The Heart Gallery Returns

Every year, hundreds of Rhode Island children are in state care, awaiting permanent families. The children are generally between the ages of 5 and 17 and many have emotional, intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Nearly all have suffered abuse or neglect. Some have been waiting for several years and have had multiple placements, resulting in numerous losses and separations.

Sixteen of these children are featured in the 10th annual Rhode Island Heart Gallery, an exhibit of professional portraits by local photographers on view in the Museum’s atrium walkway through September. A project sponsored by Adoption Rhode Island, the Heart Gallery has helped increase awareness of the need for loving adoptive homes for children in foster care since 2005.

The Museum also exhibited Heart Gallery photographs in 2007 and 2013, and staff felt – then and now – a powerful connection to the striking portraits and accompanying booklet, which features the heartfelt stories, hopes and dreams of the children pictured.

“I would love to be part of a large family with a mom and a dad and
siblings. I can be the oldest or youngest or in the middle, it really doesn’t matter,
I just want a family who wants me.”

It’s particularly compelling to have the display at the Museum because our Families Together program – a collaboration with the Department of Children, Youth & Families – works on behalf of children in foster care every day, providing therapeutic visitation to help court-separated families rebuild relationships.

All children need the love and support of a family, and adoption is only one of the ways that people can help.

Museum visitors can meet representatives from Adoption Rhode Island and learn more about adoption on Friday, August 21 from 5:00 - 7:30 PM; admission is free from 5:00 - 8:00 PM, sponsored by MetLife Foundation.

Museum Videos

Check out two new videos illustrating the Museum's impact and service and the work of our nationally recognized Families Together program!

The Heart Gallery

Every year, hundreds of Rhode Island children are in state care, awaiting permanent families. The children are generally between the ages of 5 and 17 and many have emotional, intellectual and/or physical disabilities. Nearly all have suffered abuse or neglect. Some have been waiting for several years and have had multiple placements, resulting in numerous losses and separations.

Eighteen of these children are featured in the 8th annual Rhode Island Heart Gallery, an exhibit of professional portraits by local photographers on view in the Museum’s atrium walkway throughout July. A project sponsored by Adoption Rhode Island, the Heart Gallery has helped increase awareness of the need for loving adoptive homes for children in foster care since 2005.

The Museum also exhibited Heart Gallery photographs in 2007 and staff felt – then and now – a powerful connection to the striking portraits and accompanying booklet, featuring the heartfelt stories, hopes and dreams of the children pictured.

“Christopher is hoping for a family that would love to read him a bedtime story, tuck him in and help him feel safe and loved.”

It’s particularly compelling to have the display at the Museum because our Families Together program – a collaboration with the Department of Children, Youth & Families – works on behalf of children in foster care every day, providing therapeutic visitation to help court-separated families rebuild relationships.

All children need the love and support of a family, and adoption is only one of the ways that people can help.

Happy Birthday, Nina's House!

One year ago today, Families Together – the Museum's renowned program for court-separated families – celebrated the opening of Nina’s House, a healing, homelike environment where families can rebuild relationships while practicing everyday skills.

While families in need of special guidance continue to play and learn together at the Museum, Nina's House enables Families Together to expand its reach to serve more families, assess their strengths and challenges, and better help them with their specific needs – including parenting skill development for families with very young children and those with mental health and cognitive issues.

In addition to opening Nina’s House, Families Together achieved these 2012 milestones:

• Celebrated its 20th anniversary!
• Served a record 609 children and parents in 233 families 
• Welcomed 466 family visits to Nina’s House (a combination of visits guided by Families Together clinicians and visits facilitated by social workers from RI’s Department of Children, Youth and Families)
• Was included in the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth’s Nationwide Listening Tour examining innovative child welfare practices
• Completed work on a three-year federal grant to establish permanent homes for foster children by drawing on extended family support networks, as part of a coalition of RI social service agencies 

What an amazing year – congratulations to program director Heidi Brinig and the incredibly hard working Families Together team!

Our Latest News

Lots of exciting things are happening at Providence Children’s Museum lately!

