SPOTLIGHT: Executive Director, Erik Sternad

 

Interface Children & Family Services' Executive Director, Erik Sternad, took time out of his busy schedule for a quick Q&A!

Q.  Where were you born?

A.   Out in the High Desert in California.  My Dad came from Austria with the proverbial $125 in his pocket and a fresh Chemical Engineering degree to start a family in the states. We lived in a little mining outpost called, "Trona" right across from the huge Potash factory where my Dad landed his first job.

Q.  Will you briefly describe your educational background?

A.   B.S. in Psychology from UC Berkeley; M.S. in Marriage, Family Counseling from San Francisco State University

Q.  And, your work experience?

A.  I developed my own private practice in the Bay Area, treating children, couples and families.  I was particularly drawn to family therapy work and the power that families have for trouble but more importantly for good for every member. I also worked for several major hospitals in their inpatient and outpatient psychiatric units and came to appreciate the power of the multi-disciplinary team!  Many perspectives deepen one’s understanding of the client’s needs. After working for, then leading a non-profit treating kids and families with the most severe issues, I welcomed coming to Interface where we actually prevent problems for many kids and families even before they start!

Q.  How did you become involved with Interface?

A.  My best friend of 30 years lives in Simi Valley and was always trying to get me to move my family to Simi.  I almost missed the opening that Interface had for an Executive Director as I was caring for a family member after a major surgery!  The mission: “strengthening children, families and communities to be safe, healthy and thriving” was a perfect fit for me – what I had dedicated my career to.

Q.  How long have you worked with Interface?

A.  4 years.

Q.  What made you choose to do the type of work you are doing?   

A.   My Mom was a Social Worker and my Dad a Project Leader for large engineering projects, so leading a social service is pretty much like continuing in the family business…

I have always been drawn to helping kids.  I have 5 kids and 5 grandkids...there have always been kids at our house (playing, visiting, and temporarily living there), so I guess it’s pretty much always been about helping kids.  Early in my career, I was trained to understand that healthy families are necessary for healthy kids.  Interface reflects this in our multiple approaches towards strengthening families.

Q.  Since you’ve been involved with Interface, what story have you heard that sticks out in your mind?  The one you use to tell people about Interface?

A.  Susan is a 30-year old woman with one young child.  At 10 years old, Susan was abandoned by her mother and left with an male acquaintance.  This man sexually abused her and addicted her to drugs.  In order to pay for his drug habit, he prostituted this young child.  At the age of twelve, he abandoned her.  Addicted to drugs, she continued to live in the streets.  She has a long history of criminal offenses including drug use, prostitution, and burglary. Susan lived in the river bottom and continued to use, she was pregnant and covered with infected mosquito bites.  When she entered the hospital to deliver, she had not received any prenatal care and her infant was delivered drug addicted to meth.  The child was removed from Susan and placed in protective custody.  In order to regain her child, she would have to enter a drug rehab and prove herself a sober and responsible parent.  And so begins her journey towards sobriety.  During her stay at the rehab center, Susan began attending the Domestic Violence Community Support groups and finally started sharing her life of abuse: sexual, physical, emotional and abandonment.  She was never angry although she had every right to be; she was resolute. When her stay at the rehab ended, there were no shelters for her and her child.  At this point, the child was reunited with mother under certain terms. One was that she needed a stable environment to live in.  I received a call from her worker (CFS) who was advocating for shelter.  We were full at the emergency shelter but made some hasty changes to the living arrangement and placed her and her child.  Susan continued her sobriety and her sober living program while in shelter.  At the end of her 30 days, we had an available transitional home and placed her in our program with the condition that her drug and alcohol case manager would continue to assist. She did.  Susan has one year of sobriety, she is attending parenting classes, and she has bonded with her child.  She is continuing her therapy sessions, however, we don’t know yet if she will continue her path towards a clean, sober and violence free life.  Susan has had a horrific life but she is a strong woman and she has a beautiful child that she loves and loves her in return. She is in a safe environment and has many people cheering her on.  If it were not for our shelters, Susan would have become homeless and it is difficult to say where she and her child could be today.  

Q.  What makes you come to work everyday?

A.  I’m just always amazed at the steady stream of families that, despite the odds against them, continue to reach out for support and help for their children. Families have dreams for themselves and their kids, and despite their misfortune or suffering at the hands others, they keep striving for something better. When Interface is there to respond to those tremendous and overwhelming needs, we are at our best.

