skills and allowed us to support our staff with modern clinical records and office technology.”

Microsoft YouthSpark is a global initiative committed to create opportunities for 300 million youth in more than 100 countries over the next three years.

This companywide initiative includes company programs that empower youth to imagine and realize their full potential by connecting them with greater opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship.

The grant allows children receiving help at schools on Youth Villages’ residential campuses to use the latest Microsoft software and curriculum to improve their computer literacy and learn the fundamentals of word processing, spreadsheets, the Internet and presentations. Youth Villages’ residential campuses are located in Memphis and Linden, Tenn., Atlanta, Boston and Portland, Ore.

Young adults in the Youth Villages transitional living program in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi and North Carolina use computers powered by Microsoft to study for their GED certificates, apply for colleges, prepare resumes and search for and apply for their first jobs.

“Microsoft’s continued support allows us to do our best work for children and families,” said Anne Coggin, director of education at Youth Villages. “For our kids, the computer lab is a wonder, offering diverse learning opportunities and a ticket to becoming technologically literate, something that will be crucial for their success as adults.”

The grant also provides the technology to enhance internal and external communications systems for more than 2,700 Youth Villages staff members who perform critical functions each day, such as accessing medical records, documenting treatment plans and reporting to parents and referral partners. Youth Villages’ counselors, teachers and staff will help more than 20,000 children and families this year from 67 offices throughout the country.

“Through YouthSpark, we’ve made a commitment to provide opportunities for youth to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace,” said Marietta Davis, general manager of Microsoft’s Greater Southeast District. “The Youth Villages grant will give at-risk youth the technology and training critical to success in the technology economy. I’ve been so impressed with the organization that I joined its national board of directors last year.”

Patrick W. Lawler, Youth Villages CEO

Committed families – biological or adoptive – are often the only thing that can help heal children who have experienced repeated rejection, trauma and pain. Their unconditional love can change a child’s life forever. I have seen it happen over and over with children whose emotional and behavioral troubles improve with treatment but whose lives truly change only through the gift of family.

They are children like Nathan, who at the age of 9 caught up with me on a visit to one of our Memphis, Tenn., residential campuses. Nathan had a single question for me: “Will you find me a family? I need a  mom and dad.” The children we help are rarely that open about what they wish for, but I know Nathan speaks for virtually all of the children in this world who are waiting to be adopted.

Taking away the chance of adoption by American families condemns thousands of Russian orphans to lives in orphanages, without the hope of family. To top it off, Putin also is denying the adoption finalization of nearly 50 children who are already in the process of adoption now.  I cannot imagine the heartbreak these children and families are going through. To these children, stopping their adoptions means another abandonment, more broken promises and deeper psychological wounds. For their potential parents, their hopes and dreams of family are shattered.

Playing politics with the lives of orphaned children and parents hoping to start or grow their families is cold and misguided. Putin says he wants Russian families to step up and adopt more orphans. And they should! This is so important, because even with international adoptions many Russian children won’t find homes. There simply haven’t been enough domestic adoptions in Russia in the past to give hope for these children. Sadly, the situation is somewhat similar in the United States.

There are thousands of children like Nathan waiting to be adopted right now right here in America’s child welfare systems.  They are boys and girls of all ethnicities, backgrounds and ages. Some of them are given up at birth. Others, like Nathan, come into foster care after years of abuse or neglect, the death of a loved one who cared for them, a parent’s mental health problems, drug abuse or other family problems. Some come in sibling groups, others on their own. All of them want exactly what Nathan wanted: to have the chance to grow up with a loving family.

In the United States, adoption from foster care is mostly free, with many children also qualifying for ongoing subsidies to help adoptive parents care for the child financially.

The younger children are, the better their chance of being adopted quickly – here and in foreign countries. But, we’re also finding that teenagers and older children can have their dream of a permanent family come true.  We have children adopted just days before their 18^th birthday. After all, the need for family doesn’t end at some arbitrary age. Young people need someone to walk them down the aisle, come home to every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and be grandparents to their children later on. Family ties should last forever.

Having a loving family like Nathan does today is so powerful. At Youth Villages, we’ve helped more than 5,000 young people who have aged out of foster care without family through our transitional living program. We know that just having family support makes it more likely that Nathan will grow up to be a successful, independent adult. Young people who don’t have that need intensive help after age 18.

I believe there are few things more important than helping give children in Russia, the United States and anywhere else the chance to grow up in a loving family. No child of any country deserves to ever be used as a pawn in international politics and have their chance for family, for childhood and adult happiness denied.

Patrick Lawler is CEO of Youth Villages, a national child services nonprofit that helps emotionally and behaviorally troubled children and their families through its Evidentiary Family Restoration™ approach.

Happy Holidays from Youth Villages! Thank you for supporting our work as The Force for Families.

