New Chief Executive Officer

I am very pleased to let you know that with unanimous and enthusiastic support from the Board of Directors, Mary Denton has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of Sunny Hills Services.

Mary came to Sunny Hills in 2000 to serve as Chief Financial Officer, and subsequently consulted with Joe Costa in the agency’s strategic and business planning. During her tenure, she has worked diligently to professionalize Sunny Hills’ operations and strengthen our administrative infrastructure. As Chief Finance and Administration Officer, a position she held since 2008, Mary has been a key member of the executive team guiding the agency through the recent challenging economic downturn. In her decade of working with Sunny Hills, Mary has acquired the experience and built the relationships that are critical to the continued success of the agency.

Following a 19-year career at Bank of America in international syndicated lending and investment management, Mary consulted with major international banks and financial institutions in strategy, policy and business implementation in international investments and financial markets. She has consulted in the nonprofit sector, and currently serves on the board of directors for the Marin Humane Society. A California native, Mary resides in Larkspur with her husband, Monte Deignan. Mary received her bachelor's degree in economics at the University of California, Riverside, Phi Beta Kappa and holds a master's in business administration in Finance and International Business from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

This is a time of great positive momentum for Sunny Hills: our staff and programs are strong, and we continue to expand our crucial services to vulnerable children, youth and their families. I am confident that Mary will provide knowledgeable, thoughtful leadership through the agency’s ongoing evolution and growth. I would like to thank you for your support of Sunny Hills, and of the vulnerable children and families we are all working together to serve. I welcome your continued feedback through this transition, and I hope you will join me in saying: congratulations Mary!

Lydia Cameron
President, Sunny Hills Services Board of Directors

New Year, New Beginnings

It is with a flurry of mixed emotions that I let you all know of my departure from Sunny Hills at the end of 2009. After eight years as Chief Executive Officer at Sunny Hills Services, I have made the decision to accept a new challenge and become the CEO at Hillsides in South Pasadena. Like Sunny Hills, Hillsides is a multi-service agency for at-risk children and youth with a century-long track record of serving vulnerable children and families. I know that all I have learned during my tenure at Sunny Hills will be invaluable in my new role. Sunny Hills is an incredible agency, and I am so proud of all that we have accomplished through the last eight years.

I want to offer particular thanks to all of the community volunteers, donors, staff people, board members and families who have supported Sunny Hills during my tenure. There have been many challenges and many triumphs during these important transition years for the agency. Today, Sunny Hills serves more children than ever. Programmatically, demographically, and geographically the agency is reaching farther than it ever has in its 115-year history. This is no small feat, and I hope that you all share my sense of accomplishment when you consider the ways the agency has grown and evolved these past eight years, while remaining strong and true to its mission.

Sunny Hills will continue to count on all of us for support through its ongoing evolution. I know that my own commitment to the agency, its programs, and especially the children that it serves is not in any way lessening, but is merely changing. I hope that you will join me in supporting Sunny Hills through this transition and those that will undoubtedly arise through the coming years, as the agency continues to provide for the most vulnerable young people in our community. Thank you, as always, for your commitment to those young people.

The Board of Directors is meeting on January 11th to determine the leadership transition plan. Stay tuned for more information, here and on the agency site at www.sunnyhillsservices.org. Board President Lydia Cameron welcomes your questions and comments about the transition; her contact information is available on the site as well.

It has been a great honor, and a true pleasure, for me to work with such a strong community of supporters on behalf of the children we serve. I thank you, again, for your tremendous support of me and of this agency. It has been humbling, and is deeply appreciated.

With all best wishes for a happy new year…………Paz!

Joe

BAYC Graduate Honored

Earlier this month, BAYC graduate Tia Tonne was selected by the San Francisco 49ers to receive a prestigious Community Quarterback Award. This honor is given out to five people each year who have devoted their time to volunteering in the Bay Area, and includes a grant for the charity where they volunteer.

Tia’s own experience as a graduate of BAYC’s programs makes her an especially insightful and helpful volunteer for the kids and young adults we serve, and we are delighted and so proud of her for receiving this recognition of all the hard work that she is doing. Josh Leonard, Executive Director of BAYC, nominated Tia in part because she is such a positive and relatable role model for the other young people in the program. “This is someone who has been where they are, and who can really relate to them on a peer level, but also someone who has made it past what they are facing, and so they can look to her as an example of success while at the same time seeing themselves really reflected in her. It is part of what makes her work so critically important in our programs.”

Tia and the other award winners were celebrated and recognized at an event in their honor. “All these people here have given back so much to the Bay Area and it is nice to give them the recognition they deserve,” said former 49ers quarterback Steve Bono, who hosted the celebratory luncheon held at Kingfish Restaurant in San Mateo. “It is neat to meet people who are so selfless and have impacted others in such a positive way.”

For more information about the Community Quarterback Awards and this year’s beneficiaries, click here. Congratulations to Tia and the other winners!

