NEWS + RESOURCES

Fred Finch Youth Center is committed to providing resources and information for our stakeholders.

News and Resources offers a marketplace to find resources that we value and learn from as well as a library of our own publications.

We are proud to share with you what’s happening at Fred Finch Youth Center (FFYC) this Spring of 2010.
 
FFYC in San Diego:

• In February, we expanded our San Diego wraparound program to serve an additional 40 youth and their families.  This means we can now serve 205 youth who are referred by San Diego County Mental Health or Juvenile Probation Departments.
• We also just received our first referral to a completely new FFYC program designed for youth and their families referred by the San Diego Regional Center.  We used our extensive experience providing wraparound services as a model and adapted it for youth who have intellectual/developmental disabilities.  The service will provide assistance to youth and their families as needed to support the youth continuing to live at home and avoid need for out-of-home care.

• The FFYC Community mental Health programs in Alameda County are expanding by 70 youth which almost doubles the number of youth and families we can serve.

• Due to changes in needs for services and fiscal conditions we had to make the difficult decision to close the Bridges of Solano residential program.  Our staff and staff from the Regional Center and County Social Services are ensuring initiation of continuing services that are preferred by the youth and families.  Fortunately, we had sufficient space to modify our Avalon residential program in Oakland to serve two additional youth.  This will be helpful for youth and families who might have been served in Solano.

RECENT NEWS - FFYC STAFF PRESENT AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE

On June 25, 2009 two FFYC staff members presented at the Building on Family Strengths Conference - Research and Services in Support of Children and Their Families, hosted by Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

The national conference provided the latest research and best practice information on two very important aspects of service provision: the inclusion of youth voice, and philosophies of wraparound in mental health care and social services.

Mr. Wendell Webber, Youth Partner, and Mr. Benjamin Blake, MFT, Wraparound Services Program Director, co-presented their paper on Hiring, Training and Retaining Former Foster Youth as Youth Partners on Wraparound Teams.  The presentation focused on recruiting former foster youth and working to meet the specific needs of the former foster youth population.

Wendell is a former foster youth who was hired as a youth partner at FFYC in 2008.  His previous experience navigating the foster care system is now part of a unique tool kit he uses in his work with the youth and families in the Wraparound Program in San Diego County.  "Everything you live, let it be your strength; let it be a part of you and enable it to help someone else," Wendell states of his daily work helping youth and families in need.

What did Wendell think of his experience traveling to Oregon to present at the Building Strengths Conference?  "I always had dreams of traveling and going to Oregon opened me up to a whole new world"the conference was an amazing opportunity and made me realize I am an expert in providing high quality wraparound services.  I will never forget the impact I had on the audience and how engaged they were.”

Ben Blake, who directs the Wraparound Services Program in San Diego County, underscored FFYC's expertise at the conference and in the field.  "Fred Finch Youth Center has been a pioneer in California's implementation of wraparound services, and the success and effectiveness we have in helping families change their  lives  demonstrates our abilities and expertise in the field.  The Conference was a compliment to our work."

For more information on how you can get involved and help change lives, please contact us at development@fredfinch.org or 510.485.5301.