Desmond, 10
Mississippi

Desmond was their last foster child. He told Mary one day that he wanted a dad and a home, and for Mary and Andrew, Desmond closes part of a chapter in a lifetime spent providing a safe home for children.

As foster parents, they believe being committed to the children is what is most important. With Desmond, that commitment took another step in September when they finalized his adoption.

“I want to go to college with my family’s help.” – Desmond

“Our goal for Desmond is to finish high school and college and work in whatever field he chooses.” – Mary, Desmond’s mom

“Since being in a stable foster home, Desmond’s finally learning how to accept the love, attention and support that the foster parents are giving him. Desmond finally got the permanency that he has been searching for. Now that the adoption is final, he feels more at peace and does not have the fear of being moved from the home.” – Jaqueline Randle, Youth Villages counselor

Desmond is one of several children featured in the Youth Villages 2011 Program Report. Learn how Youth Villages helps children like Desmond and hundreds of others like him every year through our foster care and adoption programs.

This Mother’s Day, I have a lot to be thankful for. It’s the first Mother’s Day that I am sober and truly enjoying being a mom. But it was a long, hard road to get here.

Life has always been kind of hard for me. Once I became a mom, it got even harder. Taking pills helped. At first, it just helped take the edge off. Over the years, pills became my way of handling everything.

My boyfriend was drinking heavily. At some point, my teenage daughter had enough. Looking for help for our family, she called the Department of Children and Youth Services. They took my daughter and her sister away.

Losing my kids was the hardest. I felt I had failed as a mother and that I failed myself. Worst of all, I had failed my kids.

Still, I couldn’t quit – even after I overdosed. Every day was a struggle.

When I gave birth to my baby, my sixth child, I still couldn’t kick the habit. Then my boyfriend went to jail. I felt like I had nothing more to live for. There was only one thing that could help me, even if it killed me: more pills.

Three months into my new baby’s life, I overdosed again. I shouldn’t be here today, but a wonderful EMT brought me back and saved my life.

The state took my baby and sent me to rehab. I had reached an absolute low point, but my brush with death changed something in me. I found a will to live again and to change my life. I knew I needed help, and I wanted that help. I wanted to get my life on track.

I made a promise to myself I would never use again. I committed to treatment and completed it. It felt great being sober.

Four months into my sobriety, the state gave me my kids back. It was the most wonderful feeling to have them back. But I was also terrified. I had never been a sober mother.

That’s why I asked the state for extra help. They sent me an angel to help me and my family.

Becky, a Youth Villages family intervention specialist, came to my home three times a week for intensive family therapy. She asked me what my goals were for me and my family, and then we got to work. I was ready and excited. This was my chance to become the mom I wanted to be.

Youth Villages’ intensive in-home program helped me learn new parenting skills. We made behavior contracts with my kids and set clear expectations for behaviors, along with rewards and consequences all the kids agreed to.

The behavior contracts are taped to our refrigerator, so everyone always knows what’s expected.

The hardest thing was working on communication skills. I was never able to communicate with my kids the way I knew we should.

My teenage daughter and I used to get into arguments that ended in screaming matches and drained our energy. Becky taught us to avoid pushing each other’s buttons and to talk to each other calmly.

Learning to communicate with each other made the biggest difference for me and my teen daughter. We can talk to each other now when something is bothering us, and we have gained each other’s respect and trust. I get all choked up thinking about it.

But the greatest compliment is when I hear my daughter brag about me as a parent. It’s the ultimate reward. Things are so different now. So good. We’re no longer stressed out being a family.

It feels awesome to have my family back, and I am so thankful I can be the mother my children need and deserve.

God kept me alive to be there for my kids but also to share my story with other moms and dads who are struggling with addiction, feelings of hopelessness and failure. There is hope. I’m living proof that parents can make changes and get their lives on track when they get the help they truly need. You can too.

This Mother’s Day I want to express my gratitude to all those people who helped me and my family make it. You gave us the greatest gift. Thank you!

Captain Planet Foundation and Youth Villages recently teamed up to help some of the Mississippi families in our programs learn the basics of organic gardening along with healthy eating.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Captain Planet Foundation, Youth Villages staff and families were able to join Pascagoula High School students and faculty to celebrate Gardens in the Gulf Day, learn the science of organic gardening and construct a garden in the school’s own courtyard. Several Youth Villages families attended the event to learn organic gardening skills and take the newly acquired skills back to their own yards where they built organic gardens with the help of materials provided by the Planet Foundation grant.

Tending of the gardens can also be therapeutic for the families and youths, leading to better communications and problem solving skills. The grant has already helped enhance an existing organic vegetable, herb and flower garden at the Youth Villages-Inner Harbour campus in Douglasville, Ga.

