From San Tan Sun News June 16, 2018 By Wayne Schutsky Opiate addiction is a nationwide epidemic that claimed over 40,000 lives in 2016, and Gilbert father Randy Melle knows first-hand that the casualties of those overdoses are not the only victims. Each death leaves behind family members and friends who must figure out how to heal and move on following these tragic events. Melle is one those surviving victims. He lost his son Adam to a heroin overdose in 2016 – a mere 18 hours after Adam had arrived home from a month-long treatment program. As a board member of the Chandler I AM Project, Melle is using his personal experiences to help other families avoid the same fate. “Any dad, any parent that goes through what we went through, my heart goes out to them,” he said. “There’s nothing worse than getting your son out of 32 days of treatment, getting home and 18 hours later two Sheriff Department (officers) show up at your house.” The project is exceptionally personal for Melle, because it is also literally a way to keep his son’s memory alive. Shortly after joining the group, he found out that it was in search of a new name, so he suggested I AM – representing his son’s initials. The name has a duel meaning as “I AM” is also a reference to the idea that while addiction can afflict anyone, it is only one aspect of their identity. For example, someone could say “I am salesman and I am also an addict…It incorporates everyone into that circle,” Melle said. The rest of the group loved the idea it embodied and adopted the moniker moving forward. The concept the name represents is an important one for Melle as he works to dispel the myths and misinformation that surround addiction. “Addiction is not specific to any gender or any ethnicity. It is not specific to wealthy people or people who don’t have money,” he said. “It hits every one of our families.” He know that lesson all too well. After Adam’s death, the newspaper The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead – the Melle’s moved to Arizona from Fargo, ND – ran an article stating that Adam Melle was one of five former Fargo South High School students who died of drug overdoes within a couple of months. Through his work with the Chandler I AM Project, Melle hopes he can inspire families to seek help on behalf of their loved ones who are struggling with drug addiction, because too many families are afraid to address the problems head on due to the negative social implications that addiction carries. “I’m one parent and to all the parents and family members who are afraid to admit that they have a loved one with an opiate problem, people need to know that there is help and there is hope for those people,” he said. He added, “Don’t be afraid to discuss any drug problem that you have with your family. […]
May 8, 2018 Shelby Pedersen, CEO, ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth Many parents know that middle school can be a nerve-wracking few years. So much growth and change occur with youth as they transition to high school – they transform into young adults right before your eyes. At ICAN, we see this transition among youth in our afterschool program all the time. We also see the struggles that their parents face with this transition. Our program team works with our parents in a variety of ways each month – focusing on positive parenting skills and communication with youth. They decided to tackle this transition to high school with youth and parents through the “Bridges” program. This curriculum was introduced to ICAN through Arizona State University and the work of Dr. Nancy Gonzales and Dr. Larry Dumka. Bridges is a program for middle school youth and their parents to attend together. It is designed to increase school engagement and achievement, strengthen family-school linkages, and prevent adolescents’ social, emotional, and behavioral challenges. The skills presented through the Bridges program are important for any parent facing the middle school years. ICAN is the first to offer the Bridges program through a nonprofit agency. Students work together to explore their aspirations and the role of education in reaching them. They learn strategies to achieve long term personal goals and practice life skills to manage problems and challenges. Parents work together to increase awareness and understanding of adolescents’ changing emotional and educational needs. They learn skills to strengthen communication and positive bonds with their students, structure and monitor their students’ activities and opportunities, and manage adolescents’ emotional problems and risky behavior. One of our families that participated last year at Willis Jr. High recently reached out to ICAN to share a follow up on their family plan. The mom shared that her son was having some challenges deciding what high school he wants to attend next year. She shared that her son had been practicing some of the coping skills learned in the program and that she had been able to listen more carefully to her son’s reasons (see CONNECT skills below) instead of reacting. Mom shared that, thanks to Bridges, they were able to make an action plan, and have been visiting the different schools to learn together about their options. Without Bridges, she said, “My husband and I would have ‘forced’ our son to attend the school of our choice, but thanks to what we learned in the program, we have been able to support our son better and make a decision together.” What skills can you utilize on your own from the Bridges program? Here are some of the skills that parents who attended the Bridges program report using the most: Do a “check up” on some of these skills – most parents use these skills already, but middle school is a new challenging stage for the teens: CONNECT skills, to help you keep a strong and positive relationship with your teen […]
