Maria speaks with Youth Villages Family Counselor Leroy Payton. She’s doing well in school and at home after learning better ways to communicate with her mother and sisters.

Maria’s arguments with her mother were a daily occurrence. They escalated, sometimes becoming nearly physical. It wasn’t a good situation for Maria, 17, let alone her mother and four siblings.

“It was chaotic,” Pamela, Maria’s mother, said. “She would derail any attempts to make rules. Maria would disobey me and do things I told her not to do.”

Maria was cramped in a trailer home with her family, and had to take on a parenting role when Pamela began working more.

“Maria was troubled,” Youth Villages Multisystemic Therapy Counselor Leroy Payton said. “She would leave the home and go run around with a group of girls that weren’t a positive influence. She was getting kicked out of school two to three times per month.”

It was affecting the home. The younger children began imitating the behavior, arguing, fussing and not following home rules.

Maria was referred to Youth Villages’ MST in-home program.

“I was looking after the little kids a lot and always fussing,” Maria said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect with Leroy.”

First, they worked to establish what they wanted to be different in the home.

“Mom wasn’t sure what to do at first,” Leroy said. “But she did whatever it took, taking my suggestions and implementing them right away. Maria saw that and it made a big difference in her behavior.”

In a small home with four girls, disagreements can quickly get out of hand. Leroy showed the family how to communicate and treat one another so situations wouldn’t escalate to shouting matches. Also, Maria needed privacy so she could do her schoolwork.

“Space was a big issue,” Leroy said. “But mom was a champ, and gave Maria time to herself when she came home from school.”

Maria learned better ways to communicate and strategies to cope with frustrating situations. Leroy made sure every family member had an opportunity to speak without being interrupted. He stayed calm during the family sessions, which kept the family at ease.

“We worked on what I say and how I say it, and what I can do to stay calm,” Maria said. “Most importantly, we worked on doing better.”

They are a loving family, and have a deep affection for one another. Leroy said the family is like the Waltons when they aren’t arguing. Maria says school is fun again, and she has friends who help her stay on track. After high school, she wants to go to culinary school.

“Maria’s polite and fun to be around,” Leroy said. “She’s come a long way.”

Best of all, Maria likes to be at home.

Eric with grandparents Pam and Peter

Pam’s seen quite a bit. So has her grandson, Eric.

Just 12 years old, Eric is on his way toward success. Part of this success can be attributed to changes in the home. Another part of his success can be attributed to Youth Villages Family Counselor Cindy Swartz, who worked with the family.

Eric’s grandparents, Pam and Peter, adopted many children over the years, and are now raising some of their children’s children.

“We always wanted to adopt,” Pam said. “I had an aunt who adopted children and they were my cousins.”

Eric’s early years were very unsettled, and it resulted in behavior issues. When he came to Pam and Peter’s home, his older siblings quietly gave him the message that they didn’t want him there.

“Eric wanted to be liked,” Pam said.

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) has been demonstrated to be successful in helping young people ages 12 to 17 who display serious antisocial behaviors and are at risk of placement out of the home due to their behaviors.

One of the younger children in the home referred to Cindy as “our Cindy,” as she visited the home three times a week, sometimes more. Pam said it helped having Cindy to speak with concerning certain issues.

“It made a huge difference to have her suggest solutions and talk through things,” Pam said.

Eric felt left out when he was younger, and he needed help dealing with that. But after working with Cindy, the tension in the home eased. Eric began pursuing positive interests – he enjoys drawing and reading. Pam and Peter make more time for him, and his school has also made a commitment to helping out.

“It’s nice for them to be able to point out Eric’s positive behavior rather than the negative,” Cindy said. “Eric is very bright and has a lot of potential.”

“We caught him – MST caught him before he went off the cliff,” Pam said. “Before, our concern was on what he was doing that wasn’t OK. Now, our focus is on what he does right. It’s a much better place to be.”

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.

Learn more about the success of the TL program across multiple states and communities in the recently published Transitional Living 10-year Report.

Budget cuts and increased competition for funds have made it challenging to annually serve 36 youth across the Greensboro area. Fortunately, Youth Villages’ positive and lasting results earned the attention and subsequent generosity of several North Carolina foundations.

Thanks to the following foundations for their generous support of the Transitional Living program in the Greensboro area:

• Bank of America Charitable Foundation
• The Cemala Foundation
• Richard W. Jennings Foundation
• Nancye F. Markle Charitable Trust
• Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina
• Hillsdale Fund

Their combined support has allowed Youth Villages to continue serving Greensboro youth as they make a successful transition from foster care to adulthood.

