Return-Path: <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id i8NMpe808414; Thu, 23 Sep 2004 18:51:40 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 18:51:40 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000301c4a1c1$550b23d0$1a01a8c0@cccchs.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Sylvan Rainwater" <sylvan@cccchs.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-family@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1940] RE: difficult decisions X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 2688 Lines: 52 Okay, I just re-read this -- always a good idea *before* you post, and it comes off sounding more harsh than I intended. We do realize that helping people actually participate in our program and prioritize attendance (which is not always culturally familiar to people) is part of our mission, part of helping folks transition to working successfully with other schools and also getting jobs at some point. We do provide social services and help people connect with community resources as part of what we do. We do accept people into the program who don't have it all together yet in hopes that we can work with them to help them put it all together at some point. However, it is a judgment call as to when a family will require so much social service support that they will be unable to benefit from educational services at all. Family Literacy is a program that does require a certain amount of stability in order to sustain consistent participation. We are required to document educational gains, and if a family is in such a position that they can't benefit from educational services, then it doesn't make sense for us to attempt to serve them. With a long waiting list, we prioritize based on need *plus* ability to participate meaningfully in the program. ------- Sylvan Rainwater mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org Program Manager Family Literacy Clackamas Co. Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA -----Original Message----- From: nifl-family@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-family@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Sylvan Rainwater Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2004 9:13 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1939] RE: difficult decisions There is a fine line here between helping families transition to regular attendance and putting time and energy toward something that is not really our core mission in a way that it detracts from others who *are* ready to take advantage of the services we offer. There is sometimes a level of chaos in a family that makes it impossible for them to participate, whether from drugs/alcohol, depression, sometimes severe domestic violence, etc. If they can't participate, they can't really benefit from our program. If we put our energy into social services as opposed to education, we are shorting everyone. Sure, we want to help everyone and make it all work for everyone. But sometimes you have to say "enough." Certainly, refer to other agencies that can be of help (if they exist) and/or advocate for such services to be provided. I think, though, that we need to be careful to focus on what we *can* do for the most people in a particular niche that we serve. There are plenty of those, as our waiting list will attest.
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