FSSWH - Winter 2003

Newsletter Articles for Winter 2003

FSSWH Celebrates Silver! by JoAnn Farnsworth, Executive Director Emeritus & Board Member
	For 25 years members of our community of West Hawaii have been demonstrating their commitment to support families and prevent child maltreatment through their support of and service with Family Support Services. We are blessed to have such caring people who had the foresight in 1979 to file Non-Profit Articles of Incorporation as West Hawaii Family Support Council. Their mission was to educate and engage community members to stop the escalating abuse of children and address housing concerns. Many of those people are still actively supporting families and supporting Family Support Services. It wasn’t until 1981 that the Council received its 501©3 status from the IRS. Through the years the name has changed to Family Support Services of West Hawaii and the mission further articulated "to support families and communities in providing love and care for our children." Hundreds of staff helped do the work and many hundreds of donors have provided financial support. We are thankful to have such a rich history. When I came to work for FSSWH in 1989 a lot of work had already been done. Home visiting and hospital screening of newborns, the precursor to Healthy Start, had been taking place since the early 1980’s on a very small-scale basis. Administratively, the work was done under the auspices of Kapiolani Hospital System and staff were all employees of Kapiolani. Prior to 1985, there was only one full time staff person doing hospital screening and outreach. In 1985 Donna Kube was the Program Director and expanded the program to include a full time home visitor and a half time hospital based family assessment worker. When Donna left in 1986, JoAnn Freed was hired to take her place as Program Director. The offices were in one of the Konawaena cottages, (still my favorite office). By this time the program was called Healthy Start and funded through a 5 year federal demonstration grant. It wasn’t until 1986, when Kapiolani spun off all of the neighbor island programs, that staff became employees of Family Support Services and the Board took on the responsibilities of being a legal and fiscal board as opposed to an advisory council. Terry Rhodes was the first President of the Board. But things were changing fast. Based on positive early evaluations, Healthy Start was being picked up by our state legislature under the leadership of Senator Yamasaki from Maui. There were now five Healthy Start staff and a Respite Care Center started at Christ Episcopal Church. 1988 was the year the Board understood that FSSWH was growing rapidly and there was a need for management beyond what could be provided by one staff person - JoAnn Freed, our busy Program Director. The decision was made to create the position of Executive Director. I was hired in 1989 to fill that position. There were five full-time staff, a budget of $150,000 and we were housed in the garage behind the Korner Pocket, (not my favorite location). We became one of 10 Federal Demonstration grants for Respite Care Centers and funding for a Kona Healthy Start program was included in the state budget. (The first year of state funding for Healthy Start in Kona was overlooked and only Hilo received funding). The Board became very active at this point, meeting monthly with David Garcia as President. During the early nineties we began to envision a continuum of support services available for families with young children: walk-in access to parent education and resource referrals; respite care; early intervention services; screening of families with newborns and home visiting; and, a multidisciplinary team approach to assist families in the Child Welfare Services system - the MIST team. Additionally, we wanted these opportunities to be available for families where they lived - services in Ka’u, Waimea, and Hawi , as well as Kona. Our vision started to become a reality with the opening of the Kona Family Center, the establishment of geographically based teams, and the Mother Infant Support Team in 1991. All this required additional facilities in the Kona Coast Shopping Center, the family centers in Ka’u and Hawi, and an office in Waimea. By now there were approximately 30 staff and an annual budget of close to $500,000.00. We moved to a much larger office area in Mango Court in Kealakekua. We never imagined that during the next ten years our staff would more than double, our budget would increase six fold, and our ability to reach and engage families would become our greatest asset. During the early and mid nineties we focused on building our early education programs, bringing in The Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters program, the Kealakehe Intermediate Parental Assistance Center, early intervention services for children 0-3 and, in 1996, Early Head Start. Also in the mid-nineties the board, with growing concern about our pregnant and parenting teens and the limited positive options for youth activities and future employment, started our Youth Outreach Programs. These programs were designed to address the intergenerational cycle of child abuse as well as the poor, long-term outcomes faced by children born to teen parents and parents receiving public assistance. By the mid-nineties our annual operating budget was $ 1,086,000.00. These were large tasks and in order to accomplish them FSSWH entered into numerous partnerships and collaborations with the Department of Health, Maternal and Child Health, Bridge House, Family Court and many others. During these critical growth years the agency received strong leadership from the board under the leadership of its Presidents, Cynnie Salley and Bob Laird. Our funding during this period was dominated with contracts from the State of Hawaii. We realized our vulnerability when, in 1996, the legislature did not pick up the Family Center statewide pilot project. As a result, the Board made the decision to beef up our community based fundraising activities. They received