SOAR in Salisbury CT leads the way with help from The Good Brain Project..and more (not all cheery so have adults read first pls if a youth)!

After school programs during the week (and some on weekends) are becoming a new way to offer students support in learning and exploring subjects and skills outside of the classroom. In the rural towns, money and transportation can prove common road blocks. Not so with SOAR in Salisbury CT (and Aha! in Canaan as well as offerings from HYS--Housatonic Youth Services) as well as The Taconic Learning Foundation in the Canaan area at Geer Village (which also hosts nice events along with Noble Horizons in Salisbury CT).

Small towns need many talented people to function not only to educate the next generation but to care for people of all ages who chose to live there. The same holds true in many bigger towns and cities, with libraries and agencies 'filling in needs' best they can. On www.npr.org today a talk about poor children generally having smaller sized brains in their youth concurred with a talk I heard about homelessness a year or so ago.

Without proper nutrition for pregnant mothers and young children, the brains of babies in-utero and once born can be deprived of the healthy calories they need to grow at critical points in development. In many ways, a baby with a poor start is physically destined to lag behind for years to come. We see the escalating financial costs to cover 'lost ground' if indeed a matter of healthy living for pregnant mothers and those of young children are not met.

The personal loss for the children involved is vast and of course, their parents and communities can face extra challenges to make up deficits once public funding is available in the school years or even other Birth to Three programs. We could do So Much Better and likely it would be a win-win many times over. Sadly, the people in charge of the funding do not prioritize the sanctity and opportunity of those just starting out in life. In Pittsfield MA there are big efforts throughout Berkshire county to 'cut down on teen pregnancies'.

Likely they would do well to work at prevention by offering more education to all women about the patterns that factor into teenage women having babies. Likely many practical approaches to helping them learn safe and responsible self-care would lead to fewer teens becoming pregnant by having more educational aspirations (and yes, knowing and using birth control.)

I will think on this more as I find time, but more women helping women of their own age and of those ages  a decade on either side (who they may be able to relate to through cultural or neighborhood ties) as well as a gender group in general could help spread the words to put down the swords of ignorance, low self-esteem (even if they got that in part from their families or are stuck in challenging social or economic living situations which keep them feeling discouraged or vulnerable to bad habits of drinking, drugging, smoking, over-eating unhealthy foods and not trying new things even online such as offered by www.curiousity.com or my blog).

Same goes for the guys, the good guys should help many other good guys and offer group outreach to those more troubled or lacking support. Pregnant women are really a special resource for other pregnant women to build repoire and support with since 'they really are in a similar, unique, very special state' whatever their geographical location.

Thanks for thinking about someone in your life (even YOURSELF) who could benefit from 'this kind of heartfelt care and networking'. It's tricky to ASK questions, look online, call anonymous hotlines (what's really anonymous anymore and are there key words or statements of harming oneself or others that could trigger a required 'breach of confidentiality'. That likely is more common, yet not everyone is uniformly informed about the 'regulations which rule the day'. In a medical setting, disclosing symptoms of wanting to self-harm can merit a stay of one to three days (with the bills incurred) if not longer (a month I've heard if there is an attempted suicide...

One case in Pittsfield recently involved a 47-year-old father overdosing after his 10 year daughter who had lived with him for a year died or was killed in the same apartment a few weeks earlier. Sadly, this girl Hannah was supposed to perform with her friends in the big Pittsfield Parade (which I attended..and had someone pass out almost at my feet right After the parade ended and the streets were empty after 60K people had shown up in mild rain with great fanfare.)

On that day with the struggling couple along with intervening officers, I said I felt that was an omen that somehow we are overlooking too many with needs in our communities, especially our cities. When people inquired where Hannah was, they accepted the line the father gave that she was 'visiting her grandmother in NY state who did not have cell service and could not be reached'. Let that be the kind of 'line' someone takes seriously by calling the Police not only in their  town and state but in Grandma's! The girl's best friend and her mom were concerned realizing Hannah would not really be away when there was such a big event to attend.

Why not have the coach place a well-check or follow-up call? We need to use local networks for a lot of good things to happen (car  pools, parties, keeping track of where teens are with clear written agreements that without parental permission, including the mother's but both if there is a risk of danger or an overnight or long distance or bad weather, etc involved, then the answer it "No, you cannot do that event, trip, outing without parental permission that actually coincides with local practices for safety such as recommended by rescue people or the Red Cross, Scouts, etc."

We need to CLOSE THE LOOPHOLES teens and others so predictably want to discover and use to their advantage. The way to 'get ahead of this kind or runaway train' is to Plan to get your kids into programs (or elders or even oneself to be accountable to some group or faith circle, social circle so you can check in with someone about basics but also about challenges should they arise.)