• Museum director Janice O'Donnell has been selected as a 2013 Rhode Island Foundation Fellow by The Foundation's Initiative for Nonprofit Excellence. Fellows are leaders who are committed to their continuous development and receive support and funds for an 18-month period of personal and professional growth. Janice plans to use this opportunity for in-depth study of "playwork," a model for supporting children's self-directed play as practiced in the United Kingdom. She will spend time in London learning from master playworkers and use this experience to train staff at the Museum and elsewhere in playwork practices – and we can’t wait to learn from her!

• The National Science Foundation has granted Brown University's Causality and Mind Lab $713,000 to collaborate with the Museum on a three-year project investigating ways children develop scientific thinking skills and parents’ understanding of their children's learning processes. In addition to informing academic research, the funding will enable the Museum to develop communication tools to increase visitors' awareness of the learning that occurs through children's play.

• Families Together, the Museum's therapeutic visitation program for children in foster care, was recently included in the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth’s Nationwide Listening Tour, examining innovative child welfare practices. Congress members Karen Bass (CA) and Jim Langevin (RI) visited Nina’s House, a homelike setting where Museum clinicians help families rebuild relationships. Click here for a summary of the listening tour.  

PlayWatch: Bringing Families Together

Today we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of our Families Together program and its expansion to Nina’s House, which will allow the Museum to serve more court-separated families, and those with greater challenges. Here are stories from two of the Families Together clinicians that show the impact of the program’s innovative therapeutic visitation, and the types of healing, relationship-building experiences that families will now have at Nina’s House as well as at the Museum.

A mom entering the Families Together program spoke about her childhood and never being able to play or “be a kid.” One of her goals was to learn to have fun with her children and help “make learning fun” for them.

In Shape Space, her 3-year-old daughter created a “ship” and showed it to us with a huge smile. Mom corrected her, saying the shape was really a pyramid. Her daughter stood her ground and declared, “No, I made a ship!” I could see that mom’s goal to have fun might be a challenge to accomplish.

During visits, I modeled playing and pointed out the ways her daughter responded, letting mom practice. Her daughter was engaging and had an active imagination, even though mom had not encouraged this in her. As mom became more comfortable at the Museum and with me, she learned about different ways to play, imagine, and most of all be silly. She learned a lot of this from her daughter.

Over time, mom reported that she was playing more at home and incorporating play into her daily routine. She even squirted her daughter with water and had a “water war” while washing dishes! Mom found that her relationship with her daughter improved and issues like managing tantrums were easier when she had a balance of fun and serious in each day.

In the end, the 3-year-old had made learning fun for mom!

– Shannon Doherty, Families Together Visitation Specialist

In Families Together, we are privileged to witness firsthand just how powerful play can be.

A young mother and her 2 ½-year-old son have weekly visits at the Museum, the only time during the week that they see each other. They are rebuilding their relationship after months of separation.

At our first visit, the mother appears unsure of herself and the interactions between mother and son are tentative. The child calls his mother by her first name, acts shy and resists affection, not even wanting to hold hands. They play together for an hour, the mother following her son’s lead.

By visit six, the little boy sees his mother as a playmate, but not “Mommy.” They play throughout the Museum, smiling and laughing, no longer tentative.

By visit 14, the child runs to his mother, greeting her with a hug. He initiates play with her and says, “I love you” at the end of the visit.

By visit 18, their last with Families Together, the mother is almost always “Mommy.” She’s confident and clearly the parent, not just a playmate. Her son willingly holds her hand and asks to be held. They are mother and son again.

This is the power of play.

– Amber Massed, Families Together Clinician

Illustrations by Valerie Haggerty-Silva, Museum graphic designer.

Click here for another powerful story about a family's growth and healing, shared by Families Together Clinician Amanda Grandchamp.

Celebrating Nina’s House

As we announced last fall, Families Together – the Museum’s renowned social service program – is growing! Tomorrow, after 20 years of bringing court-separated families together, the Museum opens Nina’s House, a homelike setting for family healing.

Created by Providence Children’s Museum in collaboration with the RI Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) in 1992, Families Together provides therapeutic visitation and permanency planning for children in foster care and their families.

When the state steps in to remove children from their parents’ care because of abuse or neglect, the usual goal is to reunite the family. While parents are helped to acquire the skills and resources they need to care for their children, the children live in foster care. It is critical that children and parents have regular high-quality contact while living separately. Families Together participants – children ages 1 to 11, their parents, and often extended family members – work with the program’s family therapists to rebuild relationships and strengthen parenting skills. During visits, the therapists assess the family’s strengths and challenges and help develop a permanency plan so their lives won’t be disrupted again.