training in private fundraising and created the position of Development Director. We actively began to decrease our reliance on state funds, by increasing both federal funds and private donor funds. The Early Head Start (EHS) program, a federal contract, started off very small. We started off with 27 families, but we knew that with good performance on our part the funding would grow and the potential to serve families with children 0-3 was very large. We have been successful in this strategy and currently the budget has grown to allow us to provide Early Head Start to 57 families. Managing a federal contract as complex as EHS required FSSWH to increase its capacity in the areas of accounting and management information systems. New software was purchased and new staff positions filled. Also, in 1996 FSSWH entered into a partnership with Kapiolani Child Protection Center to provide comprehensive community based services for families known to the Child Protective Services System, a large contract with the Department of Human Services. Providing behavioral and mental health treatment services was new for us and required that we increase our organizational capacity on a number of levels. We created the position of Clinical Director, as well as began the process to become accredited with the Council for Accreditation for Children and Families. Opening this program brought in upwards to 20 new staff and a need for additional office space as well. There were numerous decisions made during the end of the nineties to both ensure the performance of the services FSSWH provided and to keep us strategically positioned. As a community based organization we were at risk for our programs being taken over by larger mainland and Honolulu based corporations. We needed to be very good at what we did and be able to prove it. We completed a strategic planning process which allowed us to track and publish the outcomes we wished to accomplish. We received accreditation, created a Deputy Director position, and initiated a signature event, An Old Hawaii Night. We moved downtown to the Village Professional Plaza to be in a more central location and more visible to the business community. By the end of the century FSSWH had grown to serve over 3000 families a year. The organization had a staff of sixty and an annual budget of over $2 million dollars. It was also a time when I felt the need for me to move on, to have more time for myself and my family, and time to pursue my interests in the family policy arena. Don Bebee was hired in early 2000 to become the second Executive Director. I’ll let Don tell you the rest and bring you up to date on our current programs and accomplishments. Since 2000, I have remained active on FSSWH board committees and am a present member of the Board of Directors. I continue to be proud of the outstanding work the staff provides the children, youth and families of West Hawaii.
The Common Denominator - to prevent child abuse and neglect by Cynnie Salley, Board of Directors
	Often, I have been asked what my story is and why I have chosen FSSWH as the place to put my efforts. What is it that touches my heart with this agency? It is difficult to fully answer these questions. On a personal level, I have a deep-seated belief in helping others become all that they are capable of being, in order to reach their full potential. I also hope that this world can be a better place because of my existence. And, as a Christian, I am mandated to try to follow the example set by Christ in reaching out to others. This is the foundation upon which I build my volunteer work. But why have I chosen FSSWH for this effort? I believe that the common denominator of most of our social ills is child abuse and neglect. The facts and figures are astounding: 90% plus of people on death row were abused as children, most prostitutes were abused as children, almost all women with multiple personality disorder were abused as children and drug use leads to child abuse. What happens to us as children has a profound impact on our adult behavior. Unfortunately, we tend to pass on what we learn and abused children become abusers. Child abuse and neglect is a multi-generational spiral into a dark abyss with no end. If we can curb and prevent the child abuse and neglect that happens in our community, we will have a much better place in which to live and raise our families. I believe that prevention programs are the key to a better community - programs which make important contributions to our community, such as FSSWH’s Healthy Start, where all babies born in hospitals in West Hawaii are evaluated for their potential at having a good start in life. If a family needs help, we provide a three-year program offering weekly home visits during the first year. We teach parenting skills and help parents make sure their baby has physical check-ups and immunization shots. We’re there, on call for questions and simply to help in any way we can. The second year the visits are twice a month and in the third year we visit once a month. For these families, the outcomes are wonderful! As a result of Healthy Start, 99% of these children are free of child abuse and neglect! And, this is only one of many programs FSSWH runs. Babies and children are so helpless. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,300 child fatalities in 2001, or between 3 and 4 per day, are caused by child abuse, alone. This translates to a rate of 1.81 children per 100,000 in the general population. Think of the terror and pain these children experience. Our children need our help because we are all they have - you and I - and our community needs to protect our young to ensure their safety and the safety of this beautiful part of Paradise. This is where my heart is - with helping our children escape the grip of fear and helping them grow up, healthy and happy. At the core, the programs at FSSWH are designed to prevent child abuse and neglect. And that’s why I’ve served on their committees and Board for many years. Let’s all try to make a difference in a child’s life.
