Category Archives: Get to know our programs

Our guiding values

Family tips, Get to know our programs

Girls2The following seven values guide all decisions and actions of Hearts & Homes for Youth:

  1. Family is the best support system and the root of our identities. We care for our youth in a stable, disciplined, nurturing space, doing all that we can to provide a homelike environment and family while they are in our care. We also provide family therapy, in addition to individual and group therapy, to help build relationships with immediate or extended family members.  Sometimes family relationships are built with foster parents or with friends – the important thing is that the youth understand they have a support system when they leave our care.
  2. Community is fundamental to our happiness, motivation, and well-being. It provides us with a sense of belonging, a sense of responsibility, and the assurance of support when we are in need. We help the youth develop a sense of community through group activities, outings, and therapy. We help the youth understand their place in the community such as through volunteer activities, getting them into school, getting them into the workforce, and inviting mentors and volunteers to spend time with the youth.
  3. Dignity, the sense of pride in oneself, is critical to the ability of the youth in our care to get themselves back on their feet and back on the right track. Activities such as the Princess Party and Kings of Style Party are examples of how we help the youth develop their dignity but it is a priority every day, in every interaction.
  4. Fairness in the way our youth are treated is important because they are building an understanding of their place in the community and they need to realize that they have the same rights and obligations as everyone else.
  5. Opportunities for the youth to engage in cultural, educational, recreational, vocational, and social activities are character building experiences that are fundamental to self discovery and success in life.
  6. Respect is critical to the development of one’s self esteem, self confidence, and self worth as well to their ability to be respectful in kind.
  7. Trust is earned; we work to earn the trust from our youth, so they believe that we have their best interests at heart. In turn, we trust that the youth will become ever more dedicated to themselves and their futures.

Kemp Mill tours the nation’s capital

Get to know our programs, Words from our youth

FullSizeRenderIn early December, the young men at Kemp Mill Group Home for Boys were taken to Washington, D.C. to visit historic memorials. Led by Counselors Rodney Henderson and Roger Smith, the boys visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the MLK Jr. Monument, and the Korean War Memorial.

The boys were grateful for the trip; for all of them, it was their first time being in Washington, D.C. Before the day visit to the capital finished, the boys were already asking counselors to plan another trip to visit the Smithsonian museums, especially the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of Natural History.

The trip was a spur of the moment decision by staff, to get the youth outside and give them an opportunity to learn about the nation’s capital and see some historic sites.

“These type of activities are important because they enhance our residents’learning experience as they study American history in the classroom,” said Mr. Henderson. “We want our boys to grasp the opportunities to learn, that are all around them, and for them to be inspired by the world as they make plans for their futures.”

Mr. Henderson explained that these outings and other unique experiences are opportunities for the boys to realize how many possibilities are in front of them. He also hopes that the boys learn more about community values and team building from the experiences of travelling as a group.

Harriet Tubman Emergency Shelter

Get to know our programs

PowerPoint PresentationOur Harriet Tubman Emergency Shelter was founded in October 2012 in a targeted attempt to reduce the number of young African American men being incarcerated in a juvenile detention center while awaiting a court hearing.

The Harriet Tubman Shelter continues to serve as an alternative to detention for young men (ages 13-18) for a maximum of 90 days prior to juvenile court hearings, before they return to their families, before they are referred to another of our group homes for continuing care, or as they transition toward independent living.

While in our care, the young men receive life skills training, healthcare, academic support, job readiness training, and job placement assistance. The young men at Harriet Tubman also receive clinical services, medication management, anger management, trauma/abuse focused treatment, grief & loss counseling, mentoring, tutoring, drug/alcohol treatment, and family therapy. We are dedicated to helping these young men realize their dreams “as if they were our own.”

We call the Harriet Tubman Shelter our “Overground Railroad” to freedom. The mission of our Overground Railroad to freedom is for each young man to learn and grow from positive experiences and opportunities in the shelter with caring adult mentoring to keep them on the right track toward constructive, productive and meaningful lives and futures.

Damamli and Therapeutic Foster Care

Get to know our programs

Damamli is a foster care and independent living preparation program for pregnant and parenting adolescent mothers ages 16-20 who are in the Foster Care System or Department of Juvenile Services System. Damamli is licensed to provide services to a maximum of 24 clients and can accept youth who are pregnant or have no more than two children.

The Specialized Foster Care program was implemented in 1990 by our former HHY employee and ongoing supporter, Robin Semas. In 1993, the program was renamed Family Ties Treatment Foster Care (TFC) and that same year, the Independent Living Program (ILP) opened in Baltimore; together the programs make up Damamli. Damamli was initiated in response to the need, specifically in Baltimore, for a program that could help young women in foster care who were pregnant or parenting. At the time the Damamli program was started, there had been a spike in that population and a lack of programs to meet their needs.

The Damamli program puts the young mothers in foster care or independent living, rather than a group home, because the State identified that young mothers have needs that are unique from those of youth in group homes and that they require specific services that would be best provided in a foster home or independent living environment.

The Damamli program provides young mothers with intensive case management. In our care, our young mothers have a supportive home where they receive life skills training, learn how to manage their time, and learn how to effectively parent. We also work with them on their educational and professional goals with a focus on helping them secure career-oriented positions to ensure stability for themselves and their children. We work with the young women as quickly as possible to secure a job or an education program to ensure the young mothers qualify for daycare assistance from the State.

TFC provides the mothers with the opportunity to raise their children in a safe and nurturing foster home. While in the foster home, clients work with their foster parent and case manager to begin developing a plan for their future and working on the steps needed to accomplish their goals. Foster parents in our Damamli program work closely with clients to help them build their parenting and independent living skills. Once they are prepared, Damamli assists clients in transitioning to a supported independent living apartment.

What makes the Damamli ILP unique is that we individualize the program to meet the needs of the client. The common thread among our young mothers is that they are pregnant or parenting. However, each client is different and each client’s needs are different so we tailor the services they receive from the program according to their individual needs. Young mothers who may not have been traditionally accepted into another independent living program are given a chance at Damamli. We meet clients where they are and work hand in hand to help them achieve their goals.

For all of the youth who come through our doors, addressing and learning how to manage their own mental health is critically important. When young mothers are referred to us, we identify their individual mental health needs and connect the young mothers to mental health resources in the community. We also have a Clinician who comes to the office once a week to provide therapy to our young mothers.

Click here to learn more about the Damamli program