Five Acres workforce finds balance for foster care children

Accompanied by a residential team member, two Five Acres children take a break from remote learning and play video games in the new teen room in the auditorium while practicing social distancing.

Five Acres children take a break from remote learning and play video games in the new teen room in the auditorium while practicing social distancing.

ALTADENA, Calif., May 1, 2020—Children in foster care have been significantly disrupted by the global pandemic. Children living at Five Acres are placed at the residential campus in Altadena because of acute trauma they experienced at home. The impact of COVID-19 is another traumatic event that the charity’s workforce is helping the children navigate.

Division Director of Residential, Claudia Rice, said, “Clinicians have done an amazing job with sessions, in-person and telehealth services. They have decreased [the children’s] anxiety about not going to school or not being able to go on an outing.”

When the safer-at-home order was announced, the charity’s rehabilitation and residential team responded quickly by changing the children’s programming. “What takes weeks of planning and bouncing ideas with others was planned from one day to the next,” said Rice. “It was impressive to see how everyone worked together so quickly.”

Likewise the Facilities team hustled to convert one of the buildings to serve as a five-bed self-isolation unit, with the capacity to hold an additional 20 beds.

Besides having the standard emergency, non-pandemic supplies, Five Acres’ leadership was ahead of the curve when it began buying pandemic-specific inventory in late February. “This prescient action proved crucial in allowing the agency to obtain pandemic-mitigation supplies before they became nearly impossible to purchase,” said Facilities Director Jake Cashill.

Coordinating the emergency logistics, Cashill’s team also consolidated supplies from other office locations at their main facility, as these off-campus buildings quickly became nearly vacant, with employees working from home or remotely. According to Cashill, the goal was to get the supplies where they were needed most – at the residential campus – where the children were sequestered, and where operations continued.

“Working here is always a juggle,” said Cashill, who added that his team continues to maintain its everyday duties.

Five Acres mental health team and residential staff are also addressing the children’s emotional safety. They are having ongoing conversations around the pandemic and talking about their safety and that of others. Staff are encouraging youth to make better decisions to ensure everyone’s well-being.

In addressing the children’s emotions, staff also recognizes the need for predictability. The residential team has increased the amount of activities throughout the day, setting specific time for children to do their work, engage in fun activities, and participate in sports like basketball and swimming. “Having a routine and schedule allows the children to learn and grow,” said Rice, “So upon returning to school, their educational growth continued despite the suspension of actual classroom time due to Covid-19.”

Staff is planning activities from the moment the children get up to the moment they go to bed.

“As you can imagine, the need for educational and recreational supplies has increased a great deal due to the hours that have been added to the programming,” said Rice.

Increased programming requires additional supply needs. While public schools provided some of the students with Chrome books, not all of them received them. Rice encourages the community to come together to make donations. The charity is asking for donations to purchase school supplies, arts and crafts, math flashcards, additional Chrome books, mini projectors, Spectrum math books for grades 3 to 7, and middle school reading books.

To donate, visit https://5acres.org/givingtuesdaynow-2020/.

A mom wearing a face mask with two sons eating lunch sitting on the car trunk during the safer-at-home order in Altadena

5 Parenting Tips during the Pandemic

A mom wearing a face mask with two sons eating lunch sitting on the car trunk during the safer-at-home order in Altadena

Woodland Hills resident Vanessa de Giacomo and her two sons enjoy lunch outside during the safer-at-home order. Finding creative ways to keep her sons occupied, Vanessa looks forward to mini outings that keep her family safe while taking in the sun.

Sheltering in place during the COVID-19 global pandemic has many parents partnering with their child’s school by using remote learning. Working parents have the added responsibility of managing their children’s schoolwork on top of their own job duties. In a GALLUP survey, 42 percent of parents with K-12 students expressed concern that the coronavirus situation will have a negative impact on their child’s education. The impact goes beyond education.

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists Wendy Gutierrez and Karina Ramos of Five Acres, a foster care/adoption and mental health provider, offer five tips for parents during the pandemic.

Have Structure — Simple things like making sure children have a routine is important. Young children don’t understand what is happening so having a structure at home helps them make sense to the world. Kids may wonder, “‘why is mommy home?’ ‘Why can’t I go outside?’ ‘Why can’t I see my friends at school?’” Wendy said, adding that not being able to go outside can be a dysregulating idea.

Staying at home makes it easier to stay in pajamas, yet “making sure children are changing out of their pajamas (as it is available to families and their resources) is part of having a consistent schedule and a routine.” Wendy also suggests setting school time and meal time, so they have consistency and predictability are crucial to young children and their mental health.

