Transition Services staff are, from left, Lindy Dehm, director; Don Scott, administrator; Kenneth Alexander, transition coordinator; Alan Caruthers, Grandparents As Parents Program coordinator; and Claire Soard, transition coordinator.


TRANSITION SERVICES PROGRAM

Methodist Children's Home began a Transition Services program in the fall of 2006 to help former residents and graduates, ages 18 to 25, secure jobs or adjust to college and independent living. The Home's college program now falls under Transition Services, a program designed to help former residents make a successful transition to adulthood.

As part of the expansion of the former college program into the Transition Services program, two new staff members joined the team, and the program is headquartered in a former home unit on the Waco campus. The renovated facility has offices, a study room, a bedroom and bathroom for former residents who need immediate or temporary housing, a washer and dryer, a kitchen and toys to occupy former residents' children.

MCH received a gift from the Annie L. Stevens Fund of the Dallas Foundation that paid for some of the renovations of the building and staff resources for a new program designed to support grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

Services provided to former residents in transition include discharge planning, case management, counseling, crisis intervention services, independent living training and financial assistance. In keeping with the former college program, eligible graduating seniors can receive a scholarship to any state university or college in Texas.

Staff members coordinate and supervise youth interested in vocational programs or work, and they will track former residents for the first year after discharge from the Home. In order to best serve youth transitioning into adulthood, MCH will collaborate with other services in the community to maximize resources.

Grandparents As Parents Program
In addition to Transition Services, a new Grandparents As Parents Program (GAPP) is housed in the facility. GAPP provides education and support services to prevent grandparents from having to place their grandchildren in other homes or programs. Services include case management, parent education, support groups and limited financial assistance.

In October 2006, grandparent-placed children accounted for 10 percent of all children and youth placed at the Waco campus and Boys Ranch. The U.S. Census Bureau in 2000, the latest available data, reported that in Texas households with grandparents living with grandchildren under age 18, 47 percent of the grandparents were responsible for their grandchildren's care, and 22 percent of those grandparents lived in poverty.

College / Vocational Program
Recognizing the challenges that often come with the first year of college, MCH staff began an effort in 2003 to encourage high school graduates to begin their college careers at McLennan Community College in Waco. MCH provides housing for students at an apartment complex near the MCC campus. Students are responsible for handling their daily living and school responsibilities, while having close access to MCH staff.

In addition to MCC, Methodist Children's Home residents have recently attended Blinn College, Central Texas College, Houston Community College, Midwestern State University, Navarro College, Richland Community College, Stephen F. Austin University, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University, Texas State Technical College, Texas Woman's University and University of North Texas.

For more information on the Transition Services Program, contact: Lindy Dehm, Director
Transition Services
Methodist Children's Home
1111 Herring Avenue
Waco, TX 76708
254-750-1275
ldehm@mchwaco.org