Thankful this Holiday Season

As I think about things I am thankful for this year, I am especially thankful for the community of supporters that surrounds Sunny Hills. This includes our wonderful donor community of foundations and individuals, all of the various referring agencies and other service providers who work in tandem with us, the staff who work with our kids each and every day, and of course those kids themselves; I am especially thankful for the youth that we serve, for their determination, their insightfulness, their willingness to keep trying in the face of some extraordinarily tough situations.

The staff and the young students at our Marin Academic Center (MAC) program are a wonderful example of what it is about Sunny Hills that we can all be thankful for. The students at MAC arrive on our San Anselmo campus from all over the Bay Area, having faced numerous challenges in their personal lives and along their educational paths. Most of them have specific learning challenges along with interpersonal challenges and issues. They are often confused, angry, alienated, and even terrified when it comes to school. Having bounced around from classroom to classroom and teacher to teacher, they have no solid adult or peer relationships to model their behavior on. Over and over again they have been told that they are failing, that something isn’t working, that maybe they should try somewhere else or something else.

But when they arrive at MAC, they are embraced whole-heartedly by every staff person they meet. And the other students around them, because of the constant reinforcement of their "community of caring," are able to provide positive peer support and interaction. For many of our MAC students, it is the first time that they have been able to call someone a friend. The small school environment, the 1:2 ratio of staff to students, and the constant positive reinforcement help children begin to learn and grow academically, in ways many of them never realized that they could.

What is it that makes MAC such a powerful example of success, community, and caring? MAC is a California certified nonpublic school serving children ages 5 to 15 whose educational and behavioral challenges are too acute to be handled in traditional public school environments. In practice, this means that MAC provides high-quality, individualized education that addresses each student’s particular needs. By building on each child’s personal interests and their fundamental desire to learn and grow, MAC sees extraordinary results where others have seen only escalating problems. Almost all MAC students are able to reach the goals of grade-level academic and social achievement, appropriate school behavior, and ultimately reintegration and mainstreaming back to their local schools or other less-restrictive educational settings.

This fall, we welcomed MAC to its permanent home on the Sunny Hills San Anselmo campus. We are happy to report that the staff, teachers, and kids are all doing well and loving their new environment! In addition to the updated buildings, swimming pool, and playground, plans are underway for a new edible organic garden in the spring, and kids and staff take advantage of the fields and open space that are now surrounding them. It is a wonderful, inspiring site for all of us.

A gentle reminder that this is also the time of year when we encourage people to pledge to the Sunny Hills annual appeal. Your pledge helps guarantee that programs like MAC continue to help vulnerable children learn, succeed, and grow academically and personally through caring and careful attention. Another way to support our programs and services is through purchase of a Bounty of Marin gift basket, which makes a lovely thank you gift or treat for someone special.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and hope that like us here at Sunny Hills, you find much to be thankful for in your lives this year.

A time to be thankful

As we enter Thanksgiving week, we at Sunny Hills Services have a lot to be thankful for. Each of our programs and services continues to help the most vulnerable children and families in California, and we continue to receive tremendous support from all of the communities we are part of. In a particular way, I am thankful this year for Bay Area Youth Centers, or BAYC. BAYC became part of the Sunny Hills Services family of programs when the two agencies merged in 2008, and our programs there continue to expand and grow.

For over thirty years, BAYC has helped thousands of emotionally traumatized young people heal and grow. BAYC was started by people who believe that all young people deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. That core belief continues to define each of their programs, and is in line with Sunny Hills’ historic mission to help youth in the transitional age range as hey prepare to transition into independence. The programs at BAYC help ensure that young adolescents who are ‘aging out’ of foster care continue to have a roof over their heads, food to eat, and people to turn to when they are in crisis. Their services keep these young people from homelessness, something we especially appreciate at this time of year. For more information on how BAYC is helping, visit them online.

This is also the time of year when we especially encourage people to pledge to the Sunny Hills annual appeal. Your pledge helps guarantee that programs like BAYC continue to grow, and are able to help children and young adults throughout the holiday season and all year long. I know that they will be especially thankful for your support this week! Another way to support our programs and services is through purchase of a Bounty of Marin gift basket, which makes a great gift or hostess item as you start making the holiday rounds at Thanksgiving.

We are always deeply appreciative of your support. As we approach the week where it is traditional to express that appreciation, I offer an especially strong thank you to each of you, for being part of our family of supporters.

Note: BAYC’s Executive Director Josh Leonard was part of an expert panel at this week’s conference on Transitional Age Youth in California. He discussed “Sex, Drugs, & Rock’n’Roll: Addressing Third Rail Issues in Housing” – issues about how programs for transitional age youth must deal with behaviours including sexuality and substance use, which are often developmentally appropriate but still difficult to address.

A Pledge of Support

The Sunny Hills Services Annual Appeal was sent out this week, and we are very excited to announce that our Board of Directors has pledged $50,000 in support to initiate this year’s fund! This extremely generous commitment by the board is a great kick-off to our campaign, and we hope it will inspire each member of the Sunny Hills community to make their own pledge of support for the vulnerable children we serve every day.