Viewpoint by Don Bebee, Executive Director
	And here’s the "Rest of the Story!" I was hired as the Executive Director of FSSWH in early 2000 but my story began a few months earlier. Being new to the island and knowing that I wanted to work in the prevention arena, I began "looking around." I had years of professional experience in a variety of settings in helping others including taking over a bankrupt non-profit youth organization in Arkansas and building it up from the ground floor. So this time I wanted to apply what I had learned over the years but hopefully in a more solid organization and preferably one that dealt with the whole family. After visiting with lots of folks, the same message kept coming up – "You belong at Family Support Services of West Hawaii!" I guess it was meant to be since I learned that their very capable Executive Director, JoAnn Farnsworth, was stepping down. I had the luxury of starting with a solid foundation, excellent programs and an incredibly talented staff plus wonderful community support. What a deal! I learned that a lot of rapid growth had occurred in the previous few years so a goal was set to improve infrastructure, refine what we were doing, and only expand into those areas we were already working in. That’s what we did for the next couple of years as our staff increased to about eighty and our budget approached $3.8 million. We also began noticing that drugs were becoming more visible in the homes we were working in and the effects were obviously damaging. So we began moving into that arena but still in a prevention mode. Numerous collaborations were formed, the creation of community responses to drug coalitions and securing funds to directly implement drug abuse prevention programs with youth. We are having many successes but we realize that much more effort is needed to turn this around. FSSWH is committed for the long haul and we are optimistic that by joining with others we will create a healthier community for our families. And yes, we are 25 years old and because of wonderful people on staff and in the community, we are ready to head out for another twenty-five! This will not be possible without your continued support. So, Mahalo to you for becoming a part of the FSSWH family!
*Remembering Back . . .*
	David Garcia is one of the founders of the original Family Support Services Council of 1979. He recalls that the Council began in response to an invitation by TIFFE (The Institute for Family Enrichment) to attend an educational program on the "cycle of anger." The group that attended the program included Debbie Abreu, Janice Baxter, Marilyn Yangston, Rafael Ramirez, Connie Santana, Meg Greenwell and himself. A small, loose association formed over concerns about the lack of social support services in Kona which became the basis for further gatherings and discussions. In a brief span of time, the core group decided to incorporate with the State of Hawaii, becoming more formal, though all remained volunteers. Shortly thereafter the Council was approached by the Dept of Health, Loretta Fuddy, and asked to oversee a program for children, birth to 3, which later became the Healthy Start program. The Council housed, supervised and oversaw the work of the Dept. of Health to get the first program going. The first screener for Healthy Start was Virginia Enos, who screened for potential child abuse and neglect cases. Mahalo to David Garcia for bringing to FSSWH a box of early files and interesting memorabilia from 1978 up to the 1990’s. Today, David is the Assistant Unit Manager of the Kona Unit at Queen Liliuokalani Children’s Center.
