Please Save the Date!!

Home Start is excited to announce the 2011 “Blue Ribbon Gala” celebrating 39 years of service to the San Diego community and in honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This signature event raises funds for Home Start’s programs which provide critical assistance to San Diego County’s most vulnerable children and families.  Held at the beautiful Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa on April 29, 2011 (6pm - 11pm), this is a fun, festive and heartwarming dinner with live dance music and special presentations. For more information, please contact Nicole Graichen (619) 692-0727 ext.113 or ngraichen@home-start.org.

Thanksgiving a Time to be Thankful…

Posted by Nicole Graichen

Thanksgiving is a time when you gather around the table with your loved ones and friends and share a special holiday meal. You play games, you laugh, you watch football, and you eat way too much! J  Remember to be grateful for your friends and family, and the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving like you always have…and if you can, give back a little this year because it’s not that way for all of our neighbors.

San Diego County’s official poverty rate rose in 2008 from 11.1% to 12.6%, the highest level on record during the past 50 years.

·        367,000 county residents are living below the federal poverty level (46,000 more than in 2007), with household incomes of less than $10,991 for an individual or $21,834 for a family of two adults with two children.

·        The number people in poverty in San Diego grew at a much faster rate than in the state or the nation. US poverty grew .2 percentage points and California poverty grew .9 percentage points, while San Diego County poverty grew 1.5 percentage points.

·        The data show that 850,000 county residents -- 29% of the population -- were living in economic hardship in 2008. Economic hardship is CPI’s term describing households with incomes below 200% of FPL, e.g. $21,982 for an individual, $43,668 for a family of 4.

The Data:
The following data comes from the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS) which was released on September 29, 2009 by the US Census Bureau. ACS provides demographic, economic and social data for individuals and households. The data is made available for geographic areas with populations of 65,000 or more.

Time is flying by!

Posted by Home Start Intern-Nicole

We’ve been at Home Start for 11 weeks now, and the to-do list continues to grow. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever reach a point where this all seems second nature to me. I have had some real trouble with establishing clients this semester, but I’m not giving up hope! I have two open cases – both with adolescent clients. I’ve seen the caregivers, but have yet to meet the clients themselves. I’m determined to meet one of them this week! I’m opening a Parent Child Interactive Therapy (PCIT) case this week, and I’m really excited to have Veronica shadowing me. Her calm demeanor might help me relax a little! I continue to co-facilitate the Adult Survivors of Child Abuse (ASCA) group for women. We are in our sixth week! It is a little hard to believe that group is half over.

My fellow interns and I have formed a pretty cohesive group, and I’m really very happy with my placement at Home Start this year. The supervision I receive here is always excellent, and I’m sure I’m on the path to being a competent, confident, mental health professional.

An Ounce of Prevention

Posted by Home Start Intern-Jen

With two months into my internship and a caseload half full, I can already say that I am being challenged.  I made it through the initial flood of new information, trainings, and accompanying insecurities feeling lucky to have found my sea legs.  I have learned to not stay too late, make my mental and physical health a priority, and have “good boundaries” in psychology talk.  There is one case, however, that I struggle to keep in perspective.  The case is not the over-parentified child from an abusive home or the number of childhood neglect cases I have witnessed and reported, but instead a group of women I see on a weekly basis.  There is nothing else that has sold me more on the benefits of Home Start programs than the experience of facilitating their recovery. 

These are women with whom we encounter every day, in the workplace, around town, possibly our neighbors.  They do not stand out from the crowd and their lives reflect a strong work ethic and compassion for others.  What they do share is a childhood of fear, horror, and repeated victimization that still haunts them today.  All of these women were chronically abused by immediate family members with the majority being victims of incest.  When talking with these courageous women, I was shocked to find out that most had never seen a therapist before and one woman had never disclosed her abuse.  Being in the mental health field it is easy to forget that not everyone goes to therapy, as we are surrounded by it every day!  Their abuse was never recognized or treated, and as a result has struggled in silence with issues of shame, guilt, and betrayal.  As adults some numbed their pain with substances, others found themselves in emotionally abusive relationships. 

I remember driving home one night feeling deeply affected by one woman’s story.  I kept picturing her as a child, possibly as my client, and wondered what her life would be like if her abuse was prevented or treated early on.  The fact is I will never know.  I can only focus my efforts on the present.  With sexual abuse prevalence rates ranging from 15% to 30% for female children, the value of preventing lifelong suffering like hers is immeasurable.