February 22, 2018 Shelby Pedersen CEO, ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth Ever wonder why a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum simply cannot snap out of it? It’s called an amygdala highjack – one part of the brain has highjacked the other and taken over. As a parent of a toddler I know, first-hand, how frustrating these situations can be. Parents often experience a disconnect between our long-term goals for our kids (finding fulfillment, experience loving relationships, finding success) and surviving in the day-to-day chaos of raising children. We go into “survival” mode – just getting through each day and leaving those happy and fulfilled objectives to be developed in some other moment that never comes. I recently read the book The Whole Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind and found many connections to the techniques we use at ICAN and those I find myself utilizing at home with my toddler. At ICAN we work with 200 youth every day who come from backgrounds of disadvantage. These kids deal with poverty, crime, family loss and so many situations that most of us will never face. It is critical for our staff to understand how the brain works when dealing with these youth. We need tools and techniques to keep these youth in a positive, caring environment when they are spending time at ICAN. The book teaches us about the “upstairs brain” (the thinking brain – for thinking, planning and imagining), which doesn’t become fully developed until we are in our mid-20’s! The “downstairs” brain is the feeling brain – the primitive part of the brain that runs our fight or flight reactions that have helped us survive over time. The amygdala in the downstairs brain is responsible for those famous tantrums – because the reasoning part of the brain is highjacked in those situations, reasoning will not work well. Here are some tips from the book that can help every parent: Connect and Redirect: When kids get frustrated, remember to first show empathy and understanding, then connect to their logical side with reasoning once the child has calmed down. Name It to Tame It: Try not to hide the truth to protect kids, like blaming someone else for something that happened. It is helpful to kids to re-tell an event where something bad may have happened. This puts logic into the event and helps them identify their emotions (name it) and how to deal with them (tame it). Engage Not Rage: Don’t expect kids to always make the best decisions, remember, their upstairs brain is not fully developed. When kids get upset and wind up in a tantrum, rather than enraging the downstairs brain by imposing solutions, try to engage the upstairs brain and let your child help find the solution. Use It or Loose It: Help kids develop their upstairs brain. Encourage them to practice simple decision making (do you want to play a board game, or ride your bike?). Also, help explain emotions to them […]
October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, a great opportunity to focus on equipping our youth and empowering them to navigate one of the greatest high-risk challenges they face. Education on the risks and dangers of drugs is an important part of the equation, however, for more of a wrap-around strategy we need to help encourage our youth to internalize positive core character values, learn and practice healthy coping skills, and develop a positive attitude & mindset for building resiliency to overcome their challenges and stay on course. ICAN has been giving youth the opportunity to internalize healthy/positive choices, coping skills and resiliency for quite some time, and, the outcomes are evidenced in the results provided by their youth surveys from “ICAN’s FY2017 Program Evaluation Report.” Here are a few of their comments: 90% of the youth reported they “Make better Decisions”, 92% say “no” to things they know are wrong 90% stay away from drugs and alcohol 88% do better in school 83% have control over things that happen to them 82% feel better at handling whatever comes my way 85% feel better about my future 80% spend more time looking for opportunities to help others in their community. The Chandler Coalition on Youth Substance Abuse (CCYSA) and the Chandler Gilbert Substance Use & Treatment Task Force taught these concepts in various elementary, Jr & Sr. High schools through presentations containing education on the risks and dangers of drugs & choices, coping and resiliency, reaching over 1,000 students in the 2016-17 school year. This 2017-18 school year we expect to be able to reach 4,000 – 5,000 students. We encourage families to be intentional with integrating these concepts into everyday home life. For more tips and resources , if you are interested in booking a presentation, or, want to attend or schedule a community presentation, you can do that through the www.ccysachandler.org or contact Ted Huntington at ted@icanaz.org. BE THE CHANGE! Ted Huntington Community Programs Manager, ICAN/CCYSA