My Meaningful Reflection on "Collective Empowerment" by Gail Tamashiro, Early Head Start Parent Partner
	As part of our Fall graduate assignment at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, I felt honored to respond to JoAnn Bishop Freed's research review on "Collective Empowerment.” I began reminiscing of our Early Head Start Special Quest trip to California where I met parents of special needs children from different states who were “empowered” to make a significant difference in the public school system. I clearly remember the clips of these beautiful children who have now passed on and whose parents fought for their rights till the end. The bold, confident and determined parents left such an impact on my life as I represented my own child with special health needs at this conference. Almost seven years ago as a new employee of Family Support Services of West Hawaii, my life was once in turmoil caring for my infant with special health needs. The frequent early morning emergency visits to the hospital, the numerous hours of missed work, left incredible stress on my family and me. I have understood the meaning and support of a “model that strengthens and empowers family members so that they are able to support the development of their special needs child” through my Director, JoAnn Bishop Freed. When my child was fighting for his life, she modeled the “sensitivity to need, the ability to listen and communicate and the capacity to build something new together.” Her genuine love, care and support through my crisis of caring for my ill child has brought me through many obstacles as an individual, and as an employee, throughout these years. It is through JoAnn’s example that I have reciprocated this same “role-model” approach of collective empowerment to my Early Head Start families.” I know the true meaning of collective empowerment through my Director’s “trusting relationship, her help-giving style and her sensitivity to our children and families.” Therefore, I am able to empower my parents with the same genuine qualities JoAnn has always shown me.
*FSSWH: A Place of Learning and Personal Growth* by Jan Marrack, Family Counselor
	Family Support Services has grown tremendously since I was hired in November of 1990, and then, so have I. There were just two programs in 1990, Healthy Start and Parent Support Nursery, which was respite care. Family Support Services had received a grant from the Department of Human Services to establish a Family Center in Kona. The two JoAnn’s, JoAnn Freed and JoAnn Farnsworth, were delighted to have the chance to provide a place where the entire community could receive primary prevention services including access to programs already existing in the community. I remember well that as soon as I was hired, Joann Farnsworth gave me a copy of the Family Center grant proposal and left for a well-deserved, long vacation. I was terrified, and when I asked who was going to help me, she said I would figure it out and that it was good for me to find my own power. I had never worked in the human services field before and had no idea what DOH meant, but JoAnn was right. I did figure things out; or rather, they evolved. Toni Symons started in January and the two of us opened the first Family Center in the state in the spring of 1991. We had a great location in the courtyard of Kona Coast Shopping Center. While families waited for their food from Kona Mix Plate, their children wandered through our door, enticed by the many toys in our Toy Lending Library. When their parents came to retrieve them, we would talk story. That was one of the best ways to let people know about all the services we offered. Through the Family Center we were able to build relationships with all of the providers in the community. Toni and I learned by doing. Every time we helped a family, we learned a little more. There were classes for parents and children, parenting classes, assistance for families who needed documents translated, support for parents who couldn’t handle their children, and simply a friendly ear for the isolated and lonely. We helped the sick, the hungry, the homeless, the mentally ill and people like us who were just going through a rough patch. I remember our core belief - that all families need support at one time or another. We were also involved at the community level and had an awesome annual Family Fun Day for parents and children out at the Old Airport ball field. The Family Center was so successful that it became a model for the State. Satellite Centers were opened in Ka’u and Kohala. These Centers are still going strong today. But, sadly, in Kona the Family Center lost its location and funding and eventually lost its energy. I came away with incredible gifts. I learned to run a program, create my own budgets, write grant proposals, and lobby the legislature. I learned to work with an active advisory board, facilitate community meetings, plan events, present at conferences and speak to community groups. The program, support and mentoring I received were great gifts and have been a strong influence on who I am today. I was the part-time Director for the Family Centers in Kona and Ka’u, and the part-time Program Coordinator for Families In Transition, a collaborative effort for families going through divorce. After that, I became the Supervisor for Healthy Start for a year. It became clear to me that if I wanted to be competent in my field, remain employable and have more earning power, I needed to go back to school. I entered the University of Hawaii Masters in Social Work program in 1997. I worked three quarters time (and later half time) as the EID supervisor for Healthy Start with Michelle Saldua and Sandy Kondo. I did an internship with Queen Liluokalani Children’s Center and a second one with FSSWH’s Child Welfare Services. (I had wanted to intern at Green Chimney’s in New York to learn to use animals therapeutically in work with children, but we couldn’t make that happen.) When Healthy Start added the position of Clinical Specialist to help families with issues of drug abuse, domestic violence, maternal depression and mental health, I jumped at the opportunity. When I finished graduate school, I realized I had learned a lot but I also became aware of all that I didn’t know. For me Family Support Services of West Hawaii has been a place of learning and personal growth. Every staff member and every family has been my teacher. The agency has given me tremendous opportunities and the credibility of the organization has given me support. My greatest love is community work - identifying a need and working with others to find a way to meet it. In this way, I feel “part of the whole.” Social work is all about relationships. We must never forget this. I am grateful to Family Support Services of West Hawaii for being a part of my journey.