Thanks to the fantastic efforts from supporters like you, Youth Villages finished in first place in all five of our eligible states in Starbucks’ Vote. Give. Grow. program! As a result of those first-place finishes in Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee, the Starbucks Foundation will give a total of $145,000 to Youth Villages.

Starbucks is donating a total of $4 million to selected nonprofits around the country. We were honored just to be selected for this program and ecstatic to have achieved our goal of the maximum amount possible for us to receive.



Thank you so much for your continued support of our work with children and families. With your help, we are transforming kids’ lives and strengthening families whose stories seemed hopeless. 



Once again, you’ve stepped up to help Youth Villages become the Force for Families.


Parents generally teach their children about “stranger danger” from an early age on, instilling in them not to talk to, walk with or take candy from strangers. But statistics show danger often lurks closer to home than anyone would like to imagine. According to numbers provided by the National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, the vast majority of children who are sexually abused are abused by someone they know – most often a family member, an adult the family trusts or, in some instances, another child.

As a parent you can help protect your child from sexual abuse by talking to your child about it, starting at a young age.


“It’s essential that parents have a conversation with their children about sexual abuse,” said Kay Knaff, clinical services program manager for Youth Villages, a private nonprofit organization that helps children with emotional, behavioral and mental health issues, as well as children who have been abused or neglected. “This may seem hard to do, but it’s the best way to protect your child. It’s best to start talking to your children about child abuse as early as age 3 or 4.”

Parents should talk to their children about inappropriate touching and other forms of child abuse, and make sure their children know what behavior is right and what is wrong. In addition, Knaff said parents should teach children to say “no” to their abuser if they can, try to get away from the abuser and/or call for help so other people become aware of the situation.

“Child abuse data show that the majority of children keep abuse a secret,” Knaff said. “That means it is even more important that parents not only talk to their children about what child abuse is and emphasize that it is never the child’s fault. Abuse is always wrong, and children should report it to a trusted adult. Parents need to keep the lines of communication open and seek out their children whenever they feel like something is going on with their child or their child is behaving differently in some way from usual.”


To encourage children to report any abuse, parents should let the child know about two or three people designated as safe adults the child can talk to if he or she suffers abuse or feels unsafe. 


“Children need to know who they can talk to,” Knaff said. “They also need to be encouraged to tell what happened to them to more than one person and keep telling until someone believes them and does something about it.”

Knaff also recommends parents specifically teach their children to report any touching that feels uncomfortable or wrong, even if it is by a family member, teacher, coach, church official, youth group leader or another child.

How to talk to your child about sexual abuse:


• Tell your child about good touch – a hug or a pat on the back – and bad touch – when someone is touching your private areas.

• Tell your child nobody – no family member, teacher, other child or adult – is allowed to touch him or her in the areas covered by a bathing suit because these are private areas. Exceptions are a parent bathing a young child or helping the child with using the bathroom, as well as a doctor or nurse when examining the child at a doctor’s office or healthcare facility.

• Tell your child he or she has permission to tell any adult who touches them in their private areas, “No!”
• Tell your child that if anyone ever touches him or her in any way in their private areas, he or she 
should tell mom, dad and or grandma/grandpa or another trusted person about it immediately.

Other forms of child sexual abuse are exposure to sexual acts or sexually explicit materials not intended for minors, as well as indecent exposure. Children should be encouraged to talk to the designated safe adults any time they feel unsafe.



Get help immediately

If you suspect your child has been abused, act immediately. Either call your local police department, your local rape crisis center, Child Protective Services or the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453), then push 1 to talk to a hotline counselor.

“The best thing you can do for a child who has been abused is to get the child professional help right away,” Knaff said.

Watch this video to learn how you can help Youth Villages get a donation of up to $145,000 from Starbucks in April.

Youth Villages has been invited to participate in the Starbucks Community Card: Vote.Give.Grow. program in recognition of our effectiveness in helping families live successfully.

Based on the number of votes we receive, Starbucks will donate up to $145,000 to our programs!

Our reputation got us this far, now we need your help.

Here’s how it works in a nutshell:

1. If you already have a Starbucks account with a registered card, skip to Step 4.
2. Get a Starbucks card. Any type of Starbucks card will work. Use a gift card you’ve received or pick up a card at a Starbucks or other stores where gift cards are sold.
3. Go to Starbucks.com, create a free account and register your card.
4. Go to VoteGiveGrow.com and sign in using your Starbucks.com account information.
5. Vote for Youth Villages and share that vote on Facebook and Twitter!

FAQs

Does this cost anything?

If you already have a registered card, then participating in this contest should not cost you any additional money. If you do pick up a card at a retail location or purchase a code online, you will have to load a minimum of $5 on the card in order to register it.

Is a “Community Card” different from a “Gift Card”?

Any activated Starbucks card will do. You make it a Community Card by signing in at http://www.votegivegrow.com.

