Early in the 1970's, a group of Statesville citizens were outraged to learn that when Iredell County children involved in family crisis had no place to stay outside of a jail cell. At that time, if there were no appropriate family to provide a safe, stable environment during family trauma and no foster homes available, then a jail cell was the only answer. As a result, efforts made by Louise Doyle, Barbara Dearman, David Eisele and other concerned citizens produced the concept of a home where abused, neglected and dependent children would have a safe, comfortable place to live as opposed to a jail cell. Aside from the trauma of being separated from family, the stigma and confusion created by placement in a cell only serves to further traumatize the child. They then truly feel they are to blame. This group of concerned citizens set out to rectify the injustice and their determination was to provide a safe haven during a time of crisis thereby giving Iredell County DSS an opportunity to focus their efforts toward resolution of the family situation. The non-profit organization was chartered in November 1972. Funds were raised through contributions to purchase the first house, later known as The Dearman Home. This home opened in 1973 and cared for five children. Due to the need in the community to provide safety during traumatic times for children in crisis, the home was at capacity all of the time with no option for other placement for children in need of care. It was evident there was a need for a second home to serve children in crisis. The second home, later known as The Doyle Home, was purchased with financial support through Iredell County budget funds and staffed for operation in July 1988. This home was changed in July 2010 and was re-licensed as our Transitional program serving youth 17 to 21 who were on the path to independent living. During the year of 2005-06 we had to turn away 42 children because the two homes were full. Our Board, once again, saw the need and began the process to garner support to open a third home. October 1, 2007 we broke ground on what is now the Eisele Home and celebrated the open house on August 14, 2008 allowing us to serve 18 children in need. We, at the time, thought we were finished until June of 2009 when the numbers of children coming in to care increased 44%. The Board made the decision to temporarily open a fourth location just until the economic downturn eased. Fortunately, as had happened in the past, God provided a way for us to open a fourth home, permanently to expand our service to 25. The Koepnick Home opened November 9, 2009 giving our agency four locations to provide the homelike, nurturing environment for children to be safe. In January 2011, in our efforts to address workforce possibilities for youth facing aging out of care at 18, We developed the Special Treasures Thrift Store to allow job skill training while earning money that we could then teach them financial / money management, budgeting and other independent living skills necessary as they moved out into the real world. The success of this project afforded community engagement and through that engagement, the growth and expansion resulted in the store becoming a separate, thriving business entity that supports our youth in care and aged out youth who lack community support and resources.
Placement History
Our need and desire to fully serve children in out of home placement brought our program to make a transition in service to children placed in our care. We saw so many children and youth return over and over again. Since inception of our agency, placement capabilities were only 90 day placement. As we saw how difficult it was for children to separate from people they came to care about, we knew something different had to be done. The issue was complicated by the fact the court process took so long to reach even initial decisions relative to protection of the child. We therefore submitted to the state our request to provide care for longer terms for children. In May 1998 we officially became licensed to provide longer term care to prevent children from having another disruption during the time it takes to reach resolution and permanence. The time allows the Department of Social Services to develop ,secure and implement a plan for permanence for the child should the family issues not be resolved in the best interest of the child. Whether that means the resolution and reunification with family or maintaining stability for them during the transition and work toward adoption appropriate to each child’s needs. As a result of providing children a place of safety and security, our organization decided that we needed to change our name to meet that safety we have implemented in our care of children. We officially changed our name to The Children’s Homes of Iredell County, Inc. Effective May of 2001; we changed our name to more adequately describe who we are.
Purpose
Our purpose is to provide a home for children who have been removed from their home by any County Department of Social Services for reasons of abuse, neglect, or dependency. Originally created to serve only Iredell County, September of 2012 we officially opened up to any county in North Carolina. Our funding was cut as a result of economic shortfall in Iredell County, so our Board of Directors made the decision to move forward. We now serve children and youth in the range from birth to age 21. Three of our homes are licensed to care for six children and the Doyle Home serves four bringing our capacity to serve 23 agency wide. Any child placed in our care has to be in the legal and physical custody of any NC County DSS in accordance with and by court order. Unfortunately, we are unable to serve private placements at this time. Our homes provide a safe home environment with house parents on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The home also provides children such amenities as toys, books, television, home cooked meals, etc. While in our homes, children are guided in activities of daily living including personal hygiene, manners, respect for themselves and others, personal responsibility, responsibility to their community, etc. Children are encouraged to attend church but are not under any circumstances forced to worship. We engage our children and youth in as many community activities as possible depending on the generosity of our donors who provide greatly needed funding for recreational learning experiences. Our homes provide a vast improvement over the days when children had to stay in a jail cell because there was “no where else to go”.
Support
Our agency is a community sponsored fully state licensed organization. Our program is funded by contributions from various organizations as well as private individuals, churches, City of Statesville, Town of Mooresville. Our major source of funding is provided through NC County DSS for children and youth placed in our care. We cannot rely on the latter funds always being in place due to legislative action during any given year. We rely on the prayers, generosity and compassion of those in our community who provide for us in times when needs are present and funds may not be available.
Summary
The Children’s Homes of Iredell County, Inc. are licensed annually by the State of North Carolina, Division of Social Services to ensure they are efficient and up to current licensing standards. The sole purpose of our agency is to provide stability for children in traumatic situations. Our Board of Directors consists of local citizens who volunteer their time and efforts to oversee the operation of all facets of the Children’s Homes of Iredell County, Inc. Day to day operations are monitored by the Executive Director ensuring compliance in all areas of licensure and accreditation. The Residential Program Manager is responsible for staffing, training, and supervision with support of our HR/ Training Coordinator of the program reporting to the Executive Director and the Board of Directors. Our homes are staffed with direct care houseparents on duty to care for children 24 hours a day promoting a family style, homelike environment. Relief houseparents provide care during the absence of full time staff during off time to provide consistency of care. Children are placed in our care by any NC County Department of Social Services. Decisions to accept placement is made by the Executive Director and our case review team based on the needs of the child and the ability of our agency to provide appropriate service and care to the child. There are times that children are not placed based on their needs and our ability to serve them appropriately. We are licensed by the State of North Carolina for Level 1 care, children and youth who are victims of abuse, neglect and dependency. The hope for peace and stability for children during times of trauma and crisis is the focus of what we do each day. The child that we care for today may one day be the person who decides what may happen to us. We would hope that they would have memories of compassion and care to draw from to deal with another in a crisis. If they are not shown compassion and caring, how will they learn the concept of compassion and caring for anyone else? Our success in what we are striving for will be our community’s future, the children that we care for today are our future, what will it be? The decision is truly in the hands and hearts of our community. How will you impact that future and the lives of our children? Thank you for caring about what happens in times of stress and chaos in the lives of others.
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