Happy New Year and Mahalo to Our Ohana
	It’s easy to see our friends as extended family when “year in and year out” they provide generous support through donations! Several wonderful businesses adopted several of our families or made specific donations for meals for Christmas - Macy’s, Kona Natural Foods, Farnham Associates Marketing Solutions, Video Showplace, and KTA. We can name these names, but not the generous people who work at these places. That’s because, they’re Anonymous Donors. They are the beloved “windfall” our families (and FSSWH) love. These, and many other businesses around town, gave generously. Though we don’t know your names, we thank you profusely! It’s time for another sincere thank you to our family friends Bev & Mike Frazier at Video Showplace! Again this year their efforts fed 125 families in West Hawaii! Lovingly conceived and orchestrated by Mike and Bev, their Holiday Meals project has inspired members of our community to give what they can to families in need. Now in its fourth year, the Video Showplace Christmas Tree has brought in over 425 meals for families throughout West Hawaii! This year, too, KTA Keauhou joined the spirit of giving by providing the turkey dinners with all the trimmings at cost. Honoring their community with the “promise of hope” for families in need, KTA has established the benchmark for corporate philanthropy. Mahalo for their generosity! Special Mahalo to Ralph and Jean Jewell of Kailua Bay Charter Company for taking over 60 FSSWH family members for free rides on their Glassbottom boat! This was a wonderful holiday treat over thtree days last December and was enjoyed by all, including the staff who tagged along. We appreciate your generosity to FSSWH and to our community! Daniel Thiebaut held his second annual Tea for Tots last December, creating a sparkle in the eyes of all who attended! Besides the delicious food and terrific toys the event provided, FSSWH received a couple hundred dollars in contributions from our community! Mahalo to Daniel and to all who attended! For the second year our beloved Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union held it’s “Market Days” event selling produce and gifts with all the proceeds coming to FSSWH! This year was better than ever with proceeds at $4,500! The HCFCU matched those funds for a total donation of $9,000! Mahalo, big time!!! Our Host A Dinner campaign keeps rolling along: Special thanks to Catherine Hawkins and Kathy Geliga for their $400 “Parade for Early Head Start!” To our favorite friend and Board member, John Ray, we say thank you for his elegant $550 dinner! To Board members Cynnie Salley and Jasmine Locatelli there’s nothing we can say except WOW! for their $2,100 SMASH HIT Dinner! Mahalo! To find out more about this ongoing fundraising for FSSWH - call Jude Lyon at 334-4115. To the entire FSSWH staff, what can one say? You make our programs and services happen and encourage our families and children to succeed. Each and every one of you are important to our team and to our community at large. Thank you for all your hard work and, especially, your “aloha hearts.”
A Future Built On Intelligence, Strength & Optimism by Judith Lyon, Development Director
	A quarter of a century has passed since the first gathering of people who came together to form what is now known as FSSWH. These people formed the entirely voluntary West Hawaii Family Support Council to discuss the issues of their time - the health and welfare of Hawaii’s families, housing, health and education. Their interests reflected social justice for the poor and the elimination of stresses that cause child abuse and neglect. This Council embraced many of the social problems of the late 70’s and early ‘80’s, becoming an umbrella group that spun off a number of grants and consequent organizations. Under the auspices of Kapiolani in Oahu, the Council oversaw the operations of what would become Healthy Start. The Hawaii Family Stress Center joined the Council to apply for a grant to operate Healthy Start and the Council formed the Kona Family Support Services Project to perform the actual work. From this project, Family Support Services of West Hawaii evolved. Snips of old newspaper clippings lay in a box of FSSWH memorabilia given to us recently by one of the Family Support Council’s founders (and later a FSSWH Board President), David Garcia. A beautiful essay, In Praise of Old Houses, written by artist Herb Kane in 1980 has turned yellow at the corner of its pages. The Council supported Kane’s concepts on public housing, though they differed on the urgency of need. During this era, the Council identified needs for group housing, a crisis shelter, housing for teen runaways and