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When parents (not kids) need a timeout, support center offers a breath of sanity By
Jane Cardall
Mary Jones was about to lose it with her children on a recent Wednesday afternoon. She had a deadline at work, her 2-year-old would not take a nap, and when her 4-year-old son spilled the juice all over her white carpet, that was it, the last that she could handle. Fortunately she had a place for relief to take her kids before something terrible could have happened. As the door opened to let a visitor in the center, one boy ran out smiling, getting ready to go home after being picked up by his father. Two more children were just being dropped off by their mother, Jones, as she was trying to keep a cool face. One of her children was screaming and looked to have been for sometime now, while the other had a confused look on his face as to why his mother had brought him there. A home away from home for children is at 380 West and 1400 North in Logan. The Child and Family Support Center is a 24-hour-a-day place where parents can take their children, up to age 11, when feeling stressed out, worried that they may lose their cool, or just if they need a break from a hectic day. "I've never brought my children here," says Jones, "but a friend of mine told me about it and recommended it to me." Jones, a false name for privacy reasons, was under pressure because she has a deadline at work and her husband is out of town. She didn't know what else to do. "My kids have never really made me too upset, but I heard that this place was somewhere I could leave them for a couple of hours to get a break and I thought that it could help." As Jones left, her kids were taken into an empty room where there was a chalkboard up front and toys in the back. As one child is at the chalkboard playing hangman with an intern who works there, Jones' two kids came in and a woman puts out some old wooden blocks, a plastic truck, and a few books on the floor for them look at and play with. As the one child continues to cry, an employee is calmly trying to help get her mind off whatever's making her sad, showing her the toys, while the other kid sat right down on the floor and began playing with a red fire engine. Not only is this a place for parents to leave their children when they are afraid they may lose control and do something to them, it is also a place willing to take in children who desperately need it. If one of your children is in the hospital, for example, and your kids have nowhere else to go, the center is willing to take them for a couple of hours. The only thing that is asked is to please call in advance. The center has to have one adult to every four children and it needs to know ahead of time if it needs to get more on staff at that moment. It will never turn anyone away, but it is helpful to call first. In the back of the house are two bedrooms, a nursery for babies and another room for older children. House parents have an apartment in the back and are on call from 5 p.m. until 9 a.m. every day in case a child needs to stay overnight. Julie Meyers, an intern at the Support Center, stated, "Since I've worked here the longest I've seen someone stay is four days, but it's been known that some children have stayed up to two weeks." She continued, "The shelter has also been used for children in the valley who have been taken out of a home for abuse and stayed here before they've been placed into a foster home." Although a group of community individuals got together to form Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse and the Child and Family Support Center 18 years ago, the group is still trying to make people more aware of their services. "The need for the center is really great and we get a lot of support, but still a lot of people don't know about it," Meyers said. Utah has 11 centers, and the size of the community determines the cost to keep it running. Sue Hoffman, director of the Logan Support Center, says, "Overall, a facility like this can cost anywhere from $100,000 a year to $700,000 a year, depending on the area. It's hard to say how much this one center alone cost because each service has different funding sources." Because the center is a private, non-profit organization it has state and federal contracts that help with some of the funding to keep it running. "It's been nice because besides having the federal and state contracts, there have been lots of private donations and grants that have been given to help us keep the center going," Hoffman states. Besides being able to drop off kids in time of need, the center has other things to offer. A crisis hotline is available 24-hours-a-day if one is feeling stressed out and just needs someone to talk at any particular moment. It also offers professional counseling to qualified clients at no cost. Classes to children and parents are available as well. These do cost money, but they are the only services offered that do. These classes are to help children with sibling rivalry, self esteem problems, cooperation and making friends. The adult classes focus more on anger management, stress reduction and disciplining. The classes last eight weeks and the children's classes are $10, while the adult classes are $20 for one person, and $25 for couples. Another program that is offered is outreach. Employees from the center set up appointments and go into individuals' homes, helping them with anything they need, one on one. Meyers explained, "We went into one man's home where his wife had left, helped him cleaned the house and showed him how to do the laundry." People must call to set up appointments, but the center is willing to help anyone. More than 1 million American children are abused and neglected each year. The center is willing to help prevent these situations, but needs public attention. All information is kept confidentially, if requested, and the center is willing to help anyone so no one has to know about it. The center needs donations of new or used clothing, toys, non-perishable foods, cash donations, and volunteer help in the nursery. If anyone wants to help in anyway or needs a break call 752-8880.
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