Q.  Are you involved in any other non-profit organizations and/or volunteer positions?

A.   The Christadelphian Church in Simi Valley, teaching Sunday School and my wife and I have been youth counselors for several years.  I also provide consultation for church members on a variety of mental health issues and concerns for their children and their families. I’m working with an international team on a resource website for Christadelphians worldwide.

Q.  What activities/hobbies do you enjoy?

A.   Golf, tennis, cycling, home remodeling and listening/occasionally playing jazz

Q.  Is there anything else you would like for us to know about? 

A.  I believe I could be a stand-up comedian, but my kids don’t think I’m funny at all…

Thanks for your time, Erik!  Until next time, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, "The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family." 

My Body Belongs To Me

Guest Blogger:  Dawn Reid

The mission of Interface Children and Family Services is to “Strengthen children, families and communities to be safe, healthy and thriving.”  The My Body Belongs to Me Program is one of the programs Interface employs to meet its mission.

The My Body Belongs to Me Program is a personal safety and child abuse prevention program for pre-school and elementary school aged children (ages 3 to 12) and their families.  The program effectively educates and empowers children in a non-threatening way so that they may be better equipped to avoid abuse.  Since 1997, My Body Belongs to Me has reached over 70,000 children and their families.  As the only abuse prevention program in Ventura County with a focus on the prevention of child sexual abuse, the program directly benefits our community’s children by teaching them how to respond to potentially dangerous people and situations.

This school year approximately 6,000 school aged children between the ages of 3 and 12 and their families in Oxnard, Ventura, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and other communities throughout our county will be less vulnerable to sexual predators and thereby less likely to be victimized by them.  Additionally, any children and families within the same aforementioned group that have been victimized will learn from the program that telling is “O.K”, that the abuse can NEVER be their fault and that it’s NEVER too late to tell about abuse.

In a perfect world the My Body Belongs to Me program would not be necessary but crime statistics from The Department of Justice, The Federal Bureau of Investigations, The U.S. Center for Missing and Exploited Children and The Centers for Disease Control all tell us that in the United States 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys will be molested or sexually assaulted before their 18th birthday.  Of those assaulted, 22% will occur before age 5 and 58% before the age of 10. Approximately 90% of molest offenses against children are committed by someone the child knows and trusts and approximately 45% of those are committed by someone related to the child.  These facts stress the need for parents to make child sexual abuse prevention a regular safety conversation with their children.  Clearly it is not the “stranger in the bushes” that families should be concerned about.  Instead, the focus should be on helping our children establish appropriate personal boundaries and becoming more comfortable talking with our children.

Every year there is at least a handful of stories that highlight the boundless importance of the My Body Belongs to Me program.  The first story is from a parent’s perspective.  While at an outreach event in the community two young adult men approached an Interface Children & Family Services resource table and began looking at the different handouts and speaking with the Interface staff at the table.  The two young men were a bit intimidating in appearance, as they were both pretty well tattooed, were both very muscular and used extremely “colorful” language consisting of many expletives during their conversation.  One of the men explained that he had spent a sizable amount of his child’s life incarcerated and that he really wanted to be a good father to his children.  Upon seeing the My Body Belongs to Me brochure, he asked what it was about.  When he opened the brochure and saw the handout piece entitled “6 Ways You Might Be Touched That Give You the Right to Say, “No!”, Get Away and Tell Someone”, he called the rest of his friends over, many of them with their children and this man of very impressive size and intimidating demeanor lowered himself to his knee and began to very tenderly and patiently explain those “6 Ways” to his four-year old.  He encouraged his friends to do the same and he did not stand back up until he was certain that his little boy understood what he was saying.  When the father was done he stood back up and thanked us for a giving him a way to talk about the subject of molestation in a way that made him feel comfortable but didn’t scare his little boy.  That father and all his friends left the resource table with handfuls of the “6 Ways” handouts promising to share them with their nieces and nephews.

