As I discussed in my recent blog post, The Foundling has implemented the first-of-its-kind juvenile justice initiative, Blue Sky. This is an alternative to incarceration programs wherein trained and licensed therapists work with juveniles and their families using methods that, through extensive trials and testing, have proven effective. So far, the initiative has seen tremendous results with low re-arrest rates and major cost savings.Now it’s time to take this initiative one step further.

How do we do this? The Foundling is a strong proponent of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) programs, like Blue Sky, and is taking a lead role in helping other child welfare and juvenile justice programs implement these successful initiatives. We have created a training center where experts from The Foundling teach administrators and clinicians from our sister agencies not only how to implement these programs, but how to sustain them and make them work over time.

The Foundling’s new Implementation Support Center(ISC) opened on August 1, 2012 at The New York Foundling Vincent J. Fontana Center for Child Protection – our agency’s advocacy, public policy, research, program evaluation, professional/ and community education and development arm.. Currently, staff members from seven child welfare organizations are in the midst of training and clinicians from nine juvenile justice programs will begin training shortly.

Training – and buy-in – must begin at the top. During the initial phase of training, a Foundling expert shows agency leadership what it means to achieve and sustain effective evidence based practices within their organizations. Our experts answer questions such as: How do we recruit suitable foster parents? Which New York City regulations create barriers for implementing the evidence based practice programs and how do we overcome those barriers? What’s the difference between the specific evidence based models and how do they each work? Which would work best for our agency and consumers?

At the ISC, The Foundling experts then outline a plan for the clinicians and the interactive training begins. During the clinical training sessions, trainees (social workers, mental health counselors and psychologists) meet every week to learn how to implement the evidence based practices in their daily work with at-risk youth and their families. Role-playing is a key component of the training. Focus is on real life scenarios and how to interact with families facing a myriad of different crises. For example, the training scenario may involve a family whose child consistently skips school. The trainees learn how to approach the parents, craft an intervention, get to the root of the problem and resolve it using therapy.

Once the interactive training is complete, the clinicians implement the evidence based practices within their organizations and the entire agency works to sustain them. The ISC is available during this period to consult with the agency and provide any additional input and advice they may need. The entire process takes three years to complete.

Over the past three years, The Foundling has experienced tremendous success with evidence based practices and Blue Sky. As New York City and ACS continue to require that its contractual agencies use EBP, The Foundling is obligated to share our success with others. We can be a real change agent in the field of child and family welfare – helping to lower costs, increase effectiveness and responsiveness – and most importantly saving lives and keeping families together.

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The start of the new school year is a good time to reflect on one of The Foundling’s most ambitious initiatives, Mott Haven Academy, our charter school in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx which predominantly serves children in foster care and the child welfare system.

We’re very proud of the progress we’ve made at Haven Academy and we’ve learned a great deal along the way. Yes, even The Foundling, which has been caring for children and families for more than a century, can always learn something new about serving this at-risk population.

Simply put, kids in the child welfare system have some different needs than other kids. Nationwide, research has shown that children in foster care have lower attendance rates than their peers, are less likely to perform at grade level, are more likely to have behavior and discipline problems, are more likely to be assigned to special education classes and are less likely to eventually attend college.

When we first opened Haven Academy in 2007, we enrolled 90 students in the kindergarten and first grades in a space we shared with PS 43. In 2010, we excitedly moved the students and staff across the street into their own LEED certified building. In an effort to provide a comprehensive support system for the children and their families, trained social outreach counselors, community clinical programs and a medical clinic run by The Foundling are housed in the same building as Haven.

This year, Haven Academy has grown to approximately 265 students in grades K-5 – we’re well on our way to its ultimate capacity of 314 students in grades K-8. Throughout the past 5 years, we have also dedicated a significant amount of time to the development of our school culture and social curriculum as we believe both are important complements our educational program. In partnership with the Harlem YMCA, we also launched a summer school program, Summer Academy, so that the scholars who need additional academic support can continue working with their teachers on subjects such as math, reading and writing. A number of indicators show significant progress and Haven is quickly becoming a model for others venturing into this field.

All this success at Haven Academy hasn’t come without some challenge. Due to the nature of our programs and the different needs of the population we’re serving, we spend more per capita at Haven Academy than most other schools. Furthermore, while we have seen excellent attendance and some great improvements in our students’ social and emotional areas, there is still room for improvement on test scores. It is encouraging to note though, that children who started at Haven in kindergarten four and five years ago are doing better in their later years here – clear evidence that the earlier we get them and the more time we have with them, the better the result.

Ultimately, academic achievement will be the primary mark of our success and this year, we’re introducing more changes to our curriculum than ever before to help our students get there. These changes will improve our educational program in all grades to ensure each scholar can achieve passing scores on the NY State assessment and successfully master grade level expectations. We will not however, be satisfied with merely passing. We want our children to believe that working hard at academics is worthwhile because the outcome is not only success in elementary school, but a foundation for success in life.

We are also boosting our after school programs to include activities that reduce our scholars’ likelihood of interest in gang activity and other risky behaviors. Additionally, to boost school attendance and support high academic expectations of the more independent middle schoolers, we will be adding organized sports into our program. Children will be able to attend sports games and practices only with the understanding that their participation is contingent upon both good attendance and strong progress in their school work and assessments.

As you see, Haven Academy is still a work in progress and we at The New York Foundling are keenly aware of both our triumphs and the learning curve we are always on as an organization. We believe it is our obligation, as in any complex long-term project, to continue to improve we go. We are proud to report though, that our scholars are thriving throughout the process. Hundreds of children, who before Haven Academy would have been placed in schools that don’t fully understand or adequately serve their needs, now have the opportunity to be educated in a school that was built just for them. Haven Academy is truly a force working to level the playing field for these scholars in the child welfare system.

The child welfare field is a challenge. Inevitably, children are lost, and we are all haunted by the question of whether we could have done more to help. As a whole, though, child welfare professionals have addressed these challenges by working to make the system better. In many ways, those efforts have been tremendously successful.

But there’s an area where all of us have failed—where all of us need to do better.

In our current system, when young men and women turn 21, they “age out” of the child welfare system and are no longer eligible for services. At first glance, that may sound reasonable. At 21, we normally consider people adults. But imagine you’ve been abused or neglected as a child, bounced from one foster home to another, and had to change schools every few years. At 21-years-old, you’ve never paid rent, bought your own groceries, or managed your own expenses. Would you be able to manage on your own?

Even under the best of circumstances, young people mature at different rates. But under the best of circumstances, those who lack the capacity to fend for themselves have a safety net. They have a family and a community around them. For young people aging out of the child welfare system, there is no safety net. We’re throwing them into the deep end of the pool knowing that many of them can’t swim. If they sink, we all pay the price. The next system they fall into they may not get out of and it will be very expensive for taxpayers. All too often, they will end up homeless or turn to drugs and crime—a bad outcome for them, as well as for government budgets and the quality of life in our communities.

What’s the solution? We can’t close the door to these kids when they turn 21. We must better prepare them to be 21. If we know a parent’s rights were terminated when a child was 16 years old, we can be pretty certain that that youngster will age out while in our care. Knowing that, we should take those five years to help that young person learn the skills necessary to transition smoothly into adulthood and independence. We must strengthen our efforts to place these kids either on an academic path or into a job training program that will prepare them for the workplace. If we do a better job preparing them for the future, they’ll be on a track toward life as a productive member of our society, rather than as a life-long problem for society.

We need to treat them as if they are our own kids. Do you abandon your children when they turn a certain age? We shouldn’t treat these kids any differently.