Entire businesses could be made to help people fill in the gaps and have back up for when 'things don't go as planned'. Perhaps some PTO or Recreation Volunteers could be the back up for any student's family to use for a parent to call if a ride or help were needed. Ideally, that person could watch the youth in need in the library at school or on the grounds, and then with the right insurance and guidelines, be able to give a student a ride so that would not preclude the student from being in sports or other programs should transportation be an issue.

Salisbury Central School just approved $15K in funding for a late bus for middle school students to have. In the past this school has invested $50K in Character Development programming for a year or more to help students address behavioral standards and avoid difficulties.

That type of programming may have shifted back to the classroom teachers, but overall, putting that into the curriculum (fomrally or informally) likely is a win-win. Many other agencies or groups could address the practical needs of teaching the laws and ways to function if one has needs or concerns, at least with some 24-7 support online, or on the phone or ideally with some 'go-ot- troubleshooter type people.

More buddy systems among parents of each grade and in each town, as well as some networking with neighboring and area towns (and states) could prove a helpful way to enhance community ties and encourage people to live in an area for longer as would be appropriate. Now, back to the original message spurred by some quick postings on the Facebook Page Northwest Corner Chatter (which is a closed CT group with about 1500 members, but which has been nicely offered and could be replicated by others).

Just read some great stuff about The Good Brain Project which augments the SOAR program offerings. I hope to learn more and applaud all who connect with families and kids to help them take advantage of great programs at schools, libraries, faith groups and other places (recreation centers, pools and lakes, ski slopes, and more). Please Promote Safety on all Levels when working with kids and other age groups..travelling, walking, giving permission, assisting, etc (in MA, all volunteers need a CORI check on file, so likely that will happen in more states...

That means not everyone will be Able to Volunteer in all capacities. Still, that should not limit which kids can go to programs, and likely many people with issues can attend even if they don't pass a CORI so again staying in public view and supervised makes sense. These aren't easy topics to address, but why not figure out more ways to get good volunteers helping at every agency to bridge gaps--and most things have to be well-planned and not violate guidelines (such as transporting kids if you do volunteer at an agency that is hosting the event). For instance if a family agency is offering a playgroup and an adult volunteers in any capacity for the agency, they may not be able to transport a child to the event (who they are not related to, etc.

They also could not be hired to do childcare or other work for a private family they met at the program..things Like That.. Whatever the terms for any agency are, those should be reviewed and shared with all members and the public as would be appropriate. A town could become more aware of who help in using services and maybe other people (agencies) could help fill in the gaps if there is a need for funding, rides, or even childcare beyond what the program offers. Ideally more childcare options could be added to what daycares and schools offer so a recreation program person (or pair of people etc) could be credentialed etc to supervise youth and possibly transport them (and fund the programs as Salisbury and Cornwall in particular seem to have some funds to do as do some PTOs).

The overall idea is to widen and level the playing field of learning and care opportunities. Extra scholarship funds likely would help more parents take advantage of daycare or even for private childcare or recreation programs..Thanks for letting me post and I'll copy this on my blog where others can chime in..www.livfully.drupalgardens.comJust read some great stuff about the Good Brain Project which augments the SOAR program offerings. I hope to learn more and applaud all who connect with families and kids to help them take advantage of great programs at schools, libraries, faith groups and other places (recreation centers, pools and lakes, ski slopes, and more).

Please Promote Safety on all Levels when working with kids and other age groups..travelling, walking, giving permission, assisting, etc (in MA, all volunteers need a CORI check on file, so likely that will happen in more states...That means not everyone will be Able to Volunteer in all capacities. Still, that should not limit which kids can go to programs, and likely many people with issues can attend even if they don't pass a CORI so again staying in public view and supervised makes sense.

These aren't easy topics to address, but why not figure out more ways to get good volunteers helping at every agency to bridge gaps--and most things have to be well-planned and not violate guidelines (such as transporting kids if you do volunteer at an agency that is hosting the event). For instance if a family agency is offering a playgroup and an adult volunteers in any capacity for the agency, they may not be able to transport a child to the event (who they are not related to, etc.

They also could not be hired to do childcare or other work for a private family they met at the program..things Like That.. Whatever the terms for any agency are, those should be reviewed and shared with all members and the public as would be appropriate. A town could become more aware of who help in using services and maybe other people (agencies) could help fill in the gaps if there is a need for funding, rides, or even childcare beyond what the program offers.

Ideally more childcare options could be added to what daycares and schools offer so a recreation program person (or pair of people etc) could be credentialed etc to supervise youth and possibly transport them (and fund the programs as Salisbury and Cornwall in particular seem to have some funds to do as do some PTOs). The overall idea is to widen and level the playing field of learning and care opportunities. Extra scholarship funds likely would help more parents take advantage of daycare or even for private childcare or recreation programs..Thanks for letting me post and I'll copy this on my blog where others can chime in..www.livfully.drupalgardens.com