#YFCinNYC
Posted on Thursday, June 4, 2015 by
We sent some team members to NYC to learn from some of the best orgs helping teens in foster care and trafficking. Here's a little bit about what they have learned so far.
You Gotta Believe (yougottabelieve.org)
- React to their fear and pain, not their behavior.
- When did you stop needing your parents?
- Drop the 'f' word (foster) and just be a parent
- Choose to see me as a child, not as my file.
- Don't pay attention to how they're giving you information, pay attention to what information they are giving you, because they will give it in the most unloving ways.
Green Chimney's Therapy Farm and Residential Facility (www.greenchimneys.org)
- Kids who run really just want to be found.
- In New York, Rosie's Law now allows a child that has to testify against their abuser to have a therapy dog by their side.
- In the residential program children are most often kind to each rather than hostile because they know what it is like to face rejection.
- "We can't be afraid, we don't take it lightly, but we have to do a better job [in addressing it] for these kids." Dr. Klee's response to suicide threats from children.
- The best place for a child is with a family in a home.