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

While former foster children nationally are more likely to experience homelessness, unemployment and incarceration, a report released today shows that young people in some states are achieving higher rates of success through a program that may save taxpayers more than $130 million in long-term costs.

The report gives 10 years of data on the Youth Villages transitional living program, which has helped more than 5,000 former foster children in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee since 2000. The program is most often funded through public/private partnerships between Youth Villages’ donors and state child welfare agencies. In Tennessee, the program is also part of a randomized rigorous evaluation that may bolster today’s report and lead to evidence-based solutions for helping former foster children across the country.

The report details the outcomes of more than 5,000 young people who have participated in the program since 2000. Findings include:

• 84 percent of the young people who completed the program are successfully living independently or with family two years later.
• 77 percent report no involvement with the law two years later.
• 83 percent are in school, have graduated or are employed two years after completing the Youth Villages program.

“The TL program is a result of innovative financial partnerships,” said Patrick W. Lawler, Youth Villages’ chief executive officer. Since 1999, Youth Villages has invested $22.4 million in the program, including $6.5 million from its own employees giving through payroll deductions. In his lifetime, Memphis philanthropist Clarence Day contributed $7.5 million to help former foster children find success as adults. After his death, The Day Foundation gave a $42 million challenge grant to continue the program and support Youth Villages’ overall growth plans. The state of Tennessee has contributed $9 million toward the program over the past three years, and private donations are matched by the state in Massachusetts.

Using conservative cost figures for incarceration and probation services, Youth Villages estimates that states save $2.6 million for every 100 young adults who complete its transitional living program successfully. By cutting the national average for incarceration rates of former foster youth in half, savings add up to $130 million for program participants who achieved long-term success.

Angelica, above, is just one successful young adult for whom TL has made a huge difference. You can read her story, along with many other TL stories, on this blog.

Mark Courtney, senior researcher at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, is leading the study of the TL program conducted by MDRC, a national social service research group. The study is measuring the program’s effectiveness as compared to usual services in the community. Courtney is the principal investigator for the Midwest Evaluation of Former Foster Youth, the country’s most significant evaluation of youth who have aged out of foster care.

“The study of the Youth Villages transitional living program is one of the largest experimental evaluations ever conducted in the child welfare services field and the largest by far of a program focused on improving the transition to adulthood for foster youth,” Courtney said. “It will provide invaluable evidence to the field regarding ‘what works’ for foster youth.”

Researchers from MDRC already have begun one-year follow-ups with participants, with first findings due in 2015. The study is funded by the Edna McConnell Clark and Bill and Melinda Gates foundations.

The Youth Villages program provides specialists who help young people secure housing; pursue educational and employment goals; access health and mental health services; learn such independent living skills as budgeting, cooking, cleaning and shopping; and create and maintain healthy relationships with family and others.

Youth Villages continues to work with Tennessee and other states on public/private partnerships to expand and further support the transitional living program, with a goal of helping more young people who need the services.

Draygon, 14
North Carolina

His family was leery of another counselor coming into their home, but Chantal Stepney, Youth Villages MST therapist, was different. Chantal helped the family through their journey, teaching them about communication, trust, reducing aggravation in the home and coping skills for the family and Draygon.

Now the family supports one another. They communicate. And Draygon is thriving.

“I learned a whole lot and it made my life better. I don’t get into as much trouble and I spend more time with my family.” – Draygon

“Draygon has learned to communicate with others, and Youth Villages taught us a lot about how to deal with everyday life when it comes to the kids. Things are a lot less stressful at home now. We gave Youth Villages a chance and they helped.” – Tawnya, Draygon’s mom

Draygon is one of several children featured in the Youth Villages 2011 Program Report. Learn how Youth Villages helps children like Draygon and hundreds of others like him every year through our Intensive In-Home Treatment programs.

Gem, 18
North Carolina

A few years later, she wanted to go back to school, but wasn’t sure where to start. She began working with Youth Villages Transitional Living Specialist Sarah Rabideau on independent living skills and getting her GED.

Now she’s working and plans to attend college.

“At first, I didn’t think Sarah could help me. But I’m more of an independent person now. I learned how to take the bus because Sarah made me. She helped me try things that I didn’t know I could do. I’m working toward getting my own place and applying for college. After that, I want to go to law school.” – Gem

“Gem has shown that she’s capable of so much. She has a special perspective and a goal to help others. It’s been challenging for her, but Gem’s committed to being successful.” Sarah Rabideau, TL specialist

Gem is one of several young people featured in the Youth Villages 2011 Program Report. Learn how Youth Villages helps young people like Gem and hundreds of others like her every year through the Transitional Living program.