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.

• Tennessee foster kids face new hurdles at 18
• Youth Villages pushes for expansion

The program began through the generosity of Clarence Day, The Day Foundation and other private donors. In Tennessee, the Department of Children’s Services has matched our private donations since 2006, allowing us to help more young people.

We are proposing expanding the program next year to help every eligible young person in the state. We believe our public/private partnership in Tennessee can become a national model and show what we can do in every state we serve. Youth Villages has pledged to donate $12 million over the next four years so we can expand the program to help every foster child in Tennessee who needs these services.

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.

Equine-assisted therapy is known for many benefits, including teaching improved communication and social skills, boundary setting, empathy toward others, self control and confidence, responsibility and accountability, problem solving and cooperation, honesty and trust and overcoming challenges in a non-threatening atmosphere.

This spring, Youth Villages launched a new service activity called equine-assisted therapy for children in the Youth Villages Middle Tennessee foster care and adoption programs.

This is a fully certified and effective therapeutic activity for helping troubled children overcome life’s roadblocks by working with horses. A horse mirrors human behavior and is a very forgiving animal.

Dede Beasley, M.Ed., LPC, licensed therapist, holds a long-time certification in equine-assisted therapy. Sessions take place in her barn, Lacey-Roo Stables, in Ashland City.

During the sessions, instead of riding the horses, the children work with the horses from the ground, grooming, feeding and learning how to handle, lead and interact with the horse appropriately and effectively.

See more photos below.

Youth Villages recognizes the hard work volunteers from Dell and Target performed this summer for the Wallace and Tallwood group homes in Nashville.

Target sent more than 21 volunteers to do an outside project at the Tallwood group home on one of the hottest days in Nashville history with temperatures reaching a high of 108 degrees. The group sealed the front porch and back deck, landscaped the yard and built a garden for the boys to tend to during the summer. Target also donated new lawn furniture for the home.

In May, a group of volunteers from Dell did landscaping and gardening at the Wallace Group Home. The volunteers followed up their hard work with a cookout for the Wallace girls and staff. Dell also invited the girls to the Dell workout facility to learn about exercise and nutrition. The girls attended a kickboxing class, walked on the outside track and learned crosstraining exercises.

At yet another time, Dell organized an employment workshop for the young adults in the transitional living program. The Dell volunteers worked one-on-one with the youth in the TL program on mock interviews, professionalism and job shadowing.

For their work with Youth Villages, Dell ProSupport was honored for its outstanding volunteer work in the corporate service category at the Hands On Nashville’s 26th annual Mary Catherine Strobel Volunteer Awards.

We are grateful for the efforts of both these outstanding organizations and their staff for their dedication to helping young people in Middle Tennessee.

For contact information and more about Youth Villages specialized crisis services in Tennessee, visit youthvillages.org.

Youth Villages’ Specialized Crisis Services responder Cathy Witmer went to see the girl at their county’s justice center. When Cathy got there, she found the girl had several medical issues and a pending surgery. Cathy helped ensure the girl received proper treatment and care at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and then responder Milly Douglas followed up with the child to get more information. During the course of nearly a week, the two responders and the crisis department monitored the girl’s situation and made sure her unique needs were met.

“That was not our usual type of crisis call,” said Milly, a former child abuse investigator. “It is a good example of how we work with partner agencies and work together to make sure decisions are made in the child’s best interests.”

Most of the time, crisis calls involve behavior problems or self-harming.

Throughout Tennessee, the Youth Villages Specialized Crisis Services staff provides assessment and evaluation of children and youth up to age 18 who are experiencing a psychiatric emergency. In February, SCS responded to more than 1,200 calls.

The responder’s assessment may include interviewing other children, family, extended family, community members, teachers, counselors and first responders – anyone who can provide salient information regarding the crisis. They also assess the child’s history and any factors that may have led to the crisis and how to avoid future issues. Also, the responders coordinate with other agencies and facilities to help ensure the child is placed in an appropriate environment, whether that is treatment at home, group therapy or counseling, or hospitalization.

The program employs more than 80 staff who work from 13 Youth Villages offices and satellite locations across the state to provide faster response times.

As part of Gamma Beta Phi, a community service honor society, Angelica and others planted flowers throughout Austin Peay State University campus for the organization’s “Plant the Campus Red” initiative last year.

Angelica’s conducting field experiments on the water quality in Milan, Tenn., a town in West Tennessee that’s been unable to use its groundwater for more than 70 years because of contamination.

Her research, part of a Presidential grant she applied for and received, will determine the change in the quality of the water over time as well as determine if there is a preferred habitat selection among different species of aquatic macroinvertebrates, like mayflies and other small aquatic animals.

AUDIO: Angelica talks about her Presidential Grant project

She also recently returned from Belize, where she studied tropical environments and conservation as part of a studying abroad program. She has two jobs and maintains a 3.8 GPA at Austin Peay State University. Two years ago, Angelica was a featured guest at Youth Villages’ annual employee conference to share stories about her difficult childhood and how Youth Villages’ transitional living program supported and assisted her desire for independence and achievement.

It clicked when she was admitted into APSU’s middle college, which allowed her to pursue college credits while in high school. Angelica saw what her natural curiosity and intellect could offer. She always did well academically, but never really thought much about it. At middle college, that changed.

She saw flyers for studying and taking classes abroad and thought, “I want to do that.” She saw announcements for the Presidential Scholarship and thought, “I want to do that.”

“Education was the one thing no one could take from me,” she said. “Studying and learning became my way of getting away.”

Taking advantage of opportunities, Angelica has thrived. Through the support of Youth Villages’ transitional living program and the YV Scholars program, Angelica has taken advantage of every opportunity. She has plans to continue her education through graduate work, and wants a career where she can make a difference. She’s an example of how others can make a difference. Through support from the TL program, Angelica has transformed into an independent, confident young adult.

“Before YV, I thought I’d go to college, get a job and let life play out however it would,” she said. “But, because of Youth Villages, I hold the steering wheel to my life. I get to determine what I want to do.”

To be able to complete high school, Reta enrolled in an English as a second language class at the Cohn Adult Learning Center in Nashville. She worked hard.

Youth Villages’ transitional living specialist Jamie Ball and educational and vocational coordinator Joanne Dixon routinely visit the Cohn Center to see if any of the young adults there would fit well in Youth Villages’ transitional living program. They thought Reta was a perfect fit.

“Reta has a great work ethic,” Dixon said. “She has the drive and commitment needed to become a leader.”

Reta entered the TL program in 2010, working weekly with Ball on improving her employment situation. After two years at McDonald’s, Reta had earned a management position.

Reta discharged last year, and will receive a high school diploma in May. Her plan is to attend nursing school in Nashville or in the Detroit, Mich., area where the family intends to relocate.

Anita also entered the TL program and also works with Ball. One of Anita’s goals is to overcome her academic struggles and complete her education. She has been exploring alternative educational options, and also works part-time to help out at home.

Ball has helped Anita identify a refugee education center in Michigan, when the family moves, to finish her education. Recently, the father made contact with the family. Through help from the family’s church, they will reunite this spring in Michigan.

“There has been an incredible change in both of these girls,” Ball said. “They have experienced personal, professional, and academic successes while in the TL program. It gives the staff no greater joy than to witness their success on a daily basis. I am very proud of both of these girls and what they overcame.”