September 1, 2017 Shelby Pedersen CEO, ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth Positivity can be a very powerful tool with youth. Positive reinforcements are a great way to instill encouraging, optimistic feelings. At ICAN, we work with youth who deal with many struggles in their daily lives. This can lead to sizeable behavioral issues and the natural tendency for most adults is to “penalize” children for poor behavior. This may show up as yelling, lecturing, or other negative reactions. We take a different approach with these youth – with all of our youth. Our staff uses purposeful, positive statements with youth every day that appreciate them for their unique skills and abilities and provide praise when they’ve followed directions, met a goal or been kind to one another. These tactics are something that every parent, teacher or youth care worker can utilize. All of our programming at ICAN is evidence-based, which means it’s based on scientific research and typically endorsed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. One of those curricula is called PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies). The PATHS program is grounded in the science of children’s brain development, which has determined that children experience and react to strong emotions before developing the cognitive abilities to verbalize them. One of the main education objectives of PATHS is to enhance children’s self-esteem, self-confidence, and ability to give and receive compliments. Research has shown that youth learn best and show higher motivation within the context of positive attachments. Much of this ties in with the Golden Rule, something that threads through most of the PATHS activities that we teach. For example, in one activity we break the kids into groups and give them a series of scenarios to discuss. These scenarios include: “You said something mean to your mom and hurt her feelings” and “You have to do your homework, but you don’t want to. Your parents remind you to do it now!” Youth discuss how they would feel in that situation, how does their parent feel, what they could do if they were the parent and what they could do themselves, using the Golden Rule. Our staff use many different types of positive reinforcements with our youth. If a staff member sees a group of youth misbehaving and not staying on task, they don’t scold that group, they find a group nearby who is working well and compliment them so that everyone can hear. If they see youth running down the hall instead of walking, they say “why don’t you come back and try that again” instead of yelling “Stop! You can’t be running.” It takes a great deal of effort and forethought – rephrasing what we are so quick to yell out. Our staff understand that character building takes time and commitment, it doesn’t happen overnight. So many of these tools are great for parenting in the home as well. I hope everyone will take a second to think through how much positivity they are sharing in the […]
ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth wrapped up a summer of fun activities with the close of the summer session on July 21st. ICAN’s summer programming is supported by the Arizona Community Foundation. Youth at ICAN enjoyed daily activities including art, computers, structured sports, STEM learning activities and a reading program through ICAN’s library. The DPR School of Construction was a highlight of the summer, 50 ICAN youth attended this field trip, in its third year. Youth learned all about the field of construction and the many types of jobs opportunities in that field. They built little libraries in groups and constructed their own tool box, which they were able to take home. Another highlight was the Avnet STEM Camp for girls – a week long STEM camp that was facilitated by Avnet volunteers. The girls worked with tools like Raspberry Pi and coding programs such as Blocky and Scratch. The group also used slime to code a computer and play music. ICAN partnered with Opportunity 4 Kids on a “water day” with slip and slides, water gun wars, water balloons and more. The afternoon included a visit from the Chandler Fire Department who cooled everyone down from their fire truck. A group of 3rd – 7th grade boys were the first community group in the nation to participate in “Brain Chase” through the Valley of the Sun United Way. Each week the group completed four challenges related to academic or service focused topics in order to receive clues about the treasure’s location around the world. Youth also enjoyed trips to the Chandler Microsoft Store, TechShop Chandler, Pizza Camp through Chandler Unified School District and swimming at Folley Park. ICAN teens enjoyed an overnight camping trip to the White Mountains.
STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and has been a hot topic in education for some time. There is a critical shortage of students entering technical fields nationally, and females and underrepresented minorities are not joining these fields anywhere near their potential percentages – only 19% of women graduate with a bachelor’s in engineering or computer science, and inside that number, only 2% are Hispanic. Current enrollment figures show no trend of improvement – girls are opting out of STEM fields at an early age. Meanwhile, the U.S. faces 2.4 million unfilled STEM jobs by 2018, so there is a large opportunity for technical minorities and females to find excellent jobs. Avnet and other local technology companies are striving to hire talented individuals, and would prefer to do so locally. ICAN has partnered with Avnet to offer a week-long girls STEM camp taking place July 10 – 14th at ICAN. Avnet has been planning the camp for months and are exciting to bring their STEM activities to the youth at ICAN! The theme of the camp is based on the “Hidden Figures” movie – the girls participating will watch the movie throughout the week and tie-in its inspiring premise. The girls will participate in a ton of STEM-related activities. They will learn coding applications like Python, Scratch and Blocky. They will get to use Raspberry Pi – a single-board computer that teaches the basics of computer science. They will also use a Makey Makey board – an electronic invention tool that allows users to connect everyday objects to computer programs. It will be an inspirational week of new experiences and exposure to the world of STEM. Below is more information about STEM and afterschool programs from www.afterschoolstemhub.org
By Joe Garcia Communication Director ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy June 21, 2017 It’s tough being a kid. For a variety of reasons, that’s especially true in Arizona. Arizona ranks among the bottom five in the nation in the 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book, a yearly analysis of 16 indicators regarding children’s health, family and economic well-being. Arizona always does poorly in the national report, which is commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, so perhaps no one will be surprised by Arizona’s 46th overall rating. Some data points (Arizona versus U.S.) from the recently released study: KIDS COUNT category domain Arizona U.S. Children in poverty 25% 21% Children living in high-poverty areas 24% 14% Children in single-parent families 38% 35% Children whose parent(s) lack secure employment 30% 29% Teen births per 1,000 26 22 Teens who abuse alcohol or drugs 6% 5% Teens not in school and not working 9% 7% Young children not in school 63% 53% 4th-graders not proficient in reading 70% 65% 8th-graders not proficient in math 65% 68% High school students not graduating on time 23% 17% Source: 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book As a member of the board of directors for Arizona Children’s Action Alliance, a non-profit children’s advocacy organization, I’m only too familiar with the high number and plight of Arizona’s most vulnerable population – our kids. I guess if I am surprised at anything, it’s the lack of urgency in addressing these most-pressing problems associated with poverty, educational voids, health care gaps and domestic family strife. Kids are only kids for only a short while. Arizona’s perennial position at the bottom of such rankings results in a generational if not predictable outcome – and it’s not good. Kids in crisis often turn into adults in crisis and, perpetuating the problem, often wind up raising kids in crisis themselves. And, so it goes. There were modest improvements in some areas in the aforementioned indicators for 2015, providing some encouragement for hope but little reason for celebration. In other words, a while a little less rain cannot save a drowning person, it’s a welcomed sight. If there were a bright spot in the 2017 KIDS COUNT report, it’s that fewer Arizona children were without health insurance (8 percent in 2015 vs. 13 percent in 2010), thanks to improvements in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (or AHCCCS, Arizona’s version of Medicaid) and expanded coverage available under the Affordable Care Act. And since the report evaluated 2015 data, the report’s numbers don’t reflect the 20,000 Arizona children now enrolled in KidsCare, which was reinstated last year with the federal government paying 100 percent of the bill. During the six-year hiatus prior to the reinstatement, Arizona was the lone state without a Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for low-income kids. Such improvements in Arizona children’s health care coverage, however, could be short-lived under proposed cuts to Medicaid and the current framework for the proposed American Health Care Act. Under a new provision of […]