Have Transitions —What Wendy experiences with Five Acres families is that culturally, the parent may say “I am the adult, you respect me.” Parents often struggle transitioning their children, however it is important to give them time to emotionally end whatever they were connected or engaged with. One tip includes giving children 5 to 10 minutes before you ask them to move onto a new task. Allowing children the opportunity to know they have 3 more minutes to finish their game or television is important. “Negative interactions are unintentional and our parents are doing the best they can,” said Wendy.

Praise Your Child — Who doesn’t like to hear an acknowledgement? “Giving a label to praise let’s your child know exactly what behaviors you want them to continue, and gives them credit for the work they are doing,” said Wendy. One example Wendy said is to say “‘Thank you for picking up your toys and putting them away’ versus ‘Good job.’ Children are not going to school and getting validated by their teachers and their peers. Children don’t know to tell their parents that it’s missing.”

“When we praise our children it also helps us feel good also because we see the smiles on their faces, and maybe we share a hug, a kiss on the cheek, or a pat on the back,” said Wendy.

Practice Self-Care — “Many parents have adapted to working remotely, scheduling breaks in between your remote work can be helpful,” said Karina. Create breaks to disconnect for a bit. Karina recognizes that most parents are exhausted and have no separation of work and home. Taking small breaks to practice self-care activities like taking a walk or reading a chapter in a book can help you rest and recover from the daily stress.

The Centers for Disease Control suggests ways to cope with stress and anxiety during this pandemic: take care of your body by eating healthy meals and exercising regularly; make time to unwind by doing enjoyable activities; and take breaks from watching, listening, and hearing the news stories.

Get Support — Parents are experiencing stress and anxiety due to unemployment, food insecurity, and financial obligations. These feelings also trickle down to the children. Reach out and let mental health providers know if you are struggling and or are in need of resources. We can assist and help you navigate these challenging circumstances, suggests Karina.

To support parents and other individuals who find themselves struggling with their mental health or managing the added responsibilities presented during this time, Five Acres offers mental health support through the HOPE line and telehealth services at 800-696-6793 or HOPE@5acres.org. To find a mental health provider near you, contact 211 LA County at https://www.211la.org/ or SAMHSA’s National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

The trauma of this pandemic will be long-lasting. With the support of mental health providers like Five Acres, children and families can be assured that they are not alone.

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#GivingTuesdayNow for Five Acres Children

An image of two children with face masks and text that reads #GivingTuesdayNow and caring isn't canceled donate today at Five Acres

Caring isn’t canceled.

five acres donate button

A global threat like COVID-19 affects everyone. A pandemic like this touches every person on the planet, and it presents an opportunity to come together as community.

#GivingTuesdayNOW is a day of global giving and unity that will be held on May 5 as an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19.  The children living at Five Acres on our residential campus have been sheltered in place since mid-March, significantly disrupting their normal school schedule. Our residential staff has been showing up each day to keep the children safe, provide academic programming and offer engaging activities to keep them occupied. From the moment children wake up to the moment they go to sleep, our residential staff are maintaining a routine and a schedule for them. Help us get their academic needs met while creating fun, engaging activities during their extended summer months.

Your donation will help us provide items such as:

  • Computers
  • Arts and craft supplies
  • School supplies
  • Math flashcards
  • Mini projector
  • Educational DVDs
  • Spectrum math workbooks for Grades 3-7
  • 7-8th grade level reading novels
  • Additional food, snacks and drinks

Your donations will support academic programming and provide creative outlets for the children living on our residential campus.

five acres donate button

Consider becoming a recurring monthly donor by selecting the box Make this a monthly donation when you are directed to the donation page. You can also download a form here.

Five Acres logo and #GivingTuesdayNow logo

A message to our visitors

Dear Five Acres Visitor,

Five Acres is deemed an Essential Business and will continue to serve our clients and community. However, due to the recent “Safer at Home” order for California, all Five Acres sites will be open to employees only, and our food and supplies vendor at our Ketch Administration building. We will no longer be open to visitors on-site.

All non-residential clients will continue services via telemedicine through phone, Skype, FaceTime, etc. If you have an upcoming appointment, please contact your service provider to arrange for this to be done by telemedicine.

For families, county social workers, and other visitors, please contact your service provider to arrange your next visit via phone, Skype and/or FaceTime.

Thank you for helping to keep our Five Acres children and staff healthy.

A Message from Five Acres

Dear Five Acres Family and Friends,

The World Health Organization has labeled the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic in the United States. A pandemic occurs when a disease is spreading from a variety of sources across a large region. The number of cases across the United States is still small, however, given how quickly the global situation is evolving, we at Five Acres have decided to proactively initiate our Pandemic Prevention Protocol to best protect our staff and our Five Acres children who live in our care.

This will involve increased oversight and use of self-quarantine, improved cleaning and food service procedures, and a new visitors policy at all sites as of 3.18.20 to include the following:

1. Visitors will be logged in at reception as usual.

2. A temperature check will be provided by the receptionist with a No Touch thermometer, and if the visitors is identified with a fever (over 100 degrees) they will be asked to reschedule.

