:: Pro Bono Consultation ::
Give a man a fish, the saying goes, and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.
In this spirit, PCFINE provides pro bono consultation to agencies working directly with families in crisis. Among the most underpaid and under-trained professionals in our society, these staff often work in the most demanding settings with few resources. A deeper grasp of human behavior, family dynamics, and unconscious motivation and conflict can enable empowered human services professionals to develop more effective and far-reaching interventions to help families at risk.
The value of PCFINE consultations is two-fold: In the short term, professionals will gain confidence and greater expertise in addressing the multiple needs of their clients. In the long term, training those on the front lines - social workers, housing advocates, day care teachers, judges, and pediatricians, among others - will ultimately result in their reaching the broadest number of families possible. In the end, more resilient families will lead to a healthier community and society.
:: Outreach and Consultation ::
Boston Evening Academy
Boston Evening Academy (BEA) is a charter school, located in a former Boston public school. At BEA high school students in their late adolescence or early adulthood, who have not succeeded in any other academic setting, attend classes in the late afternoon and evening. The small classes allow the students to receive extensive individual attention. There is a high graduation rate, with the vast majority of students moving on to some kind of college experience. SAT classes are given on the premises by the regular faculty. This is an impressive learning environment. In September of 2004, the school is expanding, and the same model will be used to work with middle school students.
Recently, Meg Maccini, the principal and Norm Lowe, the school counselor met with Susan Siroty, who represented PCFINE discussed an affiliation. Two outreach ideas are currently in process, with the possibility of a third. Dr. Joel Friedman is meeting with Ms. Maccini to help with conducting needs assessment and focus groups to determine what new programs and use of space would be best, as they expand to the day program for middle school students. Dr. Susan Siroty is working with Mr. Lowe to train faculty to work with the students around personal growth issues. The first group will begin in September of 2004 and will address parenting issues as a majority of the students are parents, and many of the girls, as single mothers, have direct responsibility for their children. Future groups will deal will prevention of pregnancy, substance abuse and other topics.
The third area in which a PCFINE member could consult is with the Student Support Committee where issues pertaining to particular students and their difficulties are addressed.
Quincy Community Action Programs, Inc. (QCAP)
This past spring PCFINE faculty consulted to staff working with homeless families on Boston’s South Shore. Facing the daunting task of re-locating a growing number of indigent families, QCAP staff must respond to multiple demands with limited resources. PCFINE faculty suggested ways to build trust with clients; how to set realistic expectations and respectful limits; and how to prevent staff "burn-out".
Child Witness to Violence Project at Boston Medical Center
Since the fall of 2001, PCFINE has provided regular consultation and clinical supervision to therapists at the Child Witness to Violence Project, a counseling program for young children exposed to violence in the home and the community. Now consulting on a formal basis, PCFINE has introduced innovative ways to serve the nearly 100 children who annually depend on the Project. Conducting psychotherapy with the child and mother present is one such innovation.
Cambridge Family & Children’s Services (CFCS)
Monthly consultation by PCFINE faculty has enabled CFCS staff to review and discuss challenging and sometimes baffling cases, according to Executive Director Denise Maguire. To help strengthen the CFCS mandate - to maintain “at risk” children in the family whenever possible - PCFINE provides support in the areas of conflict resolution, parenting education, working with the foster care system, and adoption.
Tufts New England Medical Center (NEMC)
This fall PCFINE begins a collaboration in medical education with NEMC. Recognizing the ongoing need for skilled psychiatrists, the residency program at NEMC has enlisted PCFINE faculty to supervise and train residents in family systems theory and therapy. With a focus on community service, the program provides hands-on training with underserved populations throughout the city of Boston.
Other PCFINE community service collaborations have included the Boston Court Clinic, Dedham Probate Court, Visiting Nurses Association, and the South End Clinic.
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