As we come to the end of the calendar year, we face a time when our need for private financial support at the agency is especially great. Long-standing programs like the Marin Academic Center need your help, as do new projects such as the parenting teen program and LGBTQ initiatives at BAYC. Our brand new programs, like Project PRIDE in Sonoma County, cannot get off the ground without private dollars to help them through their initial start up. And every day, we need your support to provide the treatment, the education, the emergency assistance, the advice, the medical care, the support, the person to talk to – whatever help it is that the young people in our programs need. That is our ongoing pledge of support to the vulnerable children and families that we serve, and we are able to keep that pledge with your help.

Our goal for the Annual Appeal this year is to raise $150,000 in gifts and pledges. This is an ambitious goal, especially in the face of the current economic situation, but we are expecting to reach it through small efforts from a large group of supporters. If each member of our donor community is able to make a pledge and commit to giving just $50.00 this year, we would have our most successful appeal on record! I hope you will consider making a gift or donation today. You can visit us online, or contact the Development Office at (415) 457-3200 x165 for more information. Every gift, pledge, and commitment helps.

Look for more program details here over the next few weeks, as we highlight some of the existing, expanding, and extraordinary programs and services that are made possible in part through funds from the annual appeal. And as always, thank you for being part of our Sunny Hills community; none of what we do would be possible without the tremendous pledge of commitment and ongoing support that we have from each of you.

Running in the Shadows

I wanted to draw your attention to a recent two-part article that appeared in the New York Times. Running in the Shadows addresses the growing number of young runaways in the United States, exploring how they survive and efforts by the authorities to help them. Part one, Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways, follows Betty, a 14-year old who had run away from home a week earlier after a violent argument with her mother. "Over the past two years, government officials and experts have seen an increasing number of children leave home for life on the streets, including many under 13. Foreclosures, layoffs, rising food and fuel prices and inadequate supplies of low-cost housing have stretched families to the extreme, and those pressures have trickled down to teenagers and preteens." Once on the streets, these young people face harsh circumstances--from sleeping on sidewalks to hiding out in local parks. The second of the two articles, Running in the Shadows: For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival, sheds light on the risky behaviors runaways engage in simply as a means to survive. Studies have found nearly a third of the children who flee home engage in sex for food, drugs or a place to stay.

As more and more families fall into crisis as a result of the weakened economy, it points to the need for programs like the ones offered by Sunny Hills which help resource families and communities. Our work is to reach out to young people and their families before they reach breaking point. The streets are no place for young people. 

Honoring our volunteers

Sunny Hills celebrated the members of the Auxiliary and Guilds of Sunny Hills Services at a luncheon on Wednesday, October 28th at the McInnis Park Golf Club in San Rafael. This esteemed group of individuals has provided generous and loyal support to the agency for decades, helping us to raise financial support and community awareness on behalf of the children and families we serve. We were pleased to honor volunteers celebrating milestones ranging from 55 years of service to 5 years. This group's service to Sunny Hills is unparalleled and we are grateful for their steadfast support and unconditional belief in the mission of Sunny Hills. Please join me in celebrating their numerous contributions to our community!

Shocking Statistics on Children's Exposure to Violence

Earlier this month, the US Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) published "Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey." The survey was designed to measure children's exposure to violence across the country, in their homes, their schools, and their communities. It spanned across all age groups, ethnicities, and income levels and was the first of its kind ever undertaken by the government. The numbers revealed by the survey were shocking to many, even those of us on the front lines providing care to children who have been traumatized by violence.

The OJJDP found that over 60% of American children have been exposed to physical violence in their lives over the past year. The violence that the children and young people were exposed to included robbery, vandalism, theft, sexual abuse, and physical assault. The survey did not measure emotional abuse or bullying, but rather looked only at the experience and/or witnessing of physical violence. In one of the most shocking numbers to come out of the study, it was found that nationwide, nearly HALF of all children and adolescents were physically assaulted at least once in the past year. Earlier this month, in response to the findings in the survey, US Attorney General Eric Holder gave a speech addressing what he called “a challenge that affects the entire nation.” The Attorney General called the findings “Astonishing … and unacceptable,” and at Sunny Hills we echo that sentiment.

While these numbers in and of themselves can be shocking and even demoralizing, they are also an important first step for our country to take in eliminating violence against children; through understanding the nature and extent of children's exposure to violence, we can work more effectively to mitigate its effects. As this survey shows, it remains crucial that we provide programs and services that give opportunities for these vulnerable young people to build better and brighter futures for themselves and their families. I deeply appreciate all of our Sunny Hills supporters for helping us do this critical work that allows the countless children and families who have been exposed to violence to heal. Thank you.

For the complete text of Attorney General Holder’s remarks, click here.
For the OJJDP’s official survey and results, click here.

