Our Domestic Adoption Program continues to see growth in 2013. If you’ve been on line you’ll see we have a new presence on the web, Facebook and Twitter. In early 2013 we launched a new marketing campaign that will continue through 2014. The good news is that we are helping more young women understand their choices when experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, and helping to create more new families. If you have not had a chance to see our new materials, or the new website—please check out www.adoptusa.com.

HOMELESS SHELTERS & TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM

We continue to see a steady increase in demand for our Shelter and Transitional Living Programs. If you have seen the news you’ll know that here in Maine there has been a significant increase in the numbers of homeless people—with Portland and Bangor seeing sharper increases than the rest of Maine. Our Shelters provide support for homeless pregnant or parenting women and have been at capacity over the winter therefore we have increased our staff and facilities to meet the demand.

CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES & COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Last year was a record year for us and the trend in demand for both Case Management and Community Mental Health services continues to rise. We have added staff in both Bangor and Portland to respond to increased calls for services and now offer Case Management for Children, Case Management for Homeless Populations, and Case Management for Adults with Mental Health Issues, Out Patient Therapy and Substance Abuse Treatment.

Stepping Stones….this is the place where our new life began. The moment I walked through that red door, I knew I was going to do whatever I needed to do to become the best parent possible, and anything that was asked of me. But I had no idea of the profound effect this house was going to have on me. I would never have thought that I would find true happiness here, of all places.

All my adult life, however short, I have been searching for happiness I have heard people talk about. I found it here. I found it in my sobriety and with the staff of Stepping Stones.

I grew in so many ways and fought with all my might to learn how to become whole again. With each passing day, I had struggles and uphill battles. Life seemed unfair and seemed to crumble when devastation hit our family at the passing of Wallace’s father. When I needed someone to listen, you were there; when I needed to break down and cry, you allowed me to. You helped me re-build the crumbling foundation of my life and now I can hold my head up high.

With the support, encouragement, wisdom and openness of your hearts I have been able to become the person I always wanted to be: an amazing Mother.

You truly have no idea how you have all affected my life. I will never forget you. You will always be part of Wallace’s family. There are simply no words to describe how thankful I am for the opportunity I was given. I think of the time you put in with us.

I am ready to move on now for this was just our temporary home and it is not where we belong…it is just a stepping stone…one that saved us. Thank you.

For more than 10 years the Stepping Stones FSP has successfully supported families struggling to remain intact after being referred for treatment and education while under the threat of legal termination of parental rights for abuse and neglect.

Our FSP model allows the parent and child to live together during treatment while the parent/s acquires the skills to identify and meet the child’s needs. The treatment is trauma-informed and evidence based. This 24/7-treatment model ensures the safety of the family members while providing an intense level of treatment. It is the most effective way to “break the cycle” and to bring about positive change in these families who struggle with generational issues of mental illness, substance abuse, family violence, and poverty.

The Handbook for Infant Mental Health advocates for,“…the young child’s capacity to experience, regulate, and express emotions, form close and secure relationships, and explore the environment and learn. All of these capacities will be best accomplished within the context of the caregiving environment that includes family, community, and cultural expectations for young children. Developing these capacities is synonymous with health social and emotional development.”

Stepping Stones is the only agency in Northern New England certified to teach Mental Health First Aid for both adults and youth. Earlier this year Chuck Daly, Gary Frost, Kristen Hirsch and Shana Pike traveled to Florida for a week-long intensive training to become certified instructors in Mental Health First Aid for Adults and Youth.

Mental Health First Aid is a groundbreaking public education program that helps the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders – while Youth Mental Health First Aid is a public education program which introduces participants to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and most importantly – teaches individuals how to help a youth in crisis or experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge.

Mental Health First Aid uses role-playing and simulations to demonstrate how to assess a mental health crisis; select interventions and provide initial help; and connect adults and young people to professional, peer, social, and self-help care.
Mental Health First Aid USA is managed, operated, and disseminated by three national authorities — the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

For more information please call 1-888-866-0113.

It is our understanding that future services will be funded by competitive RFP’s and contracts and these RFP’s have yet to be developed or issued in time to provide continuity of service to those families currently in our facilities, nor for those on the waiting list to access services at our four residential program sites in Saco, Harrington, Bangor and Houlton.

We have been informed that the DHHS will develop different approaches for those families where the State of Maine has taken custody of the children and families are under consideration of termination of parental rights. Our understanding is that future funding for programs to support the state goal of family re-unification will not include residential programs. We stand ready to expand our services to support clients in need of services to attain re-unification provided it is in the best interest of the child and look forward to the new approaches and funding currently being developed.

I am writing to inform you that Stepping Stones will be enacting the following actions in response over the next few months:

• Families currently in one of our four, residential Family Stabilization Programs (FSP) will be allowed to complete their education, treatment and work towards their re-unification goals and we will accommodate them until completion of the program after June 30, 2013 at our own expense.