For 20 years, DCYF-involved families in need of special guidance have rebuilt relationships while engaging in healthy play activities at Providence Children’s Museum – a nurturing and inspiring environment for fostering positive parent-child interaction for all families, especially those at risk. Since its inception Families Together has helped more than 2,000 families. In 2011, the program served 500 children and parents in 180 families.

With the addition of Nina's House, a Providence home purchased and renovated by The Nina Foundation, families will also strengthen relationships and communication while practicing basic skills in a warm, homelike setting conducive to family healing. Nina’s House will enable Families Together to expand clinical services to serve more families and better meet their specific needs; fill a major need for early and thorough assessment of DCYF-involved families; provide parenting skill development for more families with very young children; and better serve those with serious emotional and cognitive challenges.

We’re grateful to The Nina Foundation as well as to Ocean State Charities Trust, Admirals Bank, Creative Office Environments, and to 50 individuals who contributed cash gifts, toys and household items to the Nina's House shower. Thank you for supporting children in foster care and their families as they strengthen their relationships and work toward permanency.

Learn more about Families Together in this Museum newsletter and in an interview with program director Heidi Brinig. 

Announcing Nina's House!

The Families Together program at Providence Children's Museum is growing!

Created in collaboration with RI Department of Children, Youth and Families in 1992, Families Together provides therapeutic visitation and permanency planning for children in foster care and their families.  In 2010, the program served more than 500 children and parents in 175 families.  

Thanks to The Nina Foundation, Families Together will extend its services to court-separated families with a homelike setting for family healing.  Opening this fall, "Nina's House" will provide a warm, welcoming environment for therapeutic visitation for children, their parents, siblings and extended family.  Take a peek at some of the work to get Nina's House ready to serve families:

 

We're celebrating the opening of Nina's House with a virtual shower!  If you would like to contribute a gift from the Nina's House registry, you can do so by November 15.  All donations will benefit children in foster care and their families as they work to strengthen relationships and parenting skills.

Thank you!

We're Honored!

The Museum has been recognized with several wonderful awards recently.

We were honored to receive the Michelle Norris Memorial Award from Children's Friend at their annual meeting – presented to an individual or organization that has provided extraordinary support and/or assistance toward their mission of improving the futures of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable children. The award is presented in memory of Michelle Norris, a Central Falls first grader who was abducted from her neighborhood and murdered over 10 years ago. We were selected in recognition of our service to children and families in need; the Museum partners with Children's Friend through our Families Together program and serves Children's Friend Head Start preschoolers through our AmeriCorps program.

Left to right: Kimberly I. McCarthy, Chairman, Children’s Friend Board of Directors; Janice O'Donnell, Museum Executive Director; Cheryl Lepre, Families Together Consulting Clinician; Nedria Greco, Families Together Clinician; Shannon Doherty, Families Together Visitation Specialist; Cassandra Kane, AmeriCorps Museum Educator; Mary Scott Hackman, Early Childhood Programs Coordinator; David Caprio, Children’s Friend President and CEO.

Museum director Janice O'Donnell, upon receiving the award: "Thank you so much for this honor. There are many reasons organizations have for not working together as partners – it's complicated, we're busy, we compete for attention, funds and prestige... But there are many much more important reasons for organizations like ours to work in close partnership – those reasons are the children and families we serve. Children's Friend understands that and is a wonderful partner, always cooperative and helpful, always aware that what's most important is the children. We are so glad to be friends with Children's Friend."

AND we were also recognized twice in the New England Museum Association's Publication Awards Competition, which "recognizes excellence in design, production, and effective communication in all aspects of museum publishing." We won first place for our previous year's annual report and third place for the "Life is a Carnival" gala invitation.

Thanks, Children's Friend and NEMA!

An Interview with Heidi Brinig

This year, the Museum celebrates the 20th anniversary of Families Together, its therapeutic visitation program for court-separated families. Heidi Brinig, the program's director, came to the Museum as a volunteer in April 1991, working to launch the renowned program. She spoke about her inspiration and the program’s evolution.

What’s your background?
I have a bachelor’s in early childhood education and a master’s degree in human development and family counseling. I previously worked as a community mental health therapist, for a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania. My work was focused around children in foster care and mentally challenged adults. I was also working on a certification in play therapy, how to use play in a very clinical setting.