Sunny Hills' Leadership Circle members honored last night

Last night, Bruce and Theresa Raabe hosted a lovely reception at their home in Kentfield in honor of the Sunny Hills Services Leadership Circle, a donor society honoring benefactors who have given generously to Sunny Hills over their lifetime. We are grateful to Bruce and Theresa for opening their home to us. The acoustic melodies played by guitarist, Clay Bell offered a lovely backdrop to this convivial gathering, and the hors d’oeuvres prepared by Mangia Nosh were delicious.

I always look forward to this annual event because it is one small way we can recognize those who have afforded us the opportunity to continue to grow and thrive as an agency. With the support of the Leadership Circle, philanthropy has enabled Sunny Hills to seed new ventures and expand our delivery to reach an even greater number of children and youth in need—which this year will top more than 1,000 across the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Last night, I was thrilled to be able to share some exciting news: Sunny Hills has met the match for the J. Patrick and Irene Hunt Fund, a named fund established in 2007 in support of Sunny Hills’ educational programs for special needs youth. Longtime board member, Cathy Kennedy and her husband, Dan Grossman joined other generous donors to the Fund to provide the remaining match needed to meet our goal. Together with the Hunts’ own generous financial contributions, the Fund will provide half a million dollars to enhance our programs like the Marin Academic Center, a nonpublic K-8 school located on Sunny Hills’ campus in San Anselmo.

In addition, speaking on behalf of Marin County Supervisor Hal Brown who was unable to join us last night, Bruce Raabe announced a $5,000 grant from the County of Marin to Sunny Hills Services. We appreciate Supervisor Brown for his longstanding support of the agency, and for this new investment in our work.

To all of our Leadership Circle members and our broader donor community, I extend to you my heartfelt gratitude for partnering with us to realize this extraordinary mission. Thank you.

Theresa and Bruce Raabe

Irene Hunt and Cathy Kennedy

Joe Costa and Tony Cameron

J. Patrick Hunt

Leadership Circle members enjoying the evening

CEO Joe Costa addressing our guests

New directors bring expertise to the Board

Sunny Hills is pleased to announce Annette Bekowich and Jay Cahan have joined the Board of Directors. The elections increase the size of Sunny Hills’ Board to 25 members.

Annette’s involvement with Sunny Hills began a number of years ago through her volunteer service with Sunny Hills’ Belvedere Guild, an auxiliary group of women dedicated to volunteering and raising financial support on behalf of the children and families we serve. Annette currently serves as Vice President and Senior Financial Consultant for Wells Fargo Investments in Corte Madera. A Marin County native, she resides in Corte Madera with her husband and teenage daughter. Annette received her MBA from San Francisco State University. She brings a tremendous depth of knowledge to the Board of Sunny Hills where she will serve as a member of the Audit and Development committees.

Jay Cahan is the principal of LC Investments, a property management and real investment sales company. Previously, Jay was CEO of HC&M Commercial Properties, Inc. and also worked for BT Commercial in San Francisco. A resident of the town of Ross in Marin County, Jay has brings significant nonprofit experience by virtue of his board service with The Burt Children’s Center in San Francisco (2005 to present) and The Sage Project where he served as Board President (2002-2007). Jay received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Please join me in welcoming Annette and Jay!

BAYC Hosts Sold-Out Symposium on the Needs of LGBTQ Foster Youth

Bay Area Youth Centers (BAYC) hosted a successful symposium on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at Preservation Park in Oakland. Titled “The Needs and Experiences of LGBTQ Youth in Out-of-Home Care,” this day-long event featured a keynote presentation by a former foster youth who began his transition to a male while still in care. The remainder of the day was marked by a balance of informal dialogue and formal presentations, including panels addressing topics such as the physical and emotional health of transgender youth; risk factors, safety and community; and fluidity of identity and gender expression.

The response to the symposium was overwhelmingly positive: registration reached maximum capacity of 110, far exceeding BAYC's initial expectations. Participants came from across the San Francisco Bay Area and included staffers from the University of California, private foundations, the Alameda and Santa Clara County Departments of Education, Human Services and Behavioral Health, faith-based organizations, and community-based nonprofit organizations serving foster youth.

Excerpts from Symposium Evaluations

This is one of the best presentations I’ve been to in a long time. I loved the format, diversity of panelists and topics covered. Great work! I have nothing but praise for all of the panelists and organizers.

I will go back to the UC Office of the President and make sure that UC campuses and services are culturally competent and fully accessible to LGBTQ and foster youth.

I loved that it was a day full of dialogue and conversation vs. being taught and lectured to. I loved that the conversations addressed every level of care from direct service to policy issues.

This symposium served as a reminder about the continued work I need to do in order to be better educated about working with LGBTQ youth—the resources and discussion offered today will be helpful to me when working with youth.

I appreciated the good quality legal and medical presentations balanced with lay activists and Child Welfare professionals. I appreciate how well organized the symposium was and the high quality of presentations.

There’s been great dialogue & points brought up that I’ll take back to my community, and that will lead to more action. Also, I will definitely contact others that I’ve met to help within the community.

