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Community Partner Spotlight: Behavioral Health Providers

May 24th, 2022

At Children’s Cove we know how important immediate clinical assistance and community support is to children and non-offending families following a traumatic event. Our Trauma Informed Provider Network works with our Mental Health Coordinator Kristine Monteiro, and Family Services Coordinator, Kathy Fayerberg, to provide behavioral health services to the children and families we support.

During Mental Health Awareness Month, we want to acknowledge and highlight some critical behavioral health service providers on Cape Cod and the Islands.  We work with them or refer survivors and their families to them to promote healthy outcomes and help mitigate the stigma of child abuse.

• Child & Family Services
• Justice Resource Institute
• Gosnold, Inc
• Independence House
• NAMI Cape Cod & the Islands
• Nantucket Behavioral Health TASK Force
• Falmouth Human Services
• Outer Cape Health Services
• Cape Cod Healthcare Centers for Behavioral Health
• Bay Cove
• Northeast Health Services (Hyannis)
• Family Continuity (Hyannis, Nantucket)
• Mass Mentor (Sevita Health)
• Italian Home for Children
• Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Island Counseling Center and Connect to End Violence
• A Safe Place Nantucket
• Fairwinds Nantucket
• Nantucket Cottage Hospital Behavioral Health

Thank you to these critical community partners and their team members who serve the children and families of our region.

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A Community Free From Abuse

April 18th, 2022

At Children’s Cove, we are some of the hundreds of professionals across Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard serving the vulnerable in our community. During Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, it is critical to raise the visibility of the services available to our community.

If you are in or know of any child or person in an unsafe situation, there is a community of professionals who have made it their mission to help. Please reach out as everyone should live in a community free of abuse.

• Independence House, Inc., Hyannis  800.439.6507
• A Safe Place, Inc., Nantucket  508.228.2111
• CONNECT to End Violence, Martha’s Vineyard  508.696.7233
• Safe Harbor: Aquinnah Wampanoag Women’s Center, Aquinnah  508.955.9164
• DCF Child-At-Risk HOTLINE, Hyannis  800.792.5200

If you are not sure who to call, or where to seek support, click here. 

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Community Partners – Good Grief Cape Cod

March 18th, 2022

A few years ago, while attending the Cape Cod Mom’s Parent Resource Fair, we met a lot of incredible community organizations. The range of support services for children and families on Cape Cod and the Islands is incredible. One of those organizations, Good Grief Cape Cod, has become a close and valued partner.

Good Grief Cape Cod’s mission is to promote positive change as to how our society responds to grief. The agency offers community engagement opportunities, shares information, provides educational workshops and support systems that help children and families cope with death. Good Grief Cape Cod believes in and has research which supports their belief that children of all ages grieve. Good Grief was founded and is operated by Amy Wyman, a music therapist with a dual degree in Early Childhood Education and Child Life from Wheelock College as well as a Master’s in Expressive Art Therapies with a specialization in Music Therapy from Lesley University.

As organizations we support individuals who have experienced something traumatic. People find it difficult to discuss physical and sexual abuse as well as other crimes against children. It is not common for people to discuss the impacts of death, dying and loss. All of these issues affect children and are important conversations for healthy and supportive responses to children in need of care. Our friends at Good Grief Cape Cod help children and families process and learn how to discuss loss and grief.

Good Grief Cape Cod has a variety of community engagement services that include holding grief response workshops, donating hand-made stuffed bears to grieving families, offering retreats, hosting “meals that heal” for families who have recently experienced a loss, and providing individualized therapeutic response for children and families. The agency recognizes that death, loss, and grief impacts everyone in a variety of ways depending upon their age, faith, culture, and community. Supporting a child, family or any other individual who has experienced loss requires a special and authentic response.

At Children’s Cove, we have learned that loss is not only related to the death of a loved one. Grief is experienced by the loss of pets, the separation from friends, loved ones and relationships, or the removal of a parent figure due to arrest or incarceration.

Last year Jacob Stapledon, our Community Engagement and Education Coordinator appeared on the Cape Cod Mom’s Parent Pod  with Good Grief Cape Cod’s Amy Wyman and they discussed with host Amy Leonardi that when Covid-19 shut down the world, the lack of connection to others was a shared, and also individual, loss.

We need to talk about topics that scare us. By confronting these fears, by being transparent, open, and raw, we can help children heal. The incredible work done at Good Grief Cape Cod to assist grieving families and children cope with death is a vital resource for our region.

To learn more, visit their website, or call Amy Wyman at 774.392.8150

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Community Partners – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands

February 22, 2022

The ways in which children grow, learn, and develop are as varied as flowers in bloom. For some, they grow and thrive in any environment and circumstance, regardless of the weather or care. Others need specific conditions to grow, and if not met, will be stunted and underdeveloped. However, all of them when placed in an unnatural or traumatic environment, need specific support and intervention to truly thrive. Nationally, for nearly 120 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America have provided supportive mentoring to unlock the potential of children; to provide that additional support for children to thrive.

Here on Cape Cod and the Islands, our friends and community partners, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod & the Islands (BBBSCI), work with under-resourced families to provide their children with transformational, one-to-one professionally supported relationships with caring adult mentors, so that their children will thrive. Children’s Cove and BBBSCI share the belief in creating a community where children are free of abuse, their voices are heard, and where they can enjoy healthy, safe, and empowered lives. Our collaborative approach allows Children’s Cove to provide free training for staff and volunteers to recognize early indicators and respond to concerns of abuse. In turn, we provide opportunities for referrals of children we serve for safe and supportive mentors. BBBSCI want youth to achieve their full potential, which contributes to healthier families, better schools, brighter futures, and stronger communities. Through three innovative program models we allow children more opportunities to be paired with a mentor.

