Celebrities Step Up for Foster Soles

Last night at Bar Celona in Pasadena's Old Towne was the festive launch of our annual fundraiser Foster Soles. Chaired by Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of Dr. Drew on HLN, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and Loveline, the kickoff event and the online auction of celebrity items in May has served in a particular way to increase awareness about the challenges facing children in the foster care system. More than 500,000 children are in foster are nationwide and 34,000 receive child welfare services in Los Angeles alone.

We are fortunate to have supporters like Dr. Drew and Susan Pinsky, who are so willing to advocate for the services and programs we provide to vulnerable children and families. They, along with Hillsides Foster Soles Committee, have reached out to their celebrity friends to garner more than 150 auction items for this year’s event.

Some highlights of this auction include:

• Elton John and band autographed guitar strap
• Foo Fighters autographed drum top REMO Weatherking Emperor X
• Burn Notice Cast of 7 donated items worn on the set of Burn Notice
• Janet Jackson autographed silver and blue Nike Shox TL2 tennis shoes size 7.5
• Jennifer Lopez autographed black and gold Adidas ME lace-up boots size 7.5, autographed Jennifer Lopez "LOVE?" album, autographed Glow by JLo eau de toiletter (100ml) and autographed Glow by JLo body lotion and autographed headshot
• Apparel and handbags from Alyssa Milano (t-shirts from her collection) and Jenny McCarthy (handbag)
• Shoes from Elton John Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Denzel Washington, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jon Cryer, Janet Jackson, Dancing With the Stars dancers, Mario Lopez, George Lopez, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel, to name a few
• Athletic shoes and apparel from Sugar Ray Leonard (shoes and robe!), Dodgers James Loney, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Horry, LA Strikers, Stan Smith, James Stewart Jr.
• Autographed books by Tori Spelling, Nancy Grace, James Van Praagh, Chelsea Handler, Kristi Yamaguchi, Lara Spencer
• Celebrity experiences include: Meet ‘N’ Greets on the set of "The Community" with Joel McHale; Meet ‘N’ Greet on the set of Extra! with Mario Lopez;  Behind-the-Scenes at HLN with Dr. Drew Pinsky; 30 minute session with self-proclaimed medium, James Van Praagh; VIP tickets to “The Price is Right;” Two tickets on the New TMZ Hollywood Tour - Secrets & Celebrity Hotspots
• Dress worn on the red carpet premiere of “True Blood” by Janina Gavankar
• Designer jeweler from Cristina Ferrare Design and SN Queens

We have many more items that can be viewed on our eBay.com store until May 5 when it closes. Funds raised as a result of this auction go directly to enhance services to foster children and youth in our care. 

One of the services supported by Foster Soles is the creative arts program offered to residents of Hillsides in-house treatment program in Pasadena. As an expression of their appreciation, a number of these children decorated their own used sneakers and had them displayed at the event as a tangible reminder of the direct benefit that they receive from the generous support of Foster Soles.

This event is a great opportunity to get involved to support our mission. You can participate in several ways: view our auction, share with your friends via Twitter and Facebook, bid for items, or visit our website and donate. Everyone can take a small step in making a difference in the lives of those we serve. Join with all those who gathered at the launch party to help make a difference in the lives of all we serve.   

Access to Mental Health is Diverted

This past week I attended the annual meeting of the National Council of Community Behavioral Healthcare. Promoting effective and quality care, the conference gathered an extraordinary array of providers and consumers of mental health services from around the country.

As is often the case, I leave these conferences invigorated and resolved to be evermore committed to the care we offer to all we serve. Almost 60 percent of the revenues of Hillsides' annual operating budget is derived from mental health reimbursable services. The provision of mental health services is the greatest common denominator of care within all our programs and so it is essential to stay current with practice and trends in the delivery of care.

Because perhaps I take for granted the availability of mental health services, I was surprised to learn that only one-third of children in need of mental health care are ever treated. This kind of care denied during childhood and adolescence results in the need for mental health treatment of 50 percent of adults in care!

How is it that only one-third of children in need are treated? More likely than not, it is the result of poor diagnosis or the temptation to minimize any disorder hoping the child will "out grow it." Even when symptoms persist, the stigma associated with mental illness is also a deterrent.

In addition to our predisposition to tolerate, ignore or minimize mental health issues of children, care is also costly, providing yet another reason to avoid treatment. This is a very dangerous combination that results in creating considerable risks for our children. Often it is early intervention and treatment that are most effective in helping children and their families to successfully address the challenges presented because of mental illness.