A key outcome for the day was to share lessons learned and build a stronger network of service providers in the San Francisco Bay Area who are competent to serve this specialized population of foster youth. We certainly felt that this day marked the beginning of an important, ongoing dialogue, and BAYC looks forward to spearheading the establishment of a work group that will continue to address the issues brought forth that day. BAYC will also begin evaluating the system gaps identified during symposium discussions, and evaluating its capacity to fill these unmet needs.

BAYC is grateful to the Tides Foundation for providing the funding to enable us to host this symposium. It was a rich, rewarding day for all and we feel inspired, as do many of our colleagues in the field, to move forward with energy and enthusiasm.

For more information about the symposium or BAYC, contact Josh Leonard, Executive Director at (510) 727-9401 or josh@bayareayouthcenters.org.

Budget Cuts Put More Group Homes at Risk

As part of the state budget, a 10% cut in reimbursement rates for care of children in nonprofit group homes was approved. This cut was enacted by the state legislature and is not part of the Governor’s controversial line-item vetoes; it is set to go into effect October 1st. Carroll Schroeder, Executive Director of CACFS, said, "With this cut … agencies will be forced to choose between seriously downsizing, closing their programs entirely, or providing substandard care for their kids."

Last Friday, the Alliance (of which Sunny Hills is a member) filed suit in federal court to prevent the state from enacting the cut. Several lawsuits have been filed in recent weeks to challenge cuts made in the state budget in response to California's fiscal crisis. Since the rate cut means that California would pay just 68 cents for every dollar it costs to care for foster children in group homes, the basis for the lawsuit is the state’s failure to pay appropriate rates, or rates that adequately reimburse the costs of providing care in private nonprofit foster care group homes. Since federal law requires that states “cover the cost” of children’s care in order to obtain federal foster care matching funds, the rate cut is allegedly a violation of federal foster care laws.

California’s group home rate system was originally implemented in 1990. It was based on the cost of providing care and supervision at that time. However, in the nineteen intervening years, there have been only four increases to the reimbursement rate the state pays out, despite exponential increases in the costs of care. Coupled with this long history of no increase in payment, the 10% reduction approved by the governor would drop reimbursement rates to just 68% of their original value. This means that while spending more than ever to provide basic care, group homes are being reimbursed far less than at any time in the past twenty years.

If the 10% cut is implemented in October, up to one-third of the state’s group home capacity could be lost, affecting over 2,000 youth. Forty-one of the California Alliance’s present and former member agencies have closed or seriously cut back their group home programs since 2001, due in large part to the inadequacy of reimbursement rates. Many of you are familiar with this endemic problem, as we saw the impacts of it on our own programs with the closing of the Sunny Hills Residential Treatment Program and the Children’s Garden Group Homes. Youth in group homes typically have the most challenging circumstances of any foster youth. Their needs are extraordinarily complex to require that level of placement, and they are at even higher risk than other foster children for homelessness, jail, and hospitalization. While many of these young people can thrive in adequate settings, such as those provided by our own BAYC Group Home program, their needs are generally too complex to be met in traditional foster family placements.

California is in a fiscal crisis and we are all working hard to help bring our great state back to a balanced budget; however, cutting funding for the most defenseless of our state’s already at-risk foster population is not the answer. As their support infrastructure is strained state wide, it is especially critical that housing and treatment needs of these extremely vulnerable young people be met, not severed.

For more information, please visit the Alliance online.

Fall Fashion Show and Fundraiser this October

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 13, 2009 and join the Greenbrae Guild and friends at 11:30 am for an afternoon of fine food, festivities and fabulous fashion at Deer Park Villa in Fairfax. Feast your eyes on the latest in contemporary women's apparel courtesy of Anne's Secret Hangups of Novato. Tickets are $45 per person and all proceeds benefit Sunny Hills. The luncheon includes your choice of oven broiled salmon, veal scaloppini, or soup and shrimp louis salad. Please rsvp no later than October 1st to (415) 457-3200 ext 114 to reserve your place.

The Guilds of Sunny Hills Services are an association of women who have dedicated themselves to volunteering and raising financial support on behalf of the children and families we serve. Since the early 1900s the Guilds have raised more than a million dollars in charitable support which has helped thousands of kids over the years. At its height, there were nearly 40 active guilds in the community. Today, there are four active guilds: Greenbrae Guild, Novato Guild, Glenwood Guild, and the Terra Linda Guild, in addition to numerous other past guild members who serve as sustainers to this day. Sunny Hills is grateful for the extraordinary commitment these women have made. Learn more about the Guilds' service to our Sunny Hills community on our Web site, including the Grape Festival and the Bargain Box.

Optimism

Optimism is a core value we hold at Sunny Hills Services. It is something that we bring to every facet of our work. For us, optimism is equal parts hope, hard work, consistency, and a relentless commitment to helping young people realize their full potential.

At Sunny Hills, our youth come to us with enormous challenges. Life hasn’t always been fair to them. Their young lives have been scarred by the impact of abuse or neglect, poverty or violence, family instability or loss, mental illness or substance abuse, or some combination thereof. Others simply feel different. They may learn differently or relate differently. On the whole, these youth are struggling to thrive. But through our caring staff, we nurture their growth so that, step-by-step, they begin to heal and reclaim their lives.

