boys and girls 7.1.20

Alyssa!

Boys and girls haven is a nonprofit agency specializing in service to haven is a nonprofit agency specializing in service to tweens and teens in foster care.

Kentucky faces an escalating child welfare crisis with a record influx of children entering out-of-home care and covid-19 is creating an even greater strain on the system.

Amanda masterson is the ceo and she joins us by phone now to talk about c1 3 first lets talk about should ... thank you for having me ... .

So first let's talk about ... what you guys do because i think maybe people or even necessaril aware some time ... our agency provides services ... to children in foster care.

So we have in-home foster care service so this is a network of foster homes offering to love and ... ability.

I'm inside their home.

We also offer residential treatment so we have ... a living ... particularly we serve boys aged 11 ... to 17 who need more intensive stabilization services ... available on our property in a homestyle cottage setting ... .

We also offer community-based counseling services program.

Th co-pays and family services ... .

So during covert 19.

We definitely increase our telehealth ... .

We also have transitional living ... on this is where we serve children aged out of foster car between the ages of 2111 apartment ... on look in the community and then we also have a pre- independent living setting ... .

So we have kids 18 to 21.

An apartment ... and they have 24 hour supervision.

They need a little additional support ... and then additionally we have independence readiness independence readiness offers ... on mentor and career readiness and life skills ... on services ... to all the kids throughout programming ... .

Why ... services ... there i said come in 19 ... did you guys tell us more about the impact ... yeah, i think i'm you definitel recovered.

19.

We've had to adjust ... our programming in every sense of the way so ... community based services had to transition to telehealth on campus with our residential treatment services.

We had to ... provide education to the kids who couldn't go to school we have an on-campus school, but our teachers were coming onto campus anymore from jay ... .

Yes, we had school just like ... parents did ... i'm sure people are watching this going man ... i'd love to help in some way, what's the ... best way to think ... what we really need for people to you is ... the urgent with advocacy right now ... not seen child welfare dollars ... increase.

We really need people to understand that we need covert 19 relief so they can find some simple language and who to contact on our webpage at on our webpage@thegrovehaven.org ... écovert 19 ... on the we really need them to advocate for support for the private healthcare agent ... that ... you know we provide services to you about 46% of the kids in th foster care ... now the they were talking about the ... nervous ... , so why next band ... so talk about the ... serving ... the amount of kids.

It is really reaching out there ... we do serve kids really from zero to age 20 wine and so ... providing services in-home foster care.

Those kids you know ... , just like every other child they need ... to support are also dealing with the trauma histories were makin sure that were providing them with whatever they need to be.

You know how ... happy and healthy so ... and then we have the older kids, which really is what boys and girls even does well that older teenage ... child ... the transitional services ... and living and they need a lot of additional support ... one ... amanda, thank you so much for i doing things