Beginning in July, the burden of providing mental health services for children in California shifts from the responsibility of the local Mental Health Departments to the local public school systems. Most of these school systems are poorly equipped to take on this responsibility and are lacking the funds necessary to provide the services. At least 15 of our residents will have funding curtailed because of this shift, placing in jeopardy their need for ongoing treatment. Although we may identify some resources to prolong their care for a while longer, the chances of providing needed mental health services for children who may surface in the near future is pretty grim.

When you take all this into account, is it any wonder that only one-third of children in need of treatment receive it?

School systems are inadequately funded to provide these services and are in desperate need of our support. Resources are necessary to help them meet their responsibilities to their students. Although the solution goes beyond just additional funding, every effort must be made to adequately provide our schools with the resources needed to provide the care that our children require. Failure to address our children's mental health needs today only increases the likelihood of their suffering serious disorders as adults.

An Alarming Epidemic

As incredulous as the sex abuse of minors in the Catholic Church was, and most recently the Penn State scandal, we are now engrossed in yet another inconceivable scenario of sexual abuse allegation in the LAUSD school system. As is true in the Catholic Church regarding priests, and indeed true also for athletic coaches, the vast majority of teachers are talented, hard working and very dedicated in spite of fiscal constraints and poor conditions. However, the lesson that can be learned from the sexual abuse scandals is that mixed loyalties, shame and a protective institutional culture can result in placing those entrusted in our care at considerable harm.

For all of us who care for children, there is only one driving concern: their safety. Each time I address new staff members I remind them that the children we serve have experienced more than their share of trauma. Therefore, more than anything else, whether in words or actions, we must do no harm to those already so vulnerable. Before loyalties to one another or institution, must be our loyalty to those we serve.

Recently at a staff meeting, Thomas Lee, director of Youth Moving On, a transitional housing and service for youth aging out of the foster care system, stated that the majority of the young women enrolling in the YMO program have been sexually abused. How can that be? Sexual abuse statistics indicate that one in four teenage girls are sexually abused by the time they reach 18, and teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 are 3.5 times more likely than the general public to be victims of sexual abuse. What other conclusion can we reach, but that we are experiencing an epidemic where our children and youth are being exploited at an alarming rate.

This may seem an exaggeration, but I’m afraid that our discomfort with this issue often makes us minimize the insidious and pervasive nature of sexual abuse. This discomfort, together with misplaced loyalties and a protective, if not indeed, secretive environment, only perpetuates a problem that long ago should have been uprooted out of our culture.

The path to prevention of sexual abuse must be set by a commitment by all adults regardless of their caregiver status to protect children. Age and culturally appropriate education of this topic to our children within the family and supported by our school, churches and all civic organizations is the only true remedy. Without making children frightened, we need to teach them from an early age the distinction between appropriate and inappropriate behavior. Parents, teachers and all caregivers need to be able to recognize the signs of possible abuse and create a sense of safety and security that would allow children to report abusive activity. Early education and intervention is essential to mitigating this “epidemic.”

April is Sexual Abuse Awareness month and so it is important not only for us to confront this sad reality, but more importantly, resolve to do everything we can to keep our children safe.

Back to the Earth

Having grown up in New England, when I first moved to California I missed the changing of the seasons. However, after fifteen years in the Golden State, I’ve become accustomed to the subtle changes that mark the seasons, noticing the movement from cold and rainy season to the invigorating air of spring that brings with it the aromas of new life budding. There is something therapeutic about the rhythm of the seasons and it is important to utilize this natural movement in addressing the needs of the children and youth we serve.

This past week a handful of our residents, led by Art Director Kim Ha and staff, accompanied by wonderful volunteers from our H100 group, joined forces with the Armory Center for theArts to build the FARMory, an educational garden. They cleared a vacant lot in Pasadena to begin the process of transforming it from a derelict parcel to an urban garden that will provide fruits, vegetables and flowers. What a great exercise to celebrate the beginning of spring, filling all involved with the hope of seeing their efforts yield much benefit.

This is such an important activity for those we serve. Often consumed by their own hurts, they fail to appreciate what they can do to make a difference. Preoccupied with concerns that are burdensome, this activity offers the kind of distraction that allows these young people to learn how they can channel their energy to transform what was abandoned. Surrounded by extraordinarily generous and selfless people, they learn, by their example, that they are part of a community that values them.

Springtime is about transformation and this wonderful opportunity was indeed transformative for all involved. Their efforts will bring about new life. The results will far exceed the harvest of this once abandoned parcel of land.

For many of us, this week is a time of religious celebrations recalling our own efforts to be transformed in heart and spirit to lead fuller lives. In our own way at Hillsides, we join with all who cherish this great season of new birth, confident that our many efforts to transform the lives of those we serve will lead to a new life for them filled with hope.

Happy Easter and a Blessed Passover!