Optimism is the fuel that drives our work. We see the tremendous distances our youth travel as they confront their challenges and begin to turn their lives around. We know the incredible resilience it takes for them to hold onto hope and not give up. When a child is able to make their first friend, read their first book, meet their father for the first time in their life, identify a feeling….we take none of these for granted. We recognize the potential these moments represent, and celebrate each one.

We approach each day, each young person, each moment with the level of energy and attention it deserves. We embrace high expectations. This doesn’t mean that failure eludes us. It doesn’t mean that our kids don’t experience setbacks. We all do. This is a natural part of life. Just as we do as an agency, we help our young people to reflect on their actions and what they could do differently. This is how we learn. And it is a continuous process.

Our journey is long. Over the arc of our experience, we have demonstrated a commitment to helping all children realize better and brighter futures. We show up every day. For our children. For their families. For our community.

The children and families we serve depend on us, and they continually inspire us to do more.

Welcoming our new Leadership Circle members

In 2004, Sunny Hills Services established the Leadership Circle to honor members of our donor community whose significant support has helped to sustain the important work of this agency. Today, membership in the Leadership Circle is comprised of more than 100 diverse and dedicated individuals who have pledged their commitment to the children of Sunny Hills through generous contributions of financial support.

Members of the Leadership Circle are distinguished by their extraordinary generosity in support of our mission and through their unwavering belief in the agency’s healing work with children, adolescents and their families. Members enjoy special access to Sunny Hills Services and the CEO in addition to personalized recognition through a private annual event, a permanent donor display, and through Sunny Hills’ publications.

Please join me in welcoming the following new members of the Leadership Circle who will be recognized at a private reception on October 15, 2009:

Dr. Angela Callender and Mr. Chuck Gipson
Ms. Patricia Duffy and Mr. Leslie Sherman
Mr. and Mrs. David Epstein
Mr. Robert C. Lynn
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Pryt
Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Shilakes
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Syufy

Dine out and donate

Looking for an easy way to give back? Then join us for dinner on Friday, October 2, 2009 between 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm at Sam's Anchor Café, a favorite waterfront restaurant on San Francisco Bay. Sam's will donate 20% of food and wine purchases to Sunny Hills' Marin Academic Center which provides a therapeutic education to vulnerable youth ages 5-14. No need to purchase any tickets. Simply call (415) 435-4527 to make your reservation today!

Paving the Way for our Future

Several weeks ago, I blogged about Sunny Hills’ approach to nonprofit M&A and, specifically, how it plays a critical role in our organization’s strategic planning.

For any nonprofit organization considering an affiliation, or perhaps a merger, I highly recommend David LaPiana’s body of work as a valuable tool to organize and guide the planning process. LaPiana’s The Nonprofit Mergers Workbook, Part I and Part II served as a critical guideposts for our own board and executive staff as we explored potential alliances with partner agencies, most recently with East Bay provider, Bay Area Youth Centers (BAYC).

This week, I am pleased to welcome Josh Leonard, Executive Director of BAYC, as our guest blogger. A 17-year veteran of BAYC and its Executive Director for the last seven years, Josh brings a valuable perspective to the merger process our two agencies employed. We hope you’ll benefit from learning about our approach as we take a closer look at the process that led to Sunny Hills’ affiliation, and later merger, with BAYC.

***

It all started with a conversation. I was approached by Barry Feinberg (Chief Program Officer at Sunny Hills) in 2007. We discussed the commonalities between our agencies, our mutual struggles, and our goals -- and how we might partner to get there. After a number of conversations with Barry, and later Joe, I began to see how a merger could work in our favor—not just for BAYC, but for Sunny Hills, too.

As an executive director, one of my primary responsibilities is to be future focused. For me, the philosophical question of ‘who do we want to be’ and the more practical aspect of ‘how are we going to get there’ are always top of mind. BAYC was founded in 1974 as a group home provider for youth in foster care; several years ago, I saw the system of care changing rapidly and knew that we needed to change with it or risk obsolescence. I believed that we had unique set of competencies that added value to Alameda County’s system of care. The challenge, then, was to package and parlay these competencies in a way that was relevant and sustainable given the larger forces at play.

After a number of conversations, I gleaned that Sunny Hills was facing a similar set of issues. Known for its residential treatment program for emotionally disturbed children, Sunny Hills was transitioning out of residential care—which had been critically under-funded for a number of years—in order to provide a broader array of community-based services for children, youth and families. Once we saw the potential value of an affiliation, the question turned to what this would this look like?

At that point, each agency identified representatives to serve on a merger study taskforce. I participated along with two BAYC board members, Joe Costa and Barry Feinberg of Sunny Hills, and three Sunny Hills board members. Our taskforce was facilitated by Mary Denton, an experienced management professional who now serves in the role of Chief Financial & Administrative Officer for Sunny Hills. Our group met monthly—sometimes more frequently—for a period of about eight months. Each meeting focused on a singular topic, for example mission/vision, human resources, or programmatic goals. The process was intensive, but it allowed us to get to know one another and establish a foundation of trust. By the end, we had solidified our initial inclination: by coming together, we could create social value and impact on a broader scale.