3. Visitors without a fever but have a cough will be required wear a protective mask while visiting the Five Acres site. 

In advance, if you are scheduled to visit Five Acres and are feeling under the weather or experiencing the onset of symptoms, please contact us to reschedule your visit with Five Acres or to schedule an engagement via conference call and/or video conferencing. 

Thank you for understanding and helping us to keep our staff and Five Acres children safe.

Sincerely,

Chanel W. Boutakidis, MA, LMFT

Chief Executive Officer

Five Acres Presents Community Awards and Welcomes New Board Members

ALTADENA, Calif., March 12, 2020—Five Acres, a foster/adoption, residential and community-based mental/behavioral health charity, announced its community awards and board celebration yesterday. Taking precautions against the coronavirus, Five Acres canceled its in-person annual meeting and instead are personally delivering the awards to the recipients. The charity honored community members and volunteers who have supported their mission in serving more than 10,000 children and families annually.

Awards presented were:

  • Chrstianne Kerns, Dorothy Cook Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Rustin Mork, Volunteer of the Year Award
  • Susan McGuirl, Person of the Year Award
  • Rotary Club of Pasadena, Special Service to Children
  • Kathryne Beynon Foundation, The Five Acres Award
  • Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Kathryn Barger, The Children’s Thanks
  • Rita and Armen Baranian, Special Awards

Five Acres also bid farewell to Kelley Bannon Lashley and Scott Street, board members who served their tenure and made a mark on the agency’s mission. From leaving a legacy and chairing the Planned Giving committee to chairing the annual golf tournament and galvanizing additional support for Five Acres, Lashley and Street’s contribution is appreciated and recognized.

The charity also welcomed four new board members: Chantal Bennett, Mimi Carter, Jason Melillo, and John Reitnouer. In addition, the 2020-2021 Five Acres Executive Committee was introduced: Board Chair Susan McGuirl, Former Board Chair Christianne Kearns, Board Secretary Shoshana Puccia, Vice Chair Finance/Investment Grace Russak, Vice Chair Advancement Chris Selak, Vice Chairs Nominating Rustin Mork and Nicole Rodger, Vice Chair Audit Rustin Mork, and Vice Chair Administration Don Boline.

“We celebrate those who have ben an asset to the impact and growth of Five Acres,” said Chanel Boutakidis, Five Acres chief executive officer, in a statement to the staff, board and volunteers. “We prepared a presentation to recognize and celebrate all of our wonderful awardees, departing board members, new board members and new executive committee in addition to our tremendous funding partners who made the renovation of our auditorium possible.

The agency also unveiled before and after photos of the auditorium remodel and the teen room transformation. Auditorium funders included Helen and Will Webster Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, Kathryne Beynon Foundation, Andrew and Keri Crowell, Tsutayo Ichioka & Satsuki Nakao Charitable Foundation – Dr. Doug and Jane Krech, Mericos Foundation, Beth Uffner and Robert Goldfarb, The Anderson Family, Rita and Armen Baranian, Christine and Jay Davis, and Mariann and Tom Nolan.

To learn more about Five Acres, visit www.5acres.org.

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For more information, contact pr@5acres.org

Five Acres 7th Annual Clinical Conference

Taking preventive measures to best protect the Five Acres children who live in the agency’s care, their staff and other clinicians, Five Acres is postponing our scheduled 7th Annual Clinical Conference on March 19 to a later date.

Five Acres 7th Annual Clinical Conference is to be held at the Courtyard Marriott in Monrovia, CA on March 19th, 2020 from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Dr. Rachel McClements, chief operating officer at Five AcresLed by Dr. Rachel McClements, Chief Operating Officer for Five Acres, the clinical conference is intended for mental health providers who work with children in a variety of settings.

This year’s conference focuses on: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Care Spanning Multiple Disciplines.

The purpose of the training is to teach professionals, spanning multiple disciplines, basic knowledge, values, and skills for working with children and youth in the child welfare system who have experienced traumatic events.  This training will enhance the worker’s understanding of the neuroscience of the impact of trauma on the brain, behavior of children and adolescents and help them use this knowledge to support children’s safety, permanency and well-being through trauma-informed practice.  Guidelines for recognizing dysregulation and intervening directly in a trauma-sensitive therapeutic manner will be presented.  Training will include therapeutic examples, exercises, role play, hands on tools, as well as methods for enhancing regulation daily.

