Ujima residential staff
ST. JOHN’S ESTATE--Ujima Foundation says it is now accepting girls into its programme which started on March 1.
Since its start, three girls now participate in the foundation’s day-treatment programme, Ujima announced in a press release on Monday.
Dr. Judith G. Arndell opened the foundation’s doors on January 10, 2005, and it catered mainly to young boys. In keeping with its mission to provide professional and supportive services for at-risk youngsters and to create a sense of purpose and belongingness in their lives, the foundation always hoped to someday include young girls in its programme.
Currently, Ujima can accommodate up to eight boys and four girls ages 8-13. There are no girls staying in the foundation’s home at the moment. The capacity in the day treatment programme is 16-20 youngsters.
According to release, there was cry in society to help youngsters in the community. “Troubled children are at an epidemic proportion in our society today. Our society is plagued by gang violence in the schools, aggressive and violent behaviour, armed robbery, drug and alcohol use and abuse. There is also the sexual and physical abuse of children, youths raping youths, runaways, youths with severe depression and suicidal tendencies,” said the release.
The foundation said there has been an increase in the number of delinquent youths committing murder as a result of untreated emotional/behavioural disturbances.
Ujima said its goal is to adequately diagnose and treat emotionally and behaviourally disturbed youngsters of both genders ages 8-18 years, provide psychological/psychiatric care to mildly disturbed youngsters, matriculate at-risk youngsters back into the society as psychologically healthy and emotionally stable individuals, decrease repetitive delinquent behaviour and criminal activity among high-risk youngsters, decrease adolescent incarceration, and decrease truancy and school dropout among at-risk youngsters, amongst other things.
Troubled youngsters are usually referred to the programme through social workers or student care coordinators at schools. Families, foster homes, and organisations working with difficult youngsters can also make direct contact with Ujima. The youngsters are admitted after going through a screening process that entails a detailed emotional and behavioural assessment.
The foundation’s day treatment programme runs from six months to a year. According to the release, the transformation is obtained through unconditional love and care, and structured guidance of the youngsters in its care. Ujima also works closely with families, who also attend counselling sessions as part of the growth and change in youngsters.
All youngsters receive a complete psychological evaluation to determine the extent of their emotional difficulties and to be officially diagnosed. Each youngster has an individualised treatment plan with long- and short-term goals. They receive individual therapy on a one-to-one basis as they work towards achieving their therapeutic goals.
Youngsters also attend psycho-educational group sessions and engage in process-oriented group sessions as they give and receive peer feedback. They also receive academic support through an afterschool and tutoring programme, and engage in extracurricular activities such as sports – basketball, baseball – and arts, etc.
All parents of the children at the home attend positive-parenting sessions to develop and/or improve their parenting style and to learn healthy and consistent ways of dealing and managing difficult children.
Several youngsters in the programme gave high praises for its effectiveness. One individual said the programme is “very helpful” and taught him how to deal with his emotions, how to control his anger and solve his problems positively, and prepared him for “the real world”. Another youngster said the programme has taught him how to behave and act properly when in public.
Arndell said, “I believe that our programme is successful. We are able to provide for several of our youngsters a stable home environment, expose them to a different lifestyle and to the simple events of life that most of us take for granted, such as eating in a restaurant.
“Many of our youngsters completing the programme have shown improvements in their behaviour and academic performance. Their parents communicate much more positively with their youngsters. The youngsters themselves show an improvement in self-esteem and self-confidence.”
Arndell encourages parents to spend quality time with their children and to take the time to really get to know their children’s personality. “Children long to feel loved, wanted and accepted by their parents. Parents are encouraged to set structured rules and guidelines for their young children and enforce their home rules. Do not allow the youngsters to have their way. Praise, hug and compliment your child and let the child know how important he or she is to the parents,” she concluded.