What was your inspiration for Families Together?
As a therapist, we spent all this time with kids, teaching them better coping practices, but we weren’t teaching the parents anything. We returned kids to families who were unprepared. The system didn’t help me understand the needs of the family and how to support them – and why they came back into the foster system so quickly. I didn’t believe it was helping people – they needed a better way to heal.
How did the program start?
With work in play therapy and early childhood education, and as a hands-on learner myself, I was fascinated by children’s museums. I went to Boston Children’s Museum and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. To see kids’ learning process and joy just does something for my soul.

In the spring of 1990, I researched cities with children’s museums across the country to see if I could develop an internship. Rhode Island was my third phone call, and I was invited to visit to talk about the idea further. The Museum had already been thinking about engaging the social service community more formally, so by late fall they said, okay, we’ll do it. They offered me an internship researching the needs of the social service community and how the Museum could be helpful.

Family and friends questioned how I could go to a place where I knew no one and I thought, what an adventure! I was so taken by the care and the love that people at the Museum had for children and their welfare.

What were the early challenges in starting the program?
Working with DCYF to identify what the program should look like, I had to do lot of research on something that didn’t exist – there was very little written on visitation at that time.

I had to engage the Museum community in a way that supported the families. The staff was on board but I wanted them to invest in the idea, to embrace these complicated people and challenged families.

I believe the line between where I stand in life and where these families stand is very thin. Any one of us could easily be in a situation where we need help. These families’ challenges touch so much of what the Museum as an institution wants to change. Everyone can come here and be the same. We fight for social justice.
What about today?
Ever since I started this project, it’s been a balancing act on so many levels. The needs of the family – and not victimizing them. Understanding my strengths and limitations. At every stage, being mindful of the needs and mission of the Museum, DCYF, the court and the various levels of the child welfare system. That was challenging as the program was designed and grew and still is every day.

It’s a constant challenge to raise money and do the best we can for these families. There’s a limited amount of money and funding is changing.

Society has a desire to protect children but also respects parents' rights and privacy. Our biggest challenge is respecting the right of parents and helping those that make decisions about their lives. To protect children physically and emotionally and to actually raise them are different challenges, and there are parents who try so hard but just can’t do it. It’s emotionally taxing for Families Together staff and caseworkers.

What are you proudest of?
I’m proud of Providence Children’s Museum for saying yes, of all the individuals who stand and stood by me in this institution and those connected with it – funders, board, staff, DCYF – who agreed to take this risk and continue to do it every day. Of their passion and commitment to do what’s right and be respectful of deserving families.

We’ve taken visitation beyond the Museum and have elevated it to an opportunity for teaching, guiding and assessment– and not just for the immediate family. I like to think we’ve set the pace for other visitation programs, that we’re a model for other child welfare systems and museums. We’ve tried to raise awareness about the value of visitation and over 20 years, I think we’ve succeeded.

Families Together staff, left to right: Front – Amber Massed, Cheryl Lepre, Jessica Lima;

Middle – Mary Luz Arias, Paula Toland, Heidi Brinig, Cat McCaffery;
Back – Shannon Doherty and Amanda Grandchamp

Learn more about Families Together in the spring issue of the Museum's newsletter.

Meet the Staff. ALL of Them!

This post about our most recent all staff meeting was contributed by Carole Ann Penney, assistant to the director of education.

Last Thursday, Museum staff, AmeriCorps members and volunteers gathered for an All Staff Meeting. Staff meetings may be dreary at other places, but here at Providence Children's Museum they are a special treat!

It’s surprisingly tricky to get us all in the same room at the same time - with AmeriCorps members serving at after school programs across Providence and neighboring cities, staff members working on different projects with different schedules and always needing to keep the exhibits staffed by Experience Coordinators and Play Guides, we are certainly a busy bunch! Three or four times every year we gather together at 7:30am (before the Museum opens to the public) to share our successes, update each other on what we’re working on and look ahead at what’s to come.
At last week’s meeting, we had a lot to celebrate! Here are some highlights:

• Breaking all attendance records! Janice, Executive Director, shared that in 2009 we had 167,264 visitors – 20% more than have ever visited before. Over a third of those visitors came to the Museum at no cost.