I don’t see Youth Villages as a voting choice!

If you live in Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon or Tennessee, Youth Villages will be one of four voting choices displayed automatically. If you live in another state, use the search box to find Youth Villages in another state and vote there.

I don’t live in Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon or Tennessee. What state should I vote for?

Feel free to vote for us any of those five states. You will need to click the “Change region” link to do so. You’ll also need to provide a ZIP code. Here are the ZIP codes to vote in a state other than your own: Arkansas (72401), North Carolina (28217), New Hampshire (03104), Oregon (97034) and Tennessee (38133).

Why are we a choice in only those five states?

Starbucks started out with 1,700 nominated non-profits. Based on input from their employees in each state, the number was narrowed down to 350 and 124 were chosen as finalists. Youth Villages finished as finalists in those five states.

How many times can I vote?

You’ll be able to vote once each week during April.

How does Youth Villages get the full amount of $145,000?

The voting is based on states and each of the four selected non-profits in that state will win a share of the total prize based on its share of votes in that state. We were selected to compete in five states: Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee. First-place finishes in all five would equal a $145,000 donation. Obviously, that’s our goal but it’s not a winner-take-all situation. Each vote really counts so let’s strive to do the best we can in each state.

I lost my Starbucks password.

This program belongs to Starbucks. If you’ve lost your Starbucks information, you’ll need to work through that site’s password retrieval system.

Barbara Grunow is director of adoption for Youth Villages. She has more than 30 years of experience in helping parents through the foster/adoption process. She and her husband Bob are the parents of two sons through adoption.

Last month, when The Biggest Loser’s Jillian Michaels announced that she’s considering adopting a child from foster care, the fitness entrepreneur joined a growing number of Americans who are re-thinking domestic adoption and want to know more about adopting a child from the foster care system.

This month is National Adoption Month and no matter how people choose to adopt, they should be applauded for generously giving a child what they need more than anything else: a family for always.

In today’s economy, adopting a child from foster care may be the best alternative for many families. It is virtually cost-free. Most states offer adoptive parents continuing monthly payments to parents to help defray the cost of bringing a child into the home. State Medicaid plans generally continue to cover the child’s medical care as well.

Here are five tips to successfully foster/adopting an American child in need.

1. Re-focus your parental imagination.

When we think of parenting, sometimes we imagine the “perfect” child. As most parents will tell you, those children really don’t exist. Every child is a challenge in his or her own way, and even infants born to healthy parents come with no guarantees. Infants and young children available for foster/adoption often are medically fragile. They may have been born premature or with drug exposure. The children in the foster care system who most desperately need parents are older: 12 to 17. Some have suffered physical or sexual abuse; most have been neglected or experienced trauma that leads to emotional and behavioral problems. Many are members of sibling groups that should be adopted together or are older teens.

Imagine sharing the simple pleasures of family with a child who never would have experienced family game night or a real home-baked birthday cake without you. The rewards of helping a child overcome challenges and grow up to reach his or her full potential are incredible.

2. Be prepared to foster first.

Most of the children who are adopted from the child welfare system are adopted by their foster parents. Foster parents gain a wealth of experience and learn to support children as they overcome difficult personal or family issues. You may want to foster several children before deciding that adoption is the right thing for your family. Many times at Youth Villages, we find that new foster parents think that young children will fit into their family. But, when they meet a teenager who needs help – and know that they are perfectly capable of providing that help – they open their hearts.

3. Consider the impact on your children and extended family.

The potential of adding a new child to the family through foster or adoption is exciting for everyone. Make sure you’ve thoroughly discussed foster/adoption with your child or children and are open and honest with them about your foster/adoptive child’s needs. Include extended family in your discussions. The support and encouragement from grandparents and relatives will be important.

4. Get ready for some tests.

All of our children test us in many different ways in different stages of their lives, but foster/adopted children are particularly hard graders. In many cases, they’ve been let down and disappointed by adults time and time again.

Often you’ll see their most challenging behavior just before an adoption is final. They are making sure that you’ll stick with them.

After the adoption, when the child begins to feel the safety and security that comes with a permanent home, we find that many emotional and behavioral problems melt away. Children are incredibly resilient and able to start anew when given that chance.

5. Take advantage of available support.

There are many agencies in our community that offer foster/adoption services. Ask for parent references and their adoption success rate. Go with the group that makes you feel most comfortable, has the best track record and offers the most support.

Across the country, there are 423,000 children in foster care; so many need adoptive homes. At Youth Villages, we have nearly 100 children eligible for adoption now. If you’ve ever considered becoming a foster or adoptive parent, now is a great time to act. Adopting through foster care is easier than you think. Please contact Youth Villages, another agency, or your state’s children’s services to get started.

For more information on how you can become a foster or adoptive parent, go to www.youthvillages.org.