housing for indigent families. In the end, the Hawaii County Planning Commission took a vote and neither the Council nor Herb Kane (and over 800 petition supporters) won their dedicated positions. The 50 unit low-income housing at Keahou was built despite cries for an environmental impact study and the expressed desire for a Hawaiian style complex instead of a mainland concrete project. Meanwhile, Donna Kube, the first Coordinator for the Kona Family Support Service Project, kept her nose to the grindstone, arguing hard for an increased grant-in-aid from the 1982 Hawaii legislature. Noting that only KFSSP worked to prevent child abuse and neglect, she identified the areas where money for services would be helpful. She did so by listing the dramatic numbers of the people she served: 30 mothers under age18; 35 infants with low birth rates; 63 premature babies born at Kona Hospital - 9 with birth defects; 25 cesarean births; 20 pregnant teens, one pregnant 9 year old, and 60 pregnancies, annually, at the only local high school. Kube’s request was for the Senate to reinstate their budget cuts - back to $98,000.00 statewide - because Kona, alone, needed $30,000.00. The Council also addressed the issue of child sexual assault, spinning off a grant that initiated organizations like today’s Children’s Justice Center. And, it supported Hawaii Mental Health Association’s Community Friends program and their need for Vista Volunteers to work with chronically mentally ill people in the community. The Council became the sounding board for needs throughout West Hawaii, considering and supporting numerous organizations interested in the common cause to “help others.” In David Garcia’s box of old Council and FSSWH files a 14-page “how to” manual is attached to a 3-page list of human resource services then available in Kona. The manual, entitled, Tactical Investigations for People’s Struggles, by Barry Greever, instructs the reader to use intelligence, or essential elements of information, to discover patterns of behavior and activity in order to use the patterns tactically “in struggles against class, racial and sexual oppression.” The limited list of resources included Family Support Services (FSSWH), Alcoholics Anonymous, Child Protective Services, social programs of the YMCA/YWCA, the Alu Like Native Hawaiian Program, Dept. of Social Services, Housing & Kona Food Stamps, the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Planned Parenthood and a few more. The compilation of listings remarkably reflect the “people’s struggles” in West Hawaii at that time. While looking at the contents of an old box of accumulated papers can’t truly define the dreams and desires of FSSWH’s founders, it does afford a large measure of satisfaction. Though the Council could not accomplish all they sought to do, they had a terrific impact on West Hawaii. These great thinkers and selfless advocates built a strong foundation for what FSSWH has become. They hired impressive leadership, FSSWH’s first Executive Director, JoAnn Farnsworth, who inspired significant achievement in the goal to eliminate child abuse and neglect in West Hawaii, a primary goal of the original founders. To our founders (who signed the articles of incorporation for the Council) - Raphael Ramirez, Marilyn Yangston, Janice Baxter, Connie Santana, Terry Rhodes and David Garcia – we express a sincere and humble mahalo. Because of the foundation you built for FSSWH, we now look forward to a future built on intelligence, strength and optimism – the characteristics you demonstrated 25 years ago.
Special Mahalos!
	Special Mahalo to the volunteers from Hualalai Regency for their work assembling and posting by zip code this issue of the Newsletter! Thank you to our 25th Anniversary Committee for their can do attitude and excellent planning, and for continuing the legacy and dedication to families and children in West Hawaii! Michael Kramer Marian Alfaro Carlos Perez Catherine Hawkins Tina Watai Shannon Ramierz Lorie Casuga Sonny Guerra Phranda Wolfe Liz Morriss Judith Lyon Mahalo to WorldMark by Trendwest – Sue Lester & Rita Smith – for the recent, very large donation of fabulous furniture to FSSWH! The furniture, estimated at a value of $25,000.00, went to dozens of FSSWH families from Kohala to Ka’u! Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union Big Island Television - Hawaii's Aloha Channel
For Whom "Quality Is A Never Ending Journey"
	Who are FSSWH’s elder leaders? The following dedicated individuals have been an integral part of FSSWH’s staff for more than 10 years! JoAnn Freed (1985) Sandy Kondo (1989) Teresa Alderdyce (1989) Jan Marrack (1990) Michele Saldua (1991) Mary “Biz” Alley (1991) Debbie Bertelman (1992)