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We’ve Moved After 11 prominent years at the Georgia and Walt Imhoff Pavilion, The Kempe Center and Kempe Foundation for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect has entered into a new era by moving to a new 48,000 s.f. facility at The Gary Pavilion at the Children’s Hospital on the Anschutz Medical Campus. The move allows Kempe to be amongst a renowned medical center of excellence and enhance its collaboration with The Children’s Hospital and work more closely with colleagues at the University of Colorado at Denver. Dedication and Grand Opening The Kempe staff is hosting a dedication and grand opening ceremony for guests to see our brand new home on the Anschutz Campus in Aurora. Honored guests included members of Dr. C. Henry Kempe’s family and the many people dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect. Light refreshments will be served. Thursday, April 16, 3:00 - 6:00 pm The Kempe Center The Gary Pavilion at The Children’s Hospital 13123 E. 16th Ave. Aurora, CO 80045 April Is Child Abuse Prevention Month Last year in the United States, nearly 1 million children where reported victims of child abuse and neglect; 10,000 of those children were victims in Colorado alone. Essentially, every hour, a child is abused in our state. April is national Child Abuse Prevention Month. In recognition of this important month, The Kempe Foundation has created the “Get Your Blue On” campaign to raise awareness in the community around the critical issue of child abuse and neglect and to educate the public on its prevention. *Blue is the awareness color for child abuse prevention. It is our responsibility as a community to build a safe and nurturing environment so that our young people can realize their full potential. During the month we restore our commitment to preventing child abuse and neglect and pledge ourselves to working together to ensure that all children have a happy and hopeful future. We urge you to get involved because we can each play a role in helping families find the strength they need to raise safe and healthy children. Here are some things you can do: Wear a blue ribbon during the month. Call or email Kempe and we will provide you with a blue ribbon pin. Contact: Ciandra Mills, 303-864-5317 or mills.ciandra@kempe.org. Help a family that is feeling stressed. Offer to babysit, help with chores and errands, or suggest resources like The Kempe Center or The Children’s Hospital. Be a role model to children in your community. A smile or a word of encouragement can mean a lot, whether it comes from a parent or an adult in the neighborhood. Be active in your community. Lend a hand at local schools, community or faith-based organizations, children’s organizations, social service agencies, or other places where families and children are supported. Learn how to recognize and report signs of child abuse and neglect. Reporting your concerns may protect a child and get help for a family who needs it. Visit www.kempe.org for more information, tips and resources for April Child Abuse Prevention Month. w w w . k e m p e . o rg • 2
Fostering Healthy Futures Panel Night Fostering Healthy Futures, a Kempe program that promotes positive development among nine-eleven-year-olds placed in foster care, has received national attention and acclaim for its work. Fostering Healthy Futures is paving the way for brighter futures for pre-teens. This program has provided free mental health evaluations for nearly 400 children in out-ofhome care over the past six years. Of these, over 130 children have been enrolled in an intensive nine-month program, where they’re assigned a mentor and attend weekly therapeutic skills groups. Fostering Healthy Futures provides a place where children can process their feelings about being in out-of-home care and learn skills to cope with these difficult feelings and life changes. One powerful program component occurs when the FHF children organize Panel Night. Panel Night is an evening in which adults, who lived in some type of out of home care as children, are invited to come and talk to the children about their experiences growing up in foster care. The children plan and prepare the entire evening. “The children really take ownership over the event. They create and mail the invitations, organize dinner arrangements, decorate the room, and develop questions to ask the panelists,” says Becky Gennerman-Schroeder, Clinical Coordinator for Fostering Healthy Futures. Questions range from, “Did you like your foster care or kinship placements” and “Did you think it was your fault you were removed” to “Do you still talk to your foster parents” and “Are you still mad at your biological parents” The children also ask advice from the panelists on how to cope with their situations and how to remain positive. Many panelists proclaim that they “adopted” adults. They sought out positive adults and role models who cared about them and their well being. Panel Night consists of dinner and one hour of questions. “I usually encourage the shyer children to ask the first few questions. All of the children are very engaged the entire night,” says Becky. Even after the end of Panel Night, the children stay and ask more questions of the panelists. “The children are very grateful and feel very connected to the panelists. I’ve often seen the children hug the panelists,” says Becky. Not only is Panel Night a positive experience for the children, but also for the panelists. Past participants report that this has been a very positive and powerful experience for them. Most have come back year after year to speak again. “We have panelists that have been speaking since the beginning of the program over six years ago,” says Becky. The panelists come from all walks of life and have very diverse backgrounds and experiences. They were all placed in out-of-home care but went on to attend college, enter into thriving career fields and start families. Despite the challenges they faced, the panelists endured, which resulted in successful futures. Most of the panelists feel speaking to the children is a great way to give back to their communities. The overall consensus from the panelists seems to be that they wished there was a program like Fostering Healthy Futures when they were growing up. Tracy Rivera has been a panelist for seven years. “I am involved in Panel Night because I believe it is a wonderful opportunity for the children to sit in a room with adults who have had similar life experiences. It is very healing for me to share some of the painful experiences of childhood and know that it may help the children sitting in the room,” says Tracy. One common theme during Panel Night is coping with abandonment and understanding that they have the Continued on next page w w w . k e m p e . o rg • 3
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