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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/6/2021 Item 5d, Smith Wilbanks, Megan From:Patty Smith < To:E-mail Council Website Cc:Teresa Tardiff Subject:Submission to the City Council and Mayor Attachments:21 06 City Council update before funding w case histories.pdf This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond. Hello! We have received a recommendation for funding from the Human Relation’s Commission for funding for the 20201- 2022 Grants-in-Aid program. We would appreciate it if you could provide the council members and mayor with this further information from us. Thank you. Patty Smith Grants Manager CASA of San Luis Obispo Sent from Mail for Windows 10 1 P.O. Box 1168, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 A Member of the CASA of San Luis Obispo County (805) 541-6542 National CASA FAX (805) 541-5637 email: staff@slocasa.org www.slocasa.org Association July 1, 2021 RE: CASA Funding Through the GIA and Human Relations Commission TO: City Council of San Luis Obispo Dear Mayor and City Council Members: Thank you for considering CASA of San Luis Obispo County to receive a grant for the 2021 - 2022 grant year. The Human Relations Commission has recommended us to receive $3,750 and we do hope you will approve. The COVID pandemic was trying for everyone—but especially to those left alone and with few resources. Children in foster care are removed from their family due to neglect or abuse, and then are often placed away from all friends and things that they know, and live with overwhelming disorientation. CASA was created precisely to help children who might otherwise be lost in overburdened systems and to support them in changing and unpredictable situations. During the pandemic, our volunteers saw terrible inequities in distance learning (access to laptops/chrome books, reliable internet, Wi-Fi availability, etc.) for the children they serve. Volunteers worked tirelessly to make sure these children had equity in access to the education they deserve by directly contacting schools and community organizations to resolve problems. Through creativity and persistence our volunteers helped children obtain educational assessments, hardware and software for accessing school, and seats in care programs so that they could be supervised while their guardians worked. Ev en when DSS suspended in person contact with children due to COVID restrictions, our resourceful volunteers maintained safe virtual contact. For many of these very alone children, their CASA volunteer’s emotional, educational, and social support was their only regular contact with a person they actually knew face-to-face. As the pandemic restrictions loosen, our volunteer’s efforts on behalf of abused and neglected children continue bringing invaluable benefit to children in need. The efforts of CASA volunteers help assure children in foster care achieve outcomes similar to their peers with healthy, available parents. We thank the City of San Luis Obispo for helping us to do this through the Grants in Aid program. With appreciation, Teresa Tardiff Executive Director P.O. Box 1168, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 A Member of the CASA of San Luis Obispo County (805) 541-6542 National CASA FAX (805) 541-5637 email: staff@slocasa.org www.slocasa.org Association July 2021 City Council of San Luis Obispo Page Two of Three RE: Examples: Assistance given to foster children by local CASA volunteers (names changed for privacy protection) YOUNG CHILD Maggie*, age 5, became a dependent of the court due to the severe neglect she suffe red through the first years of her life. She entered foster care soon after. Because of the severe neglect she had experienced Maggie had not achieved developmental milestones, had learning delays and was very behind in school. Upon entering the system, Maggie was assigned to her CASA volunteer, Cheryl*. Cheryl began to immediately work with Maggie’s team to secure the interventions she needed to catch up in school and to address her learning delays. Cheryl offered to tutor Maggie, initiated getting Maggie an Individual Education Plan, and worked with the school to get specific interventions she so badly needed. HIGH SCHOOL CHILD Jaden, a high school junior, was removed from her mother’s home last summer and placed, with her much younger half-brother, at the home of their maternal grandmother. Jaden’s dad lives out of the area, but her brother’s dad is local. The brother’s dad, and Jaden’s mom, are making good progress on their alcohol-abuse treatment plans with the intention of resuming care for the children. Jaden is an excellent student, despite the fact that she is very parentified with respect to her little brother. She has also faced undue responsibilities for one so young, such as being asked to drive the family car when her mother was too inebriated to do so. Jaden tried participating in distance learning using her phone. This solution was far from ideal. The family has a home computer, but her brother also needs it to access education during school hours. Her school should have provided her with a Chromebook, but they were out. Jaden’s newly assigned CASA found out about this problem, and with assistance from her Advocate Supervisor, contacted the Homeless and Foster Youth group at the County Office of Education for assistance. The County Office of Education sadly confirmed that Chromebook loans were backlogged in the district. However, resulting from the CASA contact, the offic e elected to loan Jaden a Chromebook they had for office use. Both Jaden and her grandmother were grateful for this educational support. The benefits to Jaden from the CASA volunteer far exceed the access to education. The CASA volunteer demonstrated to Jaden that her needs are important and worth working for, that persistence can pay off, and adults can be trusted to follow through on P.O. Box 1168, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 A Member of the CASA of San Luis Obispo County (805) 541-6542 National CASA FAX (805) 541-5637 email: staff@slocasa.org www.slocasa.org Association July 2021 City Council of San Luis Obispo Page Two of Three promises. This event will help boost Jaden’s trust in her CASA to help her continue accessing education and other important resources. MIDDLE SCHOOL Hector experienced the value of CASA’s continued advocacy even as he experienced “maintenance” with a birth parent. (Maintenance is a monitoring period by the court to confirm the parent’s new ability to provide the child with a safe home.) CASA volunteer Carla was worried about how Hector was going to access his school classes and services after COVID caused school closures. At school he has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and services for speech therapy. However, with no internet at home, he was barred from accessing any part of his education. Carla made multiple calls to Hector’s school, eventually learning that the school district offered free WIFI services to students while attending school remotely. Carla relayed this information to Hector’s guardian and provided directions on how to access this service. Unfortunately, there was no follow through before summer vacation began. As our county lifted shelter-in-place orders last fall, Carla was still not able to see Hector because she was caring for her elderly parents and was concerned about passing COVID to them, but she continued advocating for him. As school resumed, Hector still had no Wi-Fi services at home. Carla formed a new plan to rely on school staff and Hector’s social worker to get Wi-Fi operational. Carla contacted the district’s Director of Special Education and explained the situation. Th e director put Carla in contact with a few more people to help get Wi-Fi at Hector’s home for his education and services. Once Carla got everything in line, she reached out to the social worker for support with informing Hector’s guardian of what she needed to do. Through Carla’s strong advocacy, Hector received Wi-Fi in the home so he could attend school and access IEP services. Also, as Hector’s guardian works all day, she was unable to make sure Hector got online and attended school, so Carla contacted his school case manager and brainstormed ideas. Carla and the case manager concluded that Hector could attend a local Boys and Girls Club during the day, and they would help him with his schoolwork. Carla then contacted the Boys and Girls Club, got the necessary information, brought this to Hector’s social worker, and Hector began attending school online at his local Boys and Girls Club a week later. Hector is catching up on missed assignments and Carla continues to communicate with him via phone or text. Carla’s dedication to advocating for Hector even at a distance has been recognized by Hector’s team. Due to the perseverance and resourcefulness of Hector’s CASA volunteer, the barriers before this child were removed and he now has access to services and education. Every child receiving CASA advocacy benefits from a caring adult friend, who also looks after their problems in the adult world, during a scary and challenging time.