• We will be closing our Saco, Harrington and Bangor FSP facilities and seeking to re-purpose them in line with our broad mission and other programs. Below are the specifics for each location:
  • Saco – Will be converted to serve birthmothers, in support of our adoption programs
  • Bangor – Will be converted to house the Bangor shelter program.
  • Harrington – The agency continues to explore options.

• Our Houlton FSP will remain open for at least the next 12 months and will continue to accept clients in need of residential services and we will seek alternative funding strategies to support this facility.

• We will be developing new and different programming to support the children and families that were successfully served by our FSP program.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this transition and please remember that at all times our aim has been to provide the very best in services in support of the children in our programs.

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the recent changes in funding, our plans for the future or how we can work together to develop more and better services for children at risk.

Sincerely,

Charles T. Daly
CEO, Stepping Stones

The annual event was established by founding hosts Sarah and Stefan Willimann to provide support and awareness for the Stepping Stones Shelter and Transitional Housing programs that routinely serve homeless and pregnant or parenting women here in Maine.

Demand for services has been on the increase in the last few years and this important event helps to generate funds that last year supported more than 150 clients in our Portland and Bangor Shelters.

The event will feature a live and silent auction, a reception and a chance to learn more about the programs provided by Stepping Stones. For more information on the event, please contact Director of Marketing & Development, Paul Golding at pgolding@steppingstonesusa.org  or call 1-888-866-0113

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About Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a Maine-based nonprofit organization that provides US-wide domestic adoption as well as statewide community mental health, case management, shelter, transitional housing and family services. Stepping Stones’ mission is to provide safe, developmentally appropriate services for each child and family we encounter. Whether it’s creating new families through adoption, preserving current bonds or reunifying families, Stepping Stones offers hope, opportunity and stability as we nurture paths to a more promising tomorrow. With offices throughout Maine, Stepping Stones was founded in 1977 and has helped thousands of families. More information is available on their website at www.steppingstonesusa.org

The proposed reductions in funding for the Department of Health and Human Services are being positioned by the governor as prudent fiscal management of Maine’s resources in his effort to balance the budget.

Dramatically reducing the funding that supports the homeless, chronically mentally ill, those stricken with substance abuse issues and families needing support and services to remain intact threatens the quality of life for all of us in Maine. Most importantly they threaten those with the least voice: our children.

To take just two interconnected examples in the governor’s budget: the proposed increase in funding for foster care and the Draconian reductions in funding for Private Non-Medical Institutions that address infant mental health (including successful family stabilization programs that support reunification).

Increasing foster care for children of parents dealing with substance abuse issues, such as bath salts, means that fewer resources are available to help treat and reunify families in proven programs such as those offered across the state by Stepping Stones and other agencies. The increased number of children in foster care is something that Maine should regard as a failure, especially when programs that helped reunify families are being defunded.

The dramatic increase in bath salts cases is the reason why additional children are being placed in foster care, according to DHHS. By placing children in foster care, parents are supposedly more likely to access substance abuse treatment and then seek support for family reunification. It is, of course, more complex than that.

The state is mandated to provide an opportunity for reunification. Bath salts cases are extreme and in no way the main reason that families seek access to family stabilization programs. Such cases trigger an intervention with the affected parents who are urged to seek substance abuse treatment and are more likely to achieve reunification if they attend a successful family stabilization program.

The increase in foster care funding seems to suggest that the governor is looking to circumvent established practice and send children who could be successfully reunited with their families off to foster-care before attempting to reunify a family through treatment and support. Our children deserve better. Clearly the reduction in PNMI funding indicates that access to family reunification services will be much harder to come by. If this is not a shift in policy on a state level it is hard to envision otherwise. Our families deserve better.

Now for the piece that isn’t just about balancing the books. Just because a child is placed in foster care does not mean the parent automatically begins to attend treatment. The parent would still be allowed visitation whether in treatment or not, and foster parents are not always trained in the issues around attachment. In addition, foster families are often viewed, by the parents in these cases, as trying to prevent them from regaining custody of the child.

For those of us in social services this goes against something that we have been told when creating programs that reunite families: Design programs that meet the need of the population not the need of a funding stream. We need to build healthy and safe families that can contribute to the community and thereby, our state.

Outside of proven family stabilization programs, cases can languish for months or years in the courts. The court has to make final determination on the well-being of the child. The choices are closing the case, and allowing the parent child to live together, or termination of parental rights. In either case, the child benefits from a quick determination. There is nothing worse than a child, or family for that matter, languishing in the systems for long periods.

Cases managed through family stabilization programs move exponentially faster in the judicial system. That is due to the amount of paperwork and evidence supplied to the court. Since such cases are in programs staffed 24/7, there is little that is not documented; from sobriety, to treatment progress, successful parenting and attachment.

