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Somerset foundation's 130-year-old mission: Helping children and families

Tribune-Democrat - 4/30/2022

Apr. 30—SOMERSET, Pa. — Since the late 19th century, the organization now known as Children's Aid Home Programs of Somerset County Inc. has gone through a multitude of changes from different names, new locations, expanded services.

But the mission has remained unwaveringly the same — help children in need.

The nonprofit has assisted about 1,000 children over the past eight years, providing residential care, foster family care, partial hospitalization programming, alternative education, day treatment, search and reunion assistance, and adoption.

More than half of those children have been abused in some way — sexually, physically, emotionally.

But the programs help create healthier home environments for children, who then can become successful adults later in life.

"The rewards absolutely outweigh the challenges," said Lynne Sablotski, Children's Aid Home Programs executive director, who added that seeing long-term positive results "fuels you to do the work that you do."

Sablotski added: "Knowing that you make an impact and seeing children's lives just be changed for the better is the greatest reward that I can imagine."

Children's Aid Home Programs' effort is supported by the Children's Aid Society Foundation, a nonprofit that provides funding. The foundation recently announced a $5 million endowment campaign, of which $2 million has already been collected through private donations.

"We've purposely kept our expenses very low in the foundation," Children's Aid Society Foundation President Robert Miller said. "The majority of the donated dollars go directly to the kids. The majority of our work to raise money and use that money to help kids goes to Lynne here at the home. It helps offset expenses that she has, helps her to start new initiatives."

Miller cited one example in particular: "We recently gave Lynne a grant to scholarship a young man in our partial program, that his insurance ran out and they could no longer pay for it, so we're paying for his care and treatment here through a grant from our foundation."

As part of the campaign, Miller plans to speak to local groups and individuals, including inviting them to tour the home.

The residential care program — in which children between the ages of 12 and 18 live at the site and receive educational, developmental and mental health assistance — has supported 325 children over the past eight years.

That work dates back to the original mission of the Children's Aid Society of Somerset County, which, when founded in 1889, wanted "to assist the children of the poor and unfortunate, find them comfortable homes to save children from the taint of the County Poor House stigma and to see that the crippled and diseased children are removed to institutions where they will receive proper professional attention," according to a history at the organization's website.

But what Sablotski described as a "paradigm shift" is occurring.

"It's now known that kids can make progress within their homes," Sablotski said. "In line with that, we have developed programming where we can go into the home. We're in the process of starting functional family therapy, which will be our therapists going into the families, working with the children, with the families, to increase family communication, to decrease any behaviors that would threaten a child staying at home.

"The idea is, 'Let's keep the family together. Let's provide the support that the family needs.' We're not only treating the child, we're treating the whole family."

Sablotski said that about half of the participants in the various programs lack basic parenting skills. They need to learn the importance of following schedules, positively interacting with their children, keeping a clean home. The reward for putting in the effort can be a healthy and happy family life.

"It really depends on the family's willingness to take advantage of those opportunities," Sablotski said. "I would say half of our families are wanting and willing to make the effort to have the children come home."

But, in many cases, the issues are more severe, which requires a child being removed from a home. In the past eight years, the organization has helped get approximately 200 children into foster care. Twenty-two have been adopted.

Jessica and Joel Schmidt, of Somerset, have adopted four children, and, in the process, developed close personal relationships with folks at Children's Aid Home Programs.

"They're like family," Jessica Schmidt said. "It's a very personable experience. We're not just a number or just a home for kids. It's very loving, very caring."

All four of their adoptions have come since 2012. The children are now 22, 8, 7 and 2 years old.

"Honestly, everybody, when they realize we adopted, they just think, 'Oh, you're so great to do this,' " Jessica Schmidt said. "And I do not see it that way. I kind of see it as me being selfish a little bit. This is what I wanted, and I got what I wanted. And, yes, our children are, I would say, spoiled. They have very good homes."

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