   
Community Service Inc. serves youth and their families
By RACHEL PARKER DICKERSON
LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER
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 (This is the last in a series on partner agencies of the United Way of Central Arkansas, formerly the United Way of Faulkner County.)
ACommunity Service Inc., according to its mission statement, aims to help youth and their families be successful in their homes, schools, vocations and communities. Community Service Inc. is headquartered in Morrilton and serves seven counties. This year is the organization's 50th anniversary. Among the myriad of services the nonprofit organization provides is Day Services, a behavior modification program with an academic component, according to Joyce Watson, Day Treatment Coordinator of the Community Service Inc. office in Faulkner County. Day Services is for teens ages 14 to 18 who are "seriously emotionally disturbed," Watson said. Clients may have high anxiety, substance abuse problems, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. The clients are "not succeeding in a normal routine," Watson said. They may be dealing with anything from truancy to multiple felonies, she said. In the program, all clients receive counseling. They are at the day program during normal school hours from Monday through Friday. Clients have to move through a system of four levels to graduate from the program. For every activity they participate in, they receive points, and they can lose points by breaking the rules.
"A lot of kids are used to being able to wear authority figures down," Watson said. In Day Services, the teens learn there are consequences for their actions that cannot be reversed, she said. "After they're here a while, they learn to trust the staff and that there is safety and security here, and they learn to value that," she said. Clients learn life skills, such as etiquette, listening skills, cooking, job interview skills, etc. The staff teaches anger management, empathy and character education as well. Sometimes the staff works with the client's family as well in order to reinforce the new skills at home. "One of our main philosophies is that it doesn't do much good to treat the child and return them to the home environment if nothing has changed," she said. Watson said Day Services is like a family and is a step away from residential treatment. "It is a very intense program. It's very rewarding for the kids to complete," she said. Community Services Inc. does not charge its clients, Watson said. It receives funding from the United Way of Central Arkansas, the Division of Youth Services, private donations, the Petit Jean Youth Fund; and the office bills Medicaid whenever possible. "The family never sees a bill, no matter what," she said. In addition to the day treatment program, Community Services Inc. provides individual and family therapy, substance abuse therapy (individual and group), and sexual abuse therapy. It is one of the few places in the state that provides counseling for sexual offenders as well as for victims, Watson said. Appointments for victims and offenders are set on different days or opposite ends of the day so they will not cross paths, she said. Also, the agency has a Juvenile Justice Program, which includes electronic monitoring, public service work, a class that teaches children not to shoplift, a job readiness class, an early intervention for substance abuse program and a program that teaches children that the law exists for their protection. The Prevention Program uses tobacco settlement money to send employees into the public schools to educate students on not drinking and smoking. The program also focuses on persuading businesses not to sell tobacco to minors and hosting community meetings on what can be done about underage drinking. Part of Day Services is a Parent Empowerment program. Parents are invited to a fun night of playing board games or cards with their children who are in the program. Staff members are on hand to make sure there are no conflicts, Watson said. "They start truly having fun. You hear, 'We need to get one of these at home.' It may just be a checkerboard." Watson added, "A lot of these children have never enjoyed the true pleasures of being a child. We give them a safe place to enjoy the simple things but also to be treated with respect as a young adult." (Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)
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