It wasn’t always as easy as I make it sound. For me, the hardest part was the notion we would be letting go of our 30-year history. Sunny Hills was a larger agency and had been around for decades longer than BAYC. What would a merger really look like? The hierarchy of command? Our creativity, responsiveness and nimbleness that had defined our agency, would it be lost? It was the fear of the unknown.

Our taskforce held the value of open and honest communication. It was important that I clearly communicated my concerns and highlighted any ‘deal-breakers.’ Once I realized that our agency wasn’t going away, I began to focus more so on the pros of this affiliation as the cons dwindled away. With the strength of Sunny Hills’ administrative infrastructure, we would have the capacity to deliver our services on a broader scale than ever before. BAYC held a strong brand in the East Bay, a region that Sunny Hills had yet to tap. Sunny Hills had a solid foothold in Marin County and was beginning to expand its reach to Sonoma County. Together, we had a regional footprint and an infrastructure that would afford us the ability to deliver the scale and quality of programming we desired. And BAYC could focus on what we do best: ensuring transitional age youth have the opportunity they deserve to reach their full potential.

At the conclusion of our taskforce, a recommendation was made to our respective boards to affiliate; BAYC completed its merger with Sunny Hills in October 2008. Roughly one year later, we have managed to integrate our systems—accounting, payroll, case management etc.—and have begun an exercise to strengthen our brand. Our programs are expanding, and we are beginning to disseminate our knowledge and expertise on a broader scale.

We are moving ahead as an agency, and I have greater aspirations for our future. Without a doubt, this has been a real win for BAYC…for our youth, our partners, and our donors, too.

***

You can reach Josh by calling (510) 727-9401 ext. 104 or email him at josh@bayareayouthcenters.org.

Back to School: the politics of educating children with special needs

This is the time of year when many families are sending their children back to school. I think most parents would agree that finding the right academic environment for their child is essential—one that supports their development and encourages their continued growth, both academically and personally.

But when your child has special needs, finding the right placement can be challenging. For many parents, this is a long, arduous process fraught with any number of hurdles that require an abundance of time, resources, and patience. If the family unit itself is stressed—perhaps due to poverty or mental illness—these challenges are multiplied exponentially.

In the United States, every child is entitled by law to a “free and appropriate public education.” When a child has needs that cannot be met within a public school setting, the child may be placed in a nonpublic school that is better equipped to serve them. A nonpublic school is a privately operated, publicly funded school that specializes in providing educational services for students with needs so exceptional that they cannot be met in a public school setting. (Learn more by reading the CACFS Nonpublic School Fact Sheet)

Sunny Hills Services’ Marin Academic Center, better known as MAC, is one of 369 certified nonpublic schools in the state of California and one of five in Marin County. MAC students present with a wide range of emotional and behavioral challenges –– including difficulties with social interaction, aggression toward others and self-injurious behavior. Our students’ emotional and behavioral difficulties stem from a variety of conditions in their home lives including family dysfunction, parent or sibling illness, and parental mental health and/or substance-abuse issues.

Among MAC’s student body:

• 60% of students have suffered some form of abuse or neglect.
• 40% of students are known or suspected victims of sexual abuse.
• 33% of students report having thought about committing suicide.
• 65% of students live below or close to the federal poverty level.

For these children, the Marin Academic Center is an oasis of support. MAC provides a quality, individualized education that addresses individual student’s needs, and builds upon their interests and fundamental desire to learn and grow. The ultimate goal for MAC students is successful reintegration into a less restrictive learning environment in which they are able to function more independently and continue to advance academically.

Certified nonpublic schools like MAC are regulated by the State Department of Education (DOE) and operate under a master contract with the educational agency that is responsible for student placements, in our case the Marin County Special Education Local Planning Area (SELPA) and a few other SELPAs located in the greater Bay Area region. These contracts detail every aspect of the agreement between the public agency and the nonpublic school including the negotiated daily rate, the method by which the nonpublic school is reimbursed for the services delivered.

Reimbursement rates vary according to the extent of services provided by the school, the individual needs of students served, and even the region of the state in which the nonpublic school is located. Rates are generally set, though can be increased annually in one of two ways: through a cost of living adjustment (COLA) and/or by the nonpublic school’s petition for an increase. In the case of the latter, the nonpublic school must appeal in writing to the educational agency responsible for overseeing the master contract.

As cutbacks to public spending for education have reached virtually every corner of this nation, staying afloat financially has become increasingly challenging for many schools and school districts. This is certainly the case for our nonpublic school.

The inevitable rise in the cost of doing business, such as increases to the cost of employee benefits and teacher salaries, has resulted in MAC’s reimbursement rate not being nearly adequate to fund our special education program at the level required—a situation that has been exacerbated by the fact that MAC has received only nominal increases to its reimbursement rate over the past five years, and no increase this year.

