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FROM INFANCY TO INDEPENDENCE ACROSS THE REGION, WE'RE TREATING STUDENTS WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES Our Therapists Have Counseled Children In More Than 150 Schools More than a year ago, the Northwest Local School District turned to The Children’s Home for help to address the mental health problems of its students. In response, The Children’s Home assigned therapists to the district’s schools as part of our School-Based Mental Health program. Since then, more than 350 students have been treated, and school personnel have noticed a difference in students academically, socially and emotionally. “Students are blossoming and excelling because they are having their needs addressed,” said Assistant Superintendent Darrell Yater. The School-Based Mental Health program is our largest program, and it’s continuing to “Our goal is to serve the whole community" — Debbie Gingrich grow. In the last decade, we have more than doubled the number of students we serve to 2,830 annually. Our 70 therapists have provided mental health services in more than 150 schools in Hamilton County, making us the county’s largest provider of schoolbased mental health services. As part of the services, psychiatrists and pediatricians from The Children’s Home manage the medications of some of the students. The services are designed to reduce barriers to learning by improving the social, behavioral and emotional condition of the children we serve. With therapy, they typically experience life-changing benefits by learning how to appropriately express their feelings and control their behaviors, Sarah Scovell, a behavioral health counselor for The Children’s Home, leads a daily therapy group at Three Rivers Elementary School in Cleves. On this day, the students created an “anger thermometer” to recognize various levels of anger and how their thoughts, feelings and actions change within each level of anger. The Children’s Home created its first-ever daily group therapy program at two schools in the Three Rivers Local School District as part of our School-Based Mental Health program. resulting in increased academic success. Entire classes also benefit when children can function without causing disruptions. The program is growing, in part, because there is more acknowledgement and identification of mental health problems in children, said Debbie Gingrich, Director of Community Health for The Children’s Home. Plus, receiving treatment has become more acceptable. “We find more parents saying, ‘Yes, my kid needs help.’ ” At Northwest Local Schools, personnel there are thankful they have a resource when they identify a student with a problem. Families have “embraced” the option, Yater said. “We are thrilled with the services we’ve gotten from The Children’s Home.” Meanwhile, The Children’s Home knows more students need help. One barrier is funding. Some families with private health care insurance, for example, have challenges paying the high co-pays or deductibles. We’re trying to find solutions to those obstacles. “Our goal is to serve the whole community,” Gingrich said. “That’s our commitment.” 6 The Children’s Home of Cincinnati Report.indd 6 10/26/17 4:00 PM
WE’RE DOING MORE THAN EVER TO PREPARE CHILDREN TO LIVE AS ADULTS The Children’s Home Creates New Position to Help Children Make the Transition Malcolm Johnson and Matthew Bruce ended up at The Children’s Home for much different reasons. Malcolm has had severe behavioral problems, preventing him from attending a typical school. Matthew has trouble with anxiety, caused by autism. FROM INFANCY TO INDEPENDENCE But they’re both on the journey to independence, aided by The Children’s Home. For years, The Children’s Home has provided transition services to help youth learn life skills and social skills, getting them ready for jobs, college and independent living. Now, we’ve strengthened that service, making sure it’s as effective and efficient as possible, by creating the position of transition coordinator. Elizabeth Wietmarschen’s role is to support our students as they prepare for adulthood. For several years, she had a similar role focusing solely on our autism school. Now, she will apply her talents to other students as well, including those at our Lower and Upper schools. “It’s really empowering as a teacher to watch our kids come in as freshmen and leave as adults,” she said. Our transition services include learning how to handle personal finances, how to cook, do laundry, find and keep a job and more, skills that help youth acclimate to the world outside the classroom. Our approach relies heavily on learning by doing. It’s common for Wietmarschen, for example, to take students to nonprofits to volunteer, sometimes by public transportation. It’s the students’ job to plan the trips. When she takes them to restaurants, it’s their responsibility to order their meals based on the money they have available. “Everyone should have the opportunity to live independently,” she said. MALCOLM HAS LEARNED TO CONTROL HIS BEHAVIOR There was a time when Malcom Johnson didn’t think he’d ever graduate from high school. In fact, he didn’t think he’d ever become “civilized.” Growing up, he lived in foster homes, group homes, juvenile detention centers and mental health facilities. He often got into trouble. But in May 2017, he earned a high school diploma from The Children’s Home. And now he’s working full-time. He credits The Children’s Home with helping him learn how to control his behavior, giving him hope for the future. “They stuck with me,” he said. “They helped me understand I can control my own destiny.” He ended up at The Children’s Home in ninth grade. He struggled at times but the staff at the Upper School taught him how to control his outbursts and set career goals. At his graduation, he cried because of the happiness he felt. “I shocked a lot of people,” he said. “A lot of people didn’t think I’d graduate from high school.” After graduation, he was offered several jobs. He accepted a job at The Children’s Home on its maintenance crew, though he sometimes fills in for the kitchen staff. He’s so determined to succeed that, to get to work, he walks several miles and takes the Metro bus. He’s planning to work in electronics eventually, and credits The Malcolm has his first job since graduating from the Upper School with his high school diploma. He works on The Children’s Home maintenance crew and fills in as needed in the kitchen. Children’s Home with getting his life back on track. “It’s had a huge impact,” he said. “They need more places like this.” Annual Report | 2016-17 7 Report.indd 7 10/26/17 4:00 PM
Page 1 and 2: FROM INFANCY TO INDEPENDENCE THE CH
Page 3 and 4: ABOUT OUR ANNUAL REPORT The primary
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Page 9 and 10: THE FUTURE AS ROOM FOR GROWTH campu
Page 11 and 12: OUR FINANCIAL GROWTH CONTINUED Reve
Page 13 and 14: WE HONORED SUPERB EMPLOYEES FOR THE
Page 15 and 16: Cincinnati Foundation JBM Envelope
Page 17 and 18: David W. Volz Mr. and Mrs. Gary Vol
Page 19 and 20: ACCREDITATIONS, AFFILIATIONS & AWAR

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