Executive Director's Report
January 1, 2012
Dear Friends:
Once again a new year is upon us! White Fields has been tremendously blessed in 2011 and I have many new stories to share about our boys. Thank you for contributing to our success.
This year we welcomed 4 new boys into our facility: Timmy, Reuben, Matty and Floyd. In August, Joshua was successfully adopted; and Kristopher is currently going through the process now. Emad, Johnny, Moses and Davonte progressed enough to move from our D level to C level cottage with house parents. Austin, Tyran, Johnny and Keatley transitioned into our specialized community home.
The defining characteristic of White Fields is that we offer three levels of care on our campus and are a certified foster placing agency. When our children arrive on campus, they have lived in an average of 12 different places in the past two years alone. These innocent boys’ parents have sexually, physically and emotionally abused them. Due to the devastation experienced, the boys’ basic living skills have never been developed; and they are often behind several grade levels in school. These and other factors contribute to the child being unable to function in a family setting such as a foster or adoptive home.
When the boys arrive on our campus they usually come from an in-patient psychiatric center and are placed into a D level cottage. This level of care is operated by three shifts of awake staff to ensure the children’s safety due to their volatile behaviors. Direct care staff members teach our boys basic living skills. Additionally, they provide continuous support to ensure the boys work through their traumatic experiences. Each boy receives two hours of group therapy; one hour of individual therapy; and one hour of art therapy once a week. The initial phase of White Fields’ care is critical to establishing trust with the boys so they are comfortable with the fact they will not be moved again. As we build this trust, we are able to demonstrate a path that leads to normalcy and independent living. Some boys take longer than others to heal, but all of our children yearn for the family atmosphere that the house parent cottage provides.
After our treatment staff determines the boys have stabilized enough to function in a home environment, they are moved to a C level cottage which utilizes a house parent model. Two sets of house parents provide care every day of the week. The children attend public school at Deer Creek and participate in sports and other activities. As the children show progress in their emotional healing and can handle a less restrictive environment, they are eligible to move to a still less restrictive level of care, which is our specialized community home.
White Field’s saw a need for a specialized community home on campus and funded its opening with a grant from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. We secured a foster family to live in one of our cottages on campus and in December, Tyran became our first child to enter into this level of care. Austin, Keatley, and Johnny also joined the household! Austin and Tyran were blessed with cars in December from generous donors and we frequently see both of them driving around to and from school and their off-campus jobs. Originally, we opened a foster home and placed three children; however in June, we were approached by the Department of Human Services to convert our foster home into a specialized community home. This allowed us to add an additional child and utilize state funding to adequately care for more children.
Your generosity and support allows us to provide such high levels of care for our children. There is little doubt that without the care our boys receive at White Fields, they would not have the opportunity to fully develop into the person God created them to be. As 2012 begins, we look forward to helping each boy grow emotionally and spiritually. Our goal this year is to open another foster home on campus so that we are able to give even more children the opportunity to experience a normal and safe life. God bless you and thank you for helping heal our children.
Most Sincerely,
Frank Alberson
Executive Director
White Fields, Inc.
White Fields Executive Director