• Expansion of our PLAY message! We’ve been spreading the message that play is important through our PlayWatch listserv, this blog, and community events around Rhode Island. The New England Museum Association awarded us with its first ever “Leaders in Innovation Award” for our work to share “The Power of Play.” And the message continues to spread! Megan, PR & Marketing Manager, informed us that our 9th and 10th community screenings of the film “Where Do the Children Play” are in the works for the upcoming months.

• Families Together is growing! Heidi, Director of Families Together, introduced some new members of the Families Together staff as they expand their support to children and families through the “Fostering Connections” federal grant. The award was made to a coalition of 10 RI social service agencies and will help our staff connect kids whose parents aren’t able to take care of them with extended family members.

• New exhibits are coming! Chris, Exhibit Developer & Fabricator, warned that there will be lots of excitement to see in The Children’s Garden in the coming months – cranes and work trucks as The Climber is assembled, and furniture and exhibit components coming together in the new Underland exhibit. He said the best view will be from the ramp to the second floor!

• And many more! Take a peek at our wall of things to celebrate…

Want to know more about the Museum staff? See them in their playful natural habitat in our new staff Facebook album, created by AmeriCorps member Turenne. She did a terrific job collecting interesting facts and silly photos - check it out and let us know what you think!

A Safe Place

Families Together is the Museum’s therapeutic visitation program, providing a safe space for parents and children who have been separated by the Family Court due to abuse or neglect. Program clinician Amanda Grandchamp shared this story of one family’s growth.

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As a clinician for the Museum’s Families Together program, I facilitate a series of visits between parents and their children who have been legally separated by the Family Court due to abuse or neglect. I observe and assess parent/child relationships and skills as well as provide case management, feedback and support. Almost forgot to mention one thing…I get to PLAY!

This is a story – one story – of a family’s growth during their time at the Museum.

In the beginning there was CHAOS. Two young girls ran around the Museum in opposite directions, laughing as their mother chased after them. I went one way, Mom the other. We rounded them up. A few minutes later the scenario repeated itself. This wasn’t the last time either. RULES. Together Mom and I set expectations for the girls. Stay together and follow Mom’s directions. Over time they were able to recite them. Following them, another story. Testing the limit, absolutely.

TEARS. The bond this family shares is incredible. There is no way to count the number of times they tell one another “I love you” during a visit. Or how many times the girls refer to their mother as “my best Mom.” It is many. Their emotions may OVERWHELM them, become exhausting or paralyzing. Situations are INTENSE. A time-out may involve crying, screaming, hitting, kicking, biting, throwing things. When that time-out is finished, there is a possibility another will follow shortly. MORE TEARS. SADNESS. SMILES…SMILES?

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE. Mom and I had a number of conversations about redirecting behavior. We also discussed “1, 2, 3 Magic,” a technique for giving consequences like time-outs. With repeated effort, practice and consistency, Mom’s effectiveness blossomed. Effectiveness led to a boost in self-esteem and positive experiences. Mom works hard. The girls respond well.

SAFETY. When you’ve endured traumatic experiences, everything is about being safe. Descending a ladder. Sitting in a chair. Playing safely. Staying with Mom. Feeling safe with Mom. Mom and I taught the girls about being safe. Now they remind other children in the Museum to be safe, too.

LAUGHING. SILLINESS. MORE LAUGHING. LOVE. Mom becomes more comfortable working with me and with the atmosphere of the Museum. She is content being silly. In the ship in Coming to Rhode Island, when the girls least expect it, Mom suddenly makes the sound of a caged rooster. They all howl with laughter. In Littlewoods, the girls become wild skunks, spraying Mom and me, shrieking with laughter. In Water Ways, the girls become excited when water shoots and sprays everywhere, including in Mom’s face and mine. But that doesn’t matter, water soon dries. And in Play Power, not even using the exhibit! Enjoying their special time together, Mom trails the girls, saying she is hungry, pretending to eat them. I am sure their laughter echoed throughout the Museum. It is nice to see the girls and their Mom smile. They must notice I am smiling as well.

PLAY. For 90 minutes, this family plays together amidst the magic of the Museum. There are sad times, there are happy times, there are difficult times, all as expected. Their journey does not end here. All families are unique, but it's families like this we don’t forget and families like this it hurts to remember.