Easter Seals UCP Foster Care-Community Outreach

1. Easter Seals UCP Foster Care-Community Outreach • Easter Seals UCP of North Carolina and Virginia 33 Darlington Avenue Wilmington, NC 28403 • Supervisor: Adrienne Beatty Outpatient Therapist *Phone Number: (910) 790-5921 x 109 Email: adrienne.beatty@nc.eastersealsucp.com

2. Demographics & Services • Easter Seals UCP is a nonprofit organization serving people managing disabilities and mental health challenges. • For this particular siteservices focus on Foster Care and Developmental disabilities. For Foster Care, Easter Seals focuses on providing a nurturing family environment for children and adolescents needing out-of-home placement. The placement of children in therapeutic foster care requires therapeutic support from foster parents as well as the Easter Seals UCP team. Easter Seals provides trainingfor therapeuticfoster parents that focuses on teaching parents coping skills, positive reinforcement, creating a therapeutic environment, and so on. The goal of foster care is to serve any child in need; focusing on teaching independent living skills, conflict resolution, creating healthy self-images and appropriate interpersonal relationships. The Easter Seals team consists of placement coordinators, case managers, licensing coordinators, and outpatient therapists that are on call 24/7. The teamprovides resources and support for foster parentsand foster children from start to finish. For Developmental disabilities Easter Seals provides community skills training that focuses on enhancing the life a child or adult with a disability. Personal Care Services are provided in the home and may include assistance with bathing, dressing, and meal preparation.  Respite gives families and caregivers temporary rest and relief.

3. Site Duties At Easterseals UCP I was able to experience and participate in variety of different features ofthe mental health profession. My duties consisted of: • Observing play therapy • Assisting and observing case management; participating in treatment team meetings, participating in creating Person Centered Plans for each client, helping make phone calls to find alternative placements, and helping obtain necessary paperwork (doctors signatures, med orders, and so on.) • Assisting and observing child placement; providing support for foster children and foster parents, participating in the process of child placement from initial referral to weekly home visits, and actively participating in ensuring that each child is being provided with a safe and nurturing environment • Attending and observing Therapeutic Foster Parent Training • Assisting in filing paperwork as well as ensuring every file was kept in order and up to date. • Observing community skills training as well as personal care and respite supports ; such as providing one-to-one support for personal care and daily living skills to individuals with disabilities.   

4. Future Recommendations • I would highly recommend this site to future practicum students. The great thing about Easter Seals UCP is the plethora of services they provide allows you to really be able to experience many different aspects of mental health as a profession. Further, the diverse population they serve allows you to really interact with and learn about different people. From observing play therapy with a child who was sexually abused to assisting an adult with down syndrome , Easter Seals offers exposure to it all. For someone who is interested in really getting a first hand look in to the field of mental health this is a great site. The staff is also very supportive, caring, and knowledgeable. They were always willing to answer my questions, give me opportunities to participate and observe, and really made me feel more than just an intern. To intern at Easter Seals you will have to undergo a background check and some basic paperwork. However, I would not recommend this site to someone who is not emotionally strong or stable. Many of the children that are in foster care have been through very traumatic and heartbreaking experiences. You must be able to deal with the ugly and cope with it accordingly. If you can handle that then is is a great site that is truly rewarding, especially when you see the good that can come for many children. All in all I learned much more than I expected at Easter Seals and found it to be a great learning and life experience.