At this training you will learn:

  1. To understand the relationship between a child’s lifetime trauma history and his or her behaviors and responses and will be able to recognize how child traumatic stress is exacerbated by ongoing stressors in a child/youth’s environment and within the child welfare system (including separation from/loss of caregivers, out-of-home placement).
  2. To define psychological safety and understand its importance and will be able to identify coping responses, strengths, and protective factors that promote resilience among children/youth who have been impacted by trauma.
  3. To practice trauma-informed strategies to effectively engage with children/youth who have been traumatized.
  4. To appreciate how important it is incorporate the essential elements of a trauma-informed practice into their everyday work.
  5. The importance of psychological safety for children/youth as well as the importance of knowing and implementing protective factors to promote resilience for children/youth who have been impacted by trauma.
  6. To appreciate the various ways trauma victims are dysregulated and remain at higher risk for additional dysregulation by stressors in the environment and system, and promote interventions which lessen and/or mitigate these stressors by using trauma-informed child welfare strategies and referring the child/youth for trauma informed assessment and treatment.

Jeannette Yoffe, clinical psychologistSpeaker: Jeanette Yoffe, MA, MFT., earned her Masters in Clinical Psychology, specializing in children, from Antioch University. She treats children with serious psychological problems secondary to histories of abuse, neglect, and /or multiple placements. She has specialized for the past 16 years in the treatment of children who manifest serious deficits in their emotional, cognitive, and behavioral development. Her desire to become a child therapist with a special focus on adopted and foster care issues derived from her own experience of being adopted and moving through the foster care system.

Continuing Education Credit: Up to 6 credits are available for PSY, MFT and LCSW.

Five Acres is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Five Acres maintains responsibility for this program and its content. The California Board of Behavioral Science (BBS) now recognizes APA continuing education credit for license renewal for LCSWs and MFTs.

Registrations are open.

Flyer on Five Acres 7th Annual Clinical Conference which will be held on March 19 in Monrovia

2019 Holiday Sponsorship Opportunities

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The Alliance Five Acres Young Professionals' Volunteer and Advocacy Guild

The Alliance

what is the alliance?

Founded in 2018, The Alliance is Five Acres’ Young Professionals Volunteer and Advocacy Guild. Entirely peer-led, this diverse group of young people creates enriching, life skills-focused activities for LA’s foster youth and serve as a mouthpiece for them in the community.

what kind of volunteering work do alliance members do?

plan activities for foster kids

Most foster youth are separated from the family members and friends who might otherwise help them uncover hidden talents and define career paths. Alliance members tap into their own life experiences to create activities that focus on education, self-care, nutrition and fitness—all designed to expose Five Acres’ foster youth to fresh ideas and new experiences to help them thrive.

Alliance meal 8

volunteer at five acres’ major fundraisers

Five Acres hosts two major fundraisers every year: Gala in May/June and the Golf Classic and Dinner in September. Alliance members serve as first-string volunteers at at least one of these events, which help fuel Five Acres’ programs in foster care, adoption and mental health services for at-risk kids and families.

mkp Five Acres 2018 Golf-131

raise awareness for la’s foster care crisis

There are more than 20,000 foster youth in LA alone. Many are at an extremely high risk of becoming homeless, incarcerated or unemployed within just two years of aging out. Alliance members spotlight these deserving kids through fun mixers and advocacy events to build a community of friends, volunteers and potential foster parents for these children.

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join the alliance today!

Let’s answer some basic FAQs before you join:

• Members of The Alliance are generally between the ages of 21–45

• Activities/events are in the Los Angeles area

• Dues are $120/year which solely fund kids’ activities and advocacy events (pro-rated depending on join date)

• All volunteers must complete the volunteer application and pass a background check and TB test

• We meet monthly the second Tuesday of every month at Five Acres in Altadena, CA, but sometimes mix it up and host a meeting at a local bar or restaurant!

• We’re about building friendships and meaningful community, too. No matter your background, you’re welcome here.

Ready to learn more? Contact us at volunteer@5acres.org | (626) 773-3776.

Will Smith Chief Administrative Officer

Five Acres Appoints Will Smith as New Chief Administrative Officer

Will Smith Chief Administrative Officer

Will Smith, MBA, SPHR has joined Five Acres’ senior leadership team as Chief Administrative Officer.

[Altadena, Calif] September 9, 2019 – Foster/adoption and mental health nonprofit Five Acres is pleased to name Will Smith, MBA, SPHR as its new Chief Administrative Officer. Smith will lead Five Acres’ expanding recruiting efforts as well as programs focused on employee wellness and development.

Smith brings more than 30 years of leadership experience to the Five Acres, including positions with UPS, American Red Cross and Michigan State University. His professional interests center on organizational leadership and development, and he has served on several boards including a term as President of the Greater Lansing Society of Human Resource Management. He holds an MBA from Spring Arbor University and a certification in Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR).

“I feel both extremely honored and blessed to become part of the Five Acres family,” Will commented. “I look forward to continuing the important mission of Five Acres that benefits the children and our communities.”