People Places Update Page 1 2 3 4

Text Box: In 1973, Dr. Bob Snodgrass left a steady job at the then DeJarnette Center to take a chance on a vision and a mission. The mission was to create a community-based alternative to facility-based care for troubled and troubling children. The vision was People Places, Inc. - likely the first example nationally of what is known today as therapeutic foster care. Over the course of three decades, People Places has served hundreds of Virginia youth and played a key role in the development of therapeutic foster care nationally. In January, Dr. Snodgrass was one of a select group of 10 from around the U.S.

Text Box: to receive the prestigious Lewis Hine Award for his pioneering efforts in child welfare and mental health. The Hine Award is given each year by the National Child Labor Committee to a small group of individuals whose efforts have had particular impact on children and children’s services. Past winners include Harry Belafonte, Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Rodham Clinton. This year’s recipients were feted at a ceremony hosted by Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons at the Time Warner Building in New York City in late January and attended by a distinguished group of child welfare professionals.

Text Box: After 30 years as Executive Director of People Places, Bob now heads our IT department where he has completed the design of a cutting edge database program, FosterFocus. Congratulations and many thanks to our own Bob Snodgrass.

Admissions. 2004 saw the largest number of admissions to People Places’ therapeutic foster care and adoption programs in more than two decades. A total of 63 children were admitted last year - double the number from just two years prior. Accelerated and emergency admissions played a part. Accelerated admissions were those where extended pre-placement was not possible due to Court removals or disruptions in other foster care settings. Emergency admissions were responses to children’s urgent and unexpected placement needs. The remainder of children placed in 2004 entered through our “regular” admissions route following a more extensive period of assessment and matching. These youth tended to be those stepping down into therapeutic foster care from residential settings. The chart shows the breakdown for 2004 of these various types of admissions.

Replacements. Despite the increasing numbers of accelerated and emergency admissions and a larger total census, total replacements - in which a child was moved from one home to another - actually declined in 2004.The numbers include “good” replacements in which a child moved from a foster home to an adoptive home.

Permanence. Excluding children admitted on an emergency basis, who tended to remain for only a short period, 73% of children discharged from People Places in 2004 achieved their permanency goals.