Support Kentucky Youth

Letter to the editor: One is a losing number for Kentucky's kids

It was distressing to read Deborah Yetter’s story last week (October 20, 2009, Courier-Journal, "Kentucky leads nation in rate of child abuse and neglect deaths, study finds") about Kentucky ranking highest in child deaths caused by abuse and neglect. Even more distressing was knowing that the data on which the story was based came from 2007, before major cuts in the child-protection budget were enacted. Unfortunately, more cuts loom – which hardly bodes well for the future.

The glimmer of hope in all this is that private providers such as Sunrise Children’s Services are working in partnership with the state Department for Community Based Services to move toward a more preventive service model.

Providing in-home services are not only more effective than fixing a broken home later, it also costs thousands of dollars less per family. In-home services can cost as little as one-fifth the cost of out-of-home care.

Many times a family in turmoil needs a relatively minor assist to stop the cycle of abuse or neglect – parenting classes, job-skills upgrades, or budgeting lessons. Other times more intensive services are required, such as substance-abuse treatment or other therapies. The point is to keep children in their homes when possible, with supervision and personalized treatment plans that enable families to function more safely and effectively.

Serving families retroactively, on the other hand, often means long legal processes, institutional care, and the prosecution and incarceration of offending adults, all of which costs a lot of money.

Sunrise has been keeping Kentucky’s children safe since 1869, when many families were torn apart by the Civil War, poverty or disease. Today our faith-based organization annually serves more than 2,000 children across the state through a full continuum of care, including residential treatment, crisis stabilization, therapeutic foster homes, adoption services and family counseling centers.

We stand ready to help Kentucky take a bold new approach to child abuse and neglect to ensure that we can move Kentucky away from national disgrace and into God’s grace.

Bill Smithwick
President & CEO
Sunrise Children’s Services

Alicia Pedreira, et al v. Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, et al

The Sixth Circuit’s ruling upheld the lower courts decision, in our favor, on the employment discrimination and federal taxpayer standing claims. The reversal of the lower court’s decision on state taxpayer standing is confusing to us. We believe this ruling is inconsistent with related case law and will appeal. The plaintiff’s argument that we “coerce” children to become “Baptists” is, in our opinion, more of a strategy to harm us primarily because of our traditional family values than perceived religious indoctrination. Our mission to help victimized children heal from obscene abuse and neglect is driven by our faith and tradition. That some children come to faith in Christ is their choice, not our coercion. We provide the kids in our care the choice to embrace faith or refuse it. The children’s faith choices is not the real issue here, our values are.

Pomp and Circumstance

The season of celebrating high school graduations has come to an end. At Sunrise Children’s Services, we had the joy of seeing more than 25 kids earn a high school diploma or GED. Our teachers worked diligently with these children, most of whom were behind in school because they’ve experienced trauma and disruptions in their lives, so that they could reach their educational goals. Their achievements are something that can never be taken from them.

One of the young men at our Spring Meadows Center recently received his high school diploma, just before his 18th birthday. The graduation ceremony made a big impact on David Marshall, Bullitt County’s director of secondary schools. Mr. Marshall wrote the following to his colleagues and shared it with us:

"Often in our line of work and in our positions we deal with more heavy stuff than we do things that are uplifting, motivating and affirming. However, I just wanted to take a moment to share with you one of those moments that I had the privilege of experiencing this morning.

Today was graduation for ONE BOY. He had previously dropped out of school, got into trouble with the law and ultimately wound up at Spring Meadows, where he decided he didn’t like the path he was on and worked hard and completed the requirements for a high school diploma. The graduation ceremony was held in the facility’s gym and was just for him. There was a beautiful graduation program, just for him. He got to wear a cap and gown. The gym was decorated just for him. He got to march in to ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ while everyone stood. The only people in attendance were the Spring Meadows staff, his parents and grandparents. The director of the facility welcomed everyone, and then his teacher spoke from the heart about his accomplishments. Mr. (Doug) Roberts (principal of the Spring Meadows school) then did a masterful job of presenting him with his high school diploma, pronouncing him a graduate having fulfilled the state requirements.

The whole ceremony just brought a tear to my eye and reminded me how different every student is, and in the midst of what has clearly been a hellacious life for him, today was a day made possible by people who cared and went to great lengths to see that he got what he deserved. Parents and grandparents had tears in their eyes and joy in their hearts. Was it a lot of work for one student? Of course it was! Couldn’t they have just given him a diploma? Sure they could have. But instead they went the extra mile in a setting where nobody would ever know what happened this morning and I think made a huge impact on a young man’s life. He gets to go home as a high school graduate! It reminded me that every child matters.”

Mr. Marshall is correct that the tremendous accomplishments of our kids go unnoticed by the general public. They do not go unnoticed, however, by the staff who work with them every day. The reward of seeing lives changed is what keeps everyone at Sunrise Children’s Services invested in our mission. Congratulations to all our graduates!

    

Mr. Doug Roberts, who acts as principal of the school at Spring Meadows, congratulates the young man who earned his high school diploma.

A New Era for the Glen Dale Center

Sunrise Children’s Services celebrated a remarkable day last week by opening the doors of our brand-new Glen Dale Center in Elizabethtown. Our guests for the ribbon-cutting ceremony – public officials, community members and Sunrise supporters – filled the large gymnasium for the ceremony. Afterward, they surveyed the classrooms where the teenage girls in the program will attend school, enjoyed refreshments in the dining area where they will eat their meals and checked out their living quarters. We decorated the interior with bright colors and motivational messages that we hope will make the girls feel safe and comfortable. Everything is under one roof so that our staff can work more efficiently with the girls.

Program Director Joseph Spinale, who has been overseeing the Glen Dale Center on the original campus that opened in 1915, told the audience that his staff was eagerly anticipating moving into the building. His staff members have become experts in building relationships with child victims of trauma. He pointed out that giving the girls food, clothing and shelter is not enough – that care must be coupled with individualized attention that helps them overcome the pain in their pasts.

Dr. Bill Mackey, president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, also shared his thoughts on the new building before offering a prayer of dedication. Just as no building can contain the presence of God, he said, the Glen Dale Center won’t be able to contain the vast impact of changed lives.

With the opening of the new Glen Dale Center, I feel Sunrise can put a period behind the years-long endeavor to relocate our two oldest campuses in order to provide the best care possible for today’s hurting children. But at the same time, this is just the beginning of great things to come at the Glen Dale Center.

 

The Glen Dale Center sits on 24 acres in Elizabethtown.

 

I performed the official ribbon cutting. With me are (left to right) Bill Price, Sunrise's chairman of the board; Karen Richardson, vice president for marketing and advancement; Elizabethtown Mayor David Willmoth; Beverly Hite, Sunrise's vice president for residential and health services; Barry Mitchell, vice president for finance and administration; and our architect, Gary Scott.

 

We will have room for up to 20 teenage girls.

 

One of our messages to the girls: live well, laugh often, love much.