OnCare

Got Art? 2013

oncareadmin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:04:28 +0000

This year’s theme: “I Can …”

You can do anything you set your mind to. Take control of your future today. Complete the phrase “I Can …” and share the dreams you would like to achieve.

Who do you want to be? Where do you want to go? Show the world what you can do with your life and then set your mind to it.

The Got Art? opening, in recognition of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month, will be held on …

May 7th from 4 to 6 p.m. at the MOST

Do whatever you do best and submit it to be displayed at Got Art?, a showcase of young people’s artwork at the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST).

Got Art? is hosted by OnCare, a community initiative that improves outcomes for Onondaga County youth with behavioral and emotional challenges.

Draw
Write poetry
Take a photo
Write music
Create a sculpture
Paint
Choreograph a dance

To submit your “I Can …” art, download a Got Art? 2013 Submission Packet or call (315) 254-8426 for more information.

Invite your friends and family to come and see your work!

Families Visit Capital Hill

oncareadmin — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:10:02 +0000

During our conference for children’s mental health, we were all encouraged to visit Capital Hill so we could speak with our legislators regarding continued funding and support for our children’s programs. The four of us visited Senator Gillibrand’s office to have our voices heard. It felt overwhelming walking into this huge building to speak with a complete stranger about the struggles we face everyday. The aide we met with listened very quietly while we spoke and shared some of our experiences and how the programs available were so important for all of our families to help develop our children that are already stigmatized and socially behind their peers. When we finished speaking, Senator Gillibrand’s aide had tears in her eyes and said she could understand why this funding was so important to us. She told us that the Senator is an advocate for children and would be sharing our conversation as well as our concerns regarding funding for our kids with her.

Tori Shearer

L to R Cathy Munson, Tori Shearer, Abbie Ortiz, and Lisa Selim at Senator Gillibrands office

OnCare to Host Screening of Who Cares About Kelsey?

oncareadmin — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:15:48 +0000

Date: Monday, December 3, 2012

Time: 2:30 p.m. Networking and refreshments
3:00 p.m. Screening
Panel discussion to immediately follow

Location: Palace Theatre
2384 James Street
Syracuse, NY 13206

OnCare invites you to an exclusive screening of Who Cares About Kelsey?, a film that explores how schools are taking an innovative educational approach to discipline, dropout prevention and youth-directed planning. The film follows the school’s efforts to successfully include and support students with complex behavioral challenges, and improve the school climate for all students.

Who Cares About Kelsey? supports an education revolution that’s about empowering—not overpowering—our most emotionally and behaviorally challenged youth, an approach that would most certainly benefit the youths in Onondaga County.

We hope you will join us for this special event.

For more information on the event, please call (315) 435-2985 x126 or visit http://www.whocaresaboutkelsey.com/

Family Tapestry Picnic

oncareadmin — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:38:45 +0000

The family picnic on Friday, August 24^th, was, once again, a great day of food, fun and laughter! We had plenty of sunshine and a nice cool breeze. This year we held the picnic at a new location, Santaro Park on Velasko road. What a great place for the picnic! With basketball and tennis courts, a beautiful playground, a track for the skateboarders and kids riding scooters, and plenty of space to run around, it was the perfect spot for our picnic.

It was wonderful to see all the smiles and hear the laughter of people sitting around connecting and planning future gatherings and having a good time. We had upwards of 90 people there with Jeff the Magic Man providing magical tricks and creating fabulous balloon creatures, hats, flowers, and animals for the kids and young adults. We had a few raffle prizes and giveaways. Thanks go out to Kurima and Lisa, our cooks for the day. They stayed at the grill all day right through until the bitter end! A huge thank you to Joy King and Cyndyl Wilbur who helped me set up. Cyndyl must have gone up and down that hill 20 times carting supplies. Thank you to the families for bringing a variety of delectable additions to our meal. I’d also like to thank all of the Parent Partners, ICM’s and SCM’s and all other staff from OCMS, Liberty Resources, Hillside, Toomey, Center for Community Alternatives and OnCare who joined us and who brought families and food to the event.

Here’s to a great picnic this year and an even better one next year…which is already in the planning stages.

Cathy Munson
Family Tapestry
Director of Family Driven Care

Got Art? 2012

oncareadmin — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:31:59 +0000

OnCare’s 2nd annual Got Art? Exhibit was held on May 15, 2012 at the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST). Over 250 family members, friends, providers and community members came out to support our youth and learn about their “Heroes of Hope”. This year, young people were asked to depict those in their lives that helped them overcome challenges and achieve their dreams. More than 80 artists contributed artwork from watercolor to photography to drawing to collages, poems, performances, songs and more! The audience loved looking at the artwork, and even more, reading the inspirational things that the artists wrote.

It was a great event for the artists too. They were able to hang out with friends, show off their artwork to family and even have their pictures taken by a professional photographer!

Some of the artwork will be displayed at different community agencies during the summer months. For a list of those agencies, please contact info@oncaresoc.org.

