Ray Hoskins BlogThoughts and Urgencies
|
http://www.youthtoday.org/publication/article.cfm?article_id=3865
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
This morning I was chatting with a friend who runs an excellent youth program and she was sharing that they were looking at a new building for their program today. This is the second time since the recession has started that this program is looking at expanding. I, personally, find that incredible. The program is a rare one, focusing on urban youth in foster and relative care, and producing incredible results. Over 95% of the youth in their program graduate from high school! They have a situation in which two extremely caring, competent and dynamic people have built a program, hired and trained good staff, and worked very hard for years to serve the youth in their community. The program is individualized, and uses group activities where they contribute to their goals.
Contrast this with discussions I had yesterday about a friend’s attempt to get services at a local mental health agency. My friend has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, which means that group therapy isn’t the best choice, as groups overwhelm her. However, the agency staff said they offer groups because that is what they can afford to offer and it helps 95% of the clients they have. The truth is, the agency offers groups to people several diagnoses which groups don’t help because the recession has led to budget cuts and they are making decisions which aren’t based on the needs of those walking through their doors. The irony to me is that they are part of a Systems of Care process. I also heard that our state Medicaid office has decided not to cover Asperger’s for services even though they are required to do so under the January standards for equal treatment for mental health.
As I thought about it this morning, it reminded me that systems don’t care, but people do. Where large bureaucracies become reactive to recessions and mandated budget cuts people who need caring relationships with providers get told, “tough luck”. For the mental health center I suggest they remember to “do no harm”, and putting autistic people in groups can be harmful.
For the rest of us, we are facing major challenges in the recession, including proposed health care overhaul. Do we want to be like my proactive friends who keep caring, keep pushing and find a way to succeed as a culture. Or do we want to give up, blame the recession and say we can’t afford to care for our neighbors?
Posted via web from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
A previous post on adoption subsidies received some positive responses, and the North American Council on Adoptable Children has worked with others in the field to evaluate the issues and make recommendations about adoption subsidies which need to be adopted at a federal level. Currently, the laws that govern adoption subsidies have some insane issues that I won’t go into here. I am attaching their report on subsidies to make it more available.
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
Sight,
Hearing,
Touch
Smell
Taste
We use these senses as we move through the world and build an internal representation of this external input in our brain (the map). You – and everyone else – do not respond directly to the world, but rather to the ‘map’ or ‘model’ of the world you create. In the process of building your map, you filter information based on your values, beliefs, memories, culture and social background. You therefore respond to your maps, rather than directly to the world.
This is important in many ways. Most of the map is developed by age nine, so early experiences are critically important. Young people who experience positive bonds, safety and love in their early years develop drastically different maps than young people who experience overwhelming trauma early in their lives.
The process continues throughout life, however. We continue to build and evolve our maps, and focus on those things in both our external environments and delete anything that doesn’t seem important to our maps. We even distort what we take in to keep it consistent with our maps. Then we generalize that our maps really are “truth”.
Once a person has a map based on painful experiences, distrust, and trauma, it is very difficult for that person to completely rework his or her map of the world. This is important in many ways. To the extent possible, we need to provide positive, loving, stimulating environments for young people during their early lives. If we must intervene in cases of abuse and/or neglect, we need to provide stability as soon as possible, along with a great deal of nurturing and support, so that they can integrate these experiences into their maps, along with any negative experiences.
In foster care,for example, we know that the fewer placements a young person has, the better the outcomes in adulthood. I believe this is largely due to both positive experiences, and the avoidance of the negative map making results that occur with multiple transitions and the feelings of powerlessness that go with them.
Take a few minutes and think of your map of the world. If you are involved with helping children, what led to that? If you are of a particular religious persuasion, what contributed to your development of those beliefs? Think about your political perceptions. What contributed to your viewpoint?
What does it mean to you that you are responding to your map of the world, rather than the world itself?
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
One of the most important of the Presuppositions for me, especially in working with young people is “There is not such thing as failure, only feedback”. It is especially useful for young people who are struggling with motivation, self esteem, but it works for all of us.
When something doesn’t go as we planned we tend to see that as failure. Depending on the seriousness of the situation we might then get angry, irritated, sad, depressed, worried, guilty or whatever. None of this serves any useful purpose. In fact, it can lead us to give up, exactly when we need to push on.
But what happens if we see the situation as feedback rather than failure. A real life demonstration of how not to do something? Instead of being wrong we’ve learned something. Instead of feeling bad we are free to form a new plan of action and try again. Is this cosy, rosy-tinted ‘positive thinking’? Not exactly.
Edison identified about a 1,000 ways not to make a light bulb before he found a suitable material for the filament. A number of best-selling books (i.e. million sellers plus film) were turned down by more than two dozen publishers before they were accepted for publication. Then there was the poor talent scout at Decca records who rejected the Beatles as having no future in music!
Perseverance is one of the most important traits we need to develop to overcome challenges, to maintain motivation and to succeed. In several of our youth programs, this was kept on a poster in the room where we worked. Whenever something didn’t work, we would point to the poster, and ask what feedback we could gain from the experience, develop a new plan and go from there.
Try it, it is useful.
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
Ray Hoskins and Associates is pleased to announce the availability of life coaching services! Life Coaching is a goal focused process in which we help you identify, clarify and achieve achievement goals. According to Einstein, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. A coach can help you shift your thinking into a new perspective… And a great coach has enough experience to share to help you make that shift quickly. Our personal coaching services can help you: Some of our services can occur online, through Skype chat and through other means. Ray has been providing personal counseling and coaching services since the early 1970s. He is a Master Practitioner of Neuro Linquistic Programming, and has been since 1993. He has many years of coaching and personal consultation experience in a variety of settings. We have trained other practitioners who are also able to work with you as needed. To contact us, click below and enter your contact number or email ray@rayhoskins.com 
Our coaching processes can usually help you, regardless of the life changes you want to make. Call or email us today for your first consultation.
Posted via web from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
In the last few years, a number of states have decided to cut adoption subsidies as a means of cutting child welfare costs. It is a classic example of government not making sense. The bottom line reason for this is that adoption saves money, even when the subsidies are much higher than the usual subsidies are paid to families that adopt children from the system. Attached is a research article on the value of adoption, outlining the reduced costs in many areas, and the improved outcomes when children are adopted.
In one study, 58% of families stated that adoption wouldn’t have been possible without an adoption subsidy. As adoption subsidies are almost always less than foster care per diem, that study alone indicates that without guaranteed subsidies, we are likely to experience a reduction in adoptions, and, increased costs to the state.
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
Posted via email from Ray Hoskins and Associates Posterous Site
