November is National Homeless Youth Awarness Month
What is Home for New Beginnings?
Our Executive Director realized during her time as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate), that our Department of Childrens Safety was failing dramatically. If children didn't have a family member to take custody of them, and there wasn't a Foster parent available, they would sometimes resort to sleeping on the floor of the case workers office!
She also witnessed children being victims of trafficking, not be taken care of accordingly to their needs (i.e. counseling, therapy, etc.) instead they become institutionalized. Therefore, being lost to the correctional facilities resulting in growing up behind bars.
It was then that she decided something needed to be done. Sunshine Acres in Mesa, Arizona is the perfect model of what group homes need to be. So that is what Home for New Beginnings is striving to bring to the Verde Valley.
Changing the Standard of Group Homes
Modeling after Sunshine Acres in Mesa, AZ is the ultimate goal of ours. Sunshine Acres is set apart from any other "group home" establishment with family being the main priority. We have taken several tours of Sunshine Acres, and it is absolutely mind blowing. When people hear group homes, they think rows and rows of cots laid out in one giant, depressing room. We want the opposite of that! With beautifully decorated, themed rooms, gaming spaces, family dining area, homework stations and so much more! We want to change group homes to where we & Sunshine Acres are the new standard!
Why Do We Need Homes for Children?
With "Arizona ranked in as the worst in the nation by a mile. Across the United States, most states averaged around 1.5 percent of foster children in group homes. Arizona had 7.6%, a massive number, especially considering that Arizona has the sixth most foster children in the state, 6,175 kids without homes. That's 470 children in group homes."
Arizona Ranked as Worst Foster Program in America (kwcdcountry.com)
Also, with what group homes that are established (little to none being in Central and Northern Arizona), the state has no priority of increasing funds for these homes, even to the point of cutting funding as stated in the article below.
DCS doesn't renew contracts with 16 providers, impacting kids in foster care (azfamily.com)
What sets Sunshine Acres apart is that they don't rely on State funding for this specific reason. All of their funding is from private donors, which is what we desire as well.
Our goal of being privately funded is so that the State doesn't have control over these children. If DCS has control over funding, it results in constantly moving the children, creating instability, fear, and lack of a secure family model.