OnCare’s open house for new projects was a big success!

oncareadmin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:09:26 +0000

On February 6, over 200 people attended an Open House to get information on 12 new and existing programs that will help to improve outcomes for OnCare children, youth and families. During the open house, caregivers, youth and the provider community were able to meet and get information from providers that were recently awarded OnCare grants to expand services for children with emotional and behavioral challenges and their families. The Open House also allowed us to expand our stakeholder network; sixty of the Open House guests were brand new to OnCare!

New services include:

Building Strong Families (parent education and support for parents of younger children)- Catholic Charities
Refugee Youth Project (mental health screenings and peer support)- Catholic Charities
Skill-Building Respite- Catholic Charities
The Parent Project (parent education and support for parents of adolescents)- Onondaga Case Management
Anger Busters (anger management group for younger children)- ARISE
Equestrian Therapy- Arise
CHOICES (Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment)- Central New York Services
Ready for Home- Elmcrest
Bridging the Gap- Elmcrest
Building Strong LGBTQ Youth & Families- The Q Center at AIDS Community Resources
Educational Consulting- Learning Disabilities Association
Adventure- Based Counseling- Liberty Resources
Planned Respite- The Salvation Army

Information sheets, including details on how to access each service, are available on the Resources page.

Also participating were:

Family Support- Family Tapestry
Youth Involvement/ Maturing Minds Council- Center for Community Alternatives
ACCESS Team (single entry point for intensive services)
Residential and Respite Options- Toomey Residential Services
Intensive Skill Building- Hillside
Media Unit (youth performance troupe, available to do mental health performances for schools, faith communities and other community groups)
Promise Zone (expanding access to mental health services in the Syracuse City School District)

OnCare launches Facebook!

oncareadmin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:15:24 +0000

“Like” us on Facebook and help us raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OnCare/142553282449057

Facebook gives us the opportunity to engage in healthy behaviors and relationships. The purpose of this page is to:

raise awareness about children’s mental health,
decrease stigma associated with children’s mental health,
provide a community for OnCare members and
provide useful information.

OnCare funds 10 projects for service expansion (total project cost ~$1.3 million)

oncareadmin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:08:07 +0000

AIDS Community Resources: Mental Health Assessment/Cultural & Linguistic Competence Training
Targeted Cultural Intervention, Ages 8-21
Youth and Young Adults who self-identify as LGBTQ
Mental health screening and short-term counseling intervention for youth using the Q Center

Catholic Charities: Building Strong Families
Behavior Intervention, Ages 5-12
Incredible Years (evidence-based model) and Anger Busters
Parent education group, 1:1 family coaching, clinical/skills group for children

Catholic Charities: Refugee Youth Project
Targeted Cultural Intervention, Ages 5-18
New Refugees (arrived in the US within the last 12 months)
Mental health screenings, improved access to mental health services; family case management; support groups for youth

Catholic Charities: Respite/Skill Building Service
1:1 Skill Building
1:1 skill building at multiple sites (home, school, neighborhood centers, community)
20-25 hours per month, average 4 hours/week—flexible duration
Can be used as a front-end service to divert the need for high intensity services

Central New York Services: Adolescent Substance Abuse Services
Adolescent Substance Abuse Services
Clinical implementation of The Seven Challenges (evidence-based model)
Satellite clinic on the Elmcrest campus (available for community referrals)
Start-up funding until the satellite is approved by OASAS

Elmcrest: Bridging the Gap
Residential Intervention
Unserved/underserved youth in need of residential treatment
Builds local capacity to serve youth with complex needs
Comprehensive assessment of child, occupational therapy, teaching/coaching for staff and parents

Elmcrest: Ready for Home
Residential Intervention
Integration of youth in community-based services
Expand integration of family as part of treatment team
Skills-training for families
Reduce median length of stay to seven months

Learning Disabilities Association: Educational Advocacy
Educational Advocacy
Educational consultation
Educational workshops for parents/caregivers and service providers
Educational workshops for service providers
Short-term tutoring on learning strategies
Access to summer programming (academic enhancement and pro-social skill building)

Onondaga Case Management: Parent Project
Behavior Intervention
Adolescents (ages 13-18)
Parent training and parent support groups
Promising practice model

The Salvation Army: Planned Respite
Respite
Weekend respite at Booth House (day and/or overnight)

Got Art? 2011

oncareadmin — Tue, 03 May 2011 19:40:21 +0000

In celebration of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day, OnCare held an art event called Got Art? 50 Children and youth from Onondaga County with an emotional or behavioral challenge created art related to this year’s theme: Resilience. Over 200 people attended Got Art?.

Got Art? was held at the Museum Of Science and Technology (MOST). Ann Rooney, Deputy County Executive for Human Services, presented a proclamation from Joanne M. Mahoney, County Executive, about the importance of caring for every child’s mental health. Several youth read their original poetry during the opening. After the presentation, the MOST was open exclusively for Got Art? participants and viewers.

It was a great evening spent with families, friends and supporters of OnCare. We can’t wait for next year!

Pictures are posted in our art gallery!

Got Art? also took to the road for a Travelling Art Show. Artwork was displayed at the following agencies during the month of May:

Catholic Charities
Department of Social Services: Children’s Division
Elmcrest Children’s Center
Hillside Children’s Center
The Salvation Army: Family Place