In response, Sunny Hills has committed to raise private philanthropic support to ensure MAC is able to continue to deliver the high quality services our students need and so deserve. The Marin Academic Center has received generous support from numerous members of our donor community since its inception more than thirty years ago. These gifts represent not only significant financial support, but a belief in and commitment to children at risk.

In a particular way, I would like to recognize several of our recent donors who have made it possible for us to weather these challenging economic times and continue to serve children who need our help: the J. Patrick and Irene Hunt Educational Fund at Sunny Hills, the In-N-Out Burger Foundation, the George H. Sandy Foundation, the Irene S. Scully Family Foundation, the James R. Sylla Education Fund at Sunny Hills, the Wells Fargo Community Support Campaign, and our generous volunteers, the Guilds and Auxiliary of Sunny Hills Services.

It is a privilege to be able to make a positive difference in another person’s life. On behalf of the children and families we serve, I would like to acknowledge these individuals by expressing our appreciation for your steadfast support of our mission. But, most importantly, I want you to know that your contributions have facilitated so many positive changes in the lives of vulnerable children. For that, you have my deepest gratitude.

P.S. The Marin Academic Center ushers in the 2009-2010 academic year on Monday, August 24th at its new, permanent home on Sunny Hills’ San Anselmo campus. If you are interested in touring our school, or simply need additional information, please contact Principal Jolene Yee at jyee@sunnyhillsservices.org.

Positive Interventions for Youth Offenders with Mental Illness

Recent articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times address the strain on juvenile correction systems as they are increasingly relied upon to handle a growing population of youth offenders with mental health issues. The situation is becoming even more perilous as cash-starved states are slashing funding for mental health programs in communities and schools.

It is not atypical for youth who struggle with mental health disorders to have unmet needs across all of their life domains. Often, youth land in juvenile hall because it was the only way they could get connected to the mental health services they need. Whether the discussion is about juvenile corrections or special education, for the most part, we are talking about the same youth. They just happen to access the system through different entry points, and all too frequently this happens to be through juvenile corrections. The particular issue faced by California’s juvenile system, and other systems across the country, has raised the public’s awareness of the need for better integration within the youth system of care—from special education and mental health services to foster care services, juvenile corrections and probation.

No doubt problems exist, and public discourse is one way to enact change. Sunny Hills has been working on the ground implementing innovative new solutions that are making a measurable difference in the lives of these young people. The agency has been tapped by the Sonoma County departments of Probation and Mental Health to participate in a unique partnership designed specifically to address the mental health needs of juvenile offenders and their families. While other states may be slashing community-based mental health programs, Sonoma County has been quite progressive in its approach to treating juvenile offenders with mental health issues. Research shows that youth with mental disorders are placed at higher risk for re-offending. The County made an intentional decision to concentrate its efforts on addressing these youths’ mental health needs as a way of also addressing their delinquent behavior.

Up to now, it was not a widely held belief that mental health services could be delivered effectively outside of the jail; the prevailing belief was that containment would be necessary in order to diagnose and treat offenders. In reality, as the juvenile corrections system was flexed beyond its capacity, youth were being misdiagnosed and under-served in most all aspects of their functioning, often worsening their mental illness. This is precisely why programs like our Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Project PRIDE are needed; our experience demonstrates that juvenile offenders with mental health issues can be treated successfully in the community, improving their mental health functioning and lessening their chances for recidivism.

The ACT program, designed to address the needs of mentally ill juvenile offenders, and its newer companion, Project PRIDE which targets Santa Rosa-based youth offenders with known or suspected gang affiliations, are both community-based mental health programs that treat youth in context of their homes, schools and communities. The ultimate goal is to lessen time in juvenile hall, support the youth to regain a sense of emotional well-being, and also develop the assets and competencies (improving social skills, employability, education, and civic and other life skills) to help them become productive members of society.

And it works: in the six month period from January through June 2008, 75% of graduates (12 of 15) from the ACT program transitioned to less restrictive settings requiring a lower level of care. After entering the ACT program, the number of new petitions—e.g. incidents occurring whereby youth break the terms of their probation (curfew, drug usage, school attendance, associating with forbidden adults or teens, AWOL) to more serious misdemeanors (drug possession, property destruction) to felony charges—for delinquent youth improved by 90%.

The successes achieved during the pilot year of the ACT program spawned the development of new services designed to treat specialized populations of youth. This year, the ACT program will deliver services to youth with mental illness who are returning from residential and juvenile institutions, for example correctional camps or out-of-state locked facilities. The ultimate objective is to reduce the young person’s time in an out-of-home placement and provide the tools and support to soften their landing back into their community.

At Sunny Hills, we believe that programs like ACT have the potential to make systemic changes to the way we view and treat juvenile offenders with mental illness. These youth aren’t bad seeds; they are young people who are struggling with a severe illness and simply need the right resources delivered in an appropriate setting to have a meaningful chance at turning their lives around. We believe they can. Our youth are living proof.