When families are not in a program like this, there are issues with coordination of services and providers, gaps in documentation and lack of effort on the family’s part to achieve goals. All of these things delay the final determination and create a child that is “in the system.”

This is a financial burden to the state long-term, far beyond the supposed increase in foster care funding, because it masks the real lack of investment in Maine children and families through reunification programs. We all deserve better.

Charles T. Daly is the CEO of Stepping Stones Maine. He resides in Bangor.

Among the highlights of the annual report, adoption staff spent 689 hours performing community outreach to school, healthcare facilities and social service organizations. They spoke with 68 birth mothers considering adoption, and placed 20 children with new families.

Almost 60% of clients who requested family stabilization services completed the program. Typical clients include single mothers and families with at least one child under the age of five.

Amid the increase demand for shelter services, Stepping Stones reports 120 people successfully exited the shelter program and entered permanent housing. Almost half of these individuals were children.

Stepping Stones also reports a dramatic increase in requests for mental health services statewide. “It’s obvious that there is a significant need to Stepping Stones’ full continuum of services around the state,” said Charles Daly, chief executive officer of Stepping Stones. “We’ll continue to innovate our services to ensure our clients are as successful as possible, and can create stable, happy living situations.”

Download the full 2013 Stepping Stones Annual Report.

About Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a Maine-based nonprofit organization that provides US-wide domestic adoption as well as statewide community mental health, case management, shelter, transitional housing and family services. Stepping Stones’ mission is to provide safe, developmentally appropriate services for each child and family we encounter. Whether it’s creating new families through adoption, preserving current bonds or reunifying families, Stepping Stones offers hope, opportunity and stability as we nurture paths to a more promising tomorrow. With offices throughout Maine, Stepping Stones was founded in 1977 and has helped thousands of families. More information is available on their website at www.steppingstonesusa.org.

Golding was born and educated in the United Kingdom and relocated to the USA in 1990. He has more than 20 years of progressive experience in development, fundraising, special events, marketing and volunteer management. He has served in senior management positions since 1994 in public health, higher education and social service organizations. He has significant experience in working with leadership and board volunteers on funding initiatives, strategic planning, strategic marketing and capital campaigns. He served as board president of the National Alliance for Grieving Children from 2009 to 2011 and routinely presents on non-profit leadership topics at national and international conferences.

“We feel Paul has the experience and the vision to move Stepping Stones forward as we continue to enhance the services we offer to families and children,” said Charles Daly, chief executive officer of Stepping Stones. “We look to him to build strong bonds with our community and our supporters.”

Golding is currently working on transitioning Stepping Stones’ internal and external communications to the new brand. He has recently guided the launch of the organization’s new website, www.steppingstonesusa.org.

About Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a Maine-based nonprofit organization that provides US-wide domestic adoption as well as statewide community mental health, case management, shelter, transitional housing and family services. Stepping Stones’ mission is to provide safe, developmentally appropriate services for each child and family we encounter. Whether it’s creating new families through adoption, preserving current bonds or reunifying families, Stepping Stones offers hope, opportunity and stability as we nurture paths to a more promising tomorrow. With offices throughout Maine, Stepping Stones was founded in 1977 and has helped thousands of families. More information is available on their website at www.steppingstonesusa.org.

Stepping Stones previously consisted of several different organizations operating both together and independently. “We realized that all the various organizations could work more effectively if they were better connected, since many of our clients migrated between them,” explained Charles Daly, chief executive officer of Stepping Stones. “We fully integrated the various organizations so we can provide a stronger continuum of care to our clients.”

The services offered by Stepping Stones have not changed markedly since they were renamed from MAPS and Step Stones 4 Youth. By integrating them, Stepping Stones enriches the existing programs. When a family becomes a client in any program, the Stepping Stones staff is able to identify their needs and anticipate other ways the organization may be able to assist them in the future.

Stepping Stones programs include adoption counseling, case management, financial assistance for mothers, and personalized adoption planning; outpatient mental health counseling for both adults and children in the Bangor and Portland areas; case management for individuals or family in need of support and direction; emotional and tactical support for families who want to live together safely and healthily; temporary housing for homeless, pregnant and/or parenting women and their children; and transitional living for clients in need of a stable foundation.

About Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones is a Maine-based nonprofit organization that provides US-wide domestic adoption as well as statewide community mental health, case management, shelter, transitional housing and family services. Stepping Stones’ mission is to provide safe, developmentally appropriate services for each child and family we encounter. Whether it’s creating new families through adoption, preserving current bonds or reunifying families, Stepping Stones offers hope, opportunity and stability as we nurture paths to a more promising tomorrow. With offices throughout Maine, Stepping Stones was founded in 1977 and has helped thousands of families. More information is available on their website at www.steppingstonesusa.org.