However, to meet this need, BBBSCI needs volunteer mentors to support children in our community. Beginning on March 1, 2022, they will be launching their “60 Guys in 30 Days” campaign to find safe and supportive mentors for boys across Cape Cod and the Islands. JR Mell, Executive Director of BBBSCI, tells us that “the reality is that since March of 2020, boys in need of a mentor have waited nearly twice as long for a Big Brother, and of our 70-child waiting list, 60 of them are boys.”

To try to shorten this wait list, BBBSCI will be at Bad Martha’s Brewery in East Falmouth on Thursday, February 24, 2022, from 5:30pm-7pm to kick off their campaign. The agency aims to provide a venue for people to join them, learn about the need for mentors, especially male mentors, and formally announce the launch of their campaign.

JR states “this night will be a way for people to come out, meet some of our current Bigs, staff, and get a better understanding of what it means to be a mentor with our program.”

There is no cost or commitment to attend the event. Bad Martha’s has generously donated their space and food for the night. Raffle prizes and a cash bar will be available for those interested. In addition, the venue has both indoor and outdoor heated space available to meet everyone’s COVID comfort levels.

If you are interested in volunteering to become a Big, want to learn more, or understand other ways you can support our community partners please join them at Bad Martha’s on February 24^th by registering on Eventbrite here. You can also find our more information on their Facebook Page or by calling 508.827.8170.

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Welcome to the Team

January 20, 2022

The team at Children’s Cove was joined last month by a new member to support the mission of the organization. Over the last several years, Children’s Cove has seen a steady increase of referrals from our multidisciplinary partners across Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard. To meet this rising need, Children’s Cove have hired Lauren Journet as a Forensic Interviewer. Lauren has joined the Victims Services team and will working directly with child victims and their non-offending caregivers to support their healthiest outcome.

Lauren grew up on Cape Cod and has focused her studies and career in the human services field. Lauren is passionate about being an advocate for children and working towards creating a safe and stable community environment for children to learn and grow. Lauren joins us after previously working at the Department of Children and Families in Plymouth.

As a Forensic Interviewer, Lauren will be leading one of the critical roles at Children’s Cove. The forensic interview is a multidisciplinary team approach to taking a child’s statement following a disclosure of abuse. The interview is a neutral, non-leading, developmentally sensitive, fact-finding process to maximize the amount of information needed for an investigation but done in a way which minimizes the trauma to the child.

Lauren will be receiving her specialized training to become a forensic interviewer in the next month and is meeting and engaging with MDT members and participating in current cases as an observer until that time.

Welcome to the team!

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Community Partners – Calmer Choice

December 21, 2021

At Children’s Cove, our team members work to support children and families through incredibly difficult situations. For those familiar with our work, and understanding the impacts of child sexual abuse, a frequent question our team members receive is “how do you do it?” There is an unspoken acknowledgement that for those in the professions such as law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, doctors and CNAs, mental health professionals and child advocacy center staff pay a toll for their roles in providing that service. Either witnessing the physical impact of trauma, or experiencing it second hand, the vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress is incredibly high.

For many, acknowledging this impact can be seen as a weakness. Either due the culture of the organization / field, or the personal implications of stating “I am having a hard time with this.” However, at Children’s Cove, we address secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and self-care right in the interview process. And the conversation is continued throughout the tenure of our team member at Children’s Cove. Addressing vicarious trauma effectively is incorporated in our requirements for national accreditation.

For the last few years, we incorporated several practices in the organization to address these issues as a part of our cases and include our multi-disciplinary partners as much as we can. However, over the last year we have looked for new ways to incorporate skills and self-care as we onboarded new staff members and look to the future. It was exciting for us to connect with Calmer Choice, which has started running programs with other child advocacy centers in the state, and with first responder agencies in our area.

Founded in 2010 Calmer Choice is an innovative, one-of-a-kind non-profit organization that has operated in twenty-eight schools and more than a dozen community-based organizations across Cape Cod. Calmer Choice has become a thought leader in the practice of secular mindfulness in education and is increasingly viewed as a catalyst for creating positive change in schools. The framework that guides Calmer Choice programming is grounded in current academic and scientific research on the benefits of social emotional learning, coupled with mindful awareness training for cognitive, emotional, physical, and social well-being and health.

Calmer Choice has partnered with researchers from Tufts, Yale, MIT, and Harvard to study the impact of its program with over 2,000 students. Evaluations support the effectiveness of the program, as well as demonstrate the feasibility, efficacy, and applicability of teaching these skills in public schools. Their incredible program has impacted more than 38,500+ children in eight school districts, reaching approximately 20% of all students and families living on Cape Cod.

Beginning in January, Children’s Cove team members will begin an eight-week course with facilitators from Calmer Choice to develop a personal mindfulness practice. These skills can have numerous benefits in everyday life, such as reducing anxiety and stress, and increasing stress management supporting healthy relationships, increasing positivity and empathy, improving immune system function, focus, attention and enhancing resilience. These skills will be incorporated into our team response and debriefing of cases and to maintain the overall wellness of the organization. We are looking forward to this course, and the continued partnership with Calmer Choice on Cape Cod.

If you would like to increase your own mindfulness practices, or to learn more about the programs offered by Calmer Choice, they have a YouTube channel with guided mindfulness exercises with playlists for children (and adults.)

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