by Shelby Pedersen CEO – ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth ICAN wrapped up our Volunteer Appreciation Week a few weeks ago and I was again reminded of how volunteers truly are the lifeblood of what we do. We simply could not provide the services that we do without our volunteers. ICAN recently went through the process of becoming a Service Enterprise through the Arizona Governor’s Office and Points of Light – in fact, we were the first organization in the state of Arizona to do so. Points of Light is the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service – they partnered with the Governor’s Office to create a process to certify local organizations so that they can better understand and maximize the true value of volunteers. Becoming a Service Enterprise helped us realize the value of our volunteers. Last year alone, ICAN’s volunteers donated over 18,000 hours of their time to our organization. That time is valued at $22 an hour, which equals a total value to the organization of over $400,000 a year. What an incredible impact for ICAN’s youth. The return on investment is one way to show the impact of volunteers. However, it is seeing the day-to-day interaction that really exemplifies the effect of our volunteers. Volunteers like Tom, who started volunteering at ICAN and noticed an under-utilized garden in the back. Tom took it upon himself to lend his expertise in that area and create ICAN’s Garden Club. This group now meets with Tom twice each week and have enjoyed a number of seasons of harvests, finishing each with a “salad party” to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Volunteers like Carla and Mary Jo – retired school teachers with a passion for literacy who manage ICAN’s library and work one-on-one with youth to increase literacy. Volunteers like Helen, who comes to ICAN 2 days every week – welcoming youth with a warm smile (and many times a hug as well) as they check into ICAN and start their afternoon. These are the experiences that cannot be valued in hours and dollars. These volunteers support ICAN’s program staff – allowing them to carefully plan their lessons and ensure that the time spent with youth is impacting them with enriching life skills and academic enrichment opportunities. We strive to create a culture of volunteerism. Even ICAN youth are learning the importance of volunteering – they participate in community service projects to give back to the community who is supporting them. Our teens recently visited Feed My Starving Children and packed food boxes for the hungry. With our youth, even simple projects like picking up trash around the building help create that culture of civic engagement. Our staff also participate in a community service activity each year as a group. We have over 250,000 residents in the City of Chandler – imagine the impact it would make if every person volunteered – even just one hour a month. ICAN is part of the “For Our City” initiative, which […]
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, so we are sharing some important information about teens and alcohol, courtesy of the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family HOW TO START THE CONVERSATION Great job. You’ve decided to talk, and that’s often the hardest part. The next step is to think about underage drinking as an ongoing conversation. That way you don’t have to worry about being perfect or covering everything all at once. Start by asking your teen’s opinion. Let your teen share what she thinks about alcohol. Let her know this is a safe environment – that she can be honest with no judgement. Share your knowledge. Talk about any family history of alcohol abuse and, depending on your comfort level, share your own experiences with alcohol. Talk about risks. There are many health and legal consequencesyour child could face, including long-term brain changes and charges for underage drinking. Here are more useful facts you can reference. Set expectations. Make it clear what you expect from your child and discuss what that means. Help them say no. Talk about ways to handle peer pressure and different things your teen could say to turn down alcohol. Set consequences for underage drinking. Be clear about what will happen if your child chooses to drink. CRITICAL TIMES TO TALK Big transitions are the times when teens need the most support. There is a strong link between stress and alcohol use. Teens are likely to experience new stress during big milestones, such as graduating from middle school to high school, or family transitions such as a moving or divorce. Extra support during these times is crucial to helping curb alcohol use. IMPORTANCE OF PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP Teens who have an honest, loving relationship with their parents are less likely to drink. Simply spending 15 minutes a day doing something your child likes can create a strong parent-child relationship. This can trigger healthy development during adolescence and lower your teen’s risk of alcohol problems today, and as they become adults. 5 ways to help your teen: Be in it together. Your support will help your teen build the self-esteem he or she needs to stand up to peer pressure — and live up to your expectations. Know your teen’s activities. Pay attention to your teen’s plans and whereabouts. Encourage participation in supervised after-school and weekend activities. Establish rules and consequences. Rules might include no underage drinking, leaving parties where alcohol is served and not riding in a car with a driver who’s been drinking. Agree on the consequences of breaking the rules ahead of time — and enforce them consistently. Set an example. If you drink, do so only in moderation and explain to your teen why it’s okay for adults to drink responsibly. Describe the rules you follow, such as not drinking and driving. Don’t serve alcohol to anyone who’s underage. Encourage healthy friendships. If your teen’s friends drink, your teen is more likely to drink, too. Get to know your teen’s friendsand their parents. HOW TO HANDLE THE FRIEND FACTOR Friends are a big influence. Teens with friends who drink are more […]