Last March, I received a valentine that was forwarded to me from an elementary school counselor.  The valentine was from a fourth grade girl who wanted to thank us for teaching her that her body belonged to her and that it was never too late to tell and talk about when someone had touched her in a way that made her feel scared, uncomfortable, involved the private parts of her body or in a way that she simply didn’t like.  Just moments after her class received the presentation, this brave fourth grader privately shared that she had been molested several times during the previous year by a family acquaintance.  With the help of the school’s counselor, a police report was made and the girl and her family began to receive much-needed therapy.  I received a call from the girl’s mother within weeks of the girl’s initial disclosure.  The mother was understandably emotional when thanking me for the existence of our program insisting that were it not for “My Body Belongs to Me” coming to her child’s school, her daughter may have never told and the abuse would have continued.  The valentine I received was written towards the end of “Carla’s” (not her real name) therapy and was encouraged by her therapist and reads as follows:

“Dear Whomever This Concerns,

I am writing as a fourth grader how important I think the program called My Body Belongs to Me is.  This program makes kids like me know how important it is to always tell an adult when something makes you feel uncomfortable.  I had a problem because someone had been touching me and I didn’t know what to do.  This problem made me scared and very mad most of the time.  Because your program and Mrs. Reid taught me that I really could tell and that it was not my fault.  I did tell and I got some help.  My family did too.  My problem would have never stopped if I did not hear about what you said in My Body Belongs to Me.  Please, please be sure and tell all kids about this so that they will know what to do too.

Sincerely,

A fourth grade girl.”

Last fiscal year, The My Body Belongs to Me Program was presented to 5,835 local Ventura County Children and their families at 41 different schools and or child/youth facilities.  As a result of those presentations, 3642 children between the ages of 3 and 12 became less likely to be molested and say nothing.  29 teen parents under the age of eighteen and 2,164 parents, grand-parents and care givers learned how to talk to their children about preventing sexual abuse and were given resources and instructed on what to do if their child ever discloses an incidence of abuse.  No less than 14 of the Children that received the My Body Belongs to Me curriculum last year understood the program’s emphasis that it’s NEVER too late to tell and courageously disclosed incidences of abuse.  Without this program those children would have continued being victimized.

Fiscal year 2004/2005 was the last fully-funded year for The My Body Belongs to Me Program.  For the purposes of this discussion, “fully funded” refers to funding to support a 40-hour work week for one (1) My Body Belongs to Me staff person.  In that year, the program reached 7,114 individuals.  In fiscal year 2005/2006 funding for My Body Belongs to Me was reduced to half of what it had been previously. 

With half of the financial resources allocated for My Body Belongs to Me, it would be reasonable that the number of clients reached would be decreased accordingly by half (50%).  However that has not been the case.  In fiscal year 2005/2006 with only half of the funds of the previous year, the number of clients reached saw a decrease of only 40% (4,271 children and their families).  The number of clients served by My Body Belongs to Me has increased every year since funding was cut.  Currently, the number of clients reached has only been decreased by 18%.  In other words, with half the budget My Body Belongs to Me is currently reaching and meeting the needs of 82% of the clients it was reaching when it was fully funded.  Year after year, the My Body Belongs to Me program successfully meets the challenge/requirement of doing more with less and exponentially so.  

Perhaps the greatest evidence of the program’s value lies in the words of two children.  The first is an 8 year old girl I’ll call “Becky”.  While disclosing sexual abuse that had occurred when she was 5 and 6, with tears in her eyes Becky said, “I just keep trying to get it out of my brain and I can’t but now I can because I can tell.”  Then there is a 9 year old boy I’ll call “Brian”.  Brian wrote a note that said, “Thank you for telling me that nobody can touch or hurt my body and that I can always tell to get help if they try.”

The My Body Belongs to Me Child Abuse Prevention Program provides an immeasurable service to our local community by helping to protect our children from the life altering trauma that results from sexual abuse.  The program is implemented via classroom instruction to children and their families by taking the program directly into public and private schools, youth centers and child care facilities.  This vital safety program teaches children how to respond to potentially dangerous situations and people.  They learn the three-part safety sequence that instructs them to say “No!”, to get away and most importantly, to tell an adult helper.  In addition to the in-class presentation, an optional take-home booklet is available for the students to review the safety concepts with their families.

Teachers and staff are given a 50-minute preview presentation that fully describes the program and includes a basic review of California’s mandated reporter law.  The next phase includes a 60-minute parent preview of the presentation that takes place about one week before their child’s presentation.  Parents also receive a packet of useful information that includes a list of helpful resources.  There is a discussion on how parents might talk to their children about keeping their bodies safe and how to effectively deal with a child’s disclosure of abuse or other undesired touching.

The children’s presentation includes three separate curriculums: pre-school, grades K-2^nd and grades 3^rd-6^th.  The children view an age-appropriate video on personal safety then engage in a classroom discussion.  After their presentations, pre-school and kindergarten children go home after their presentations with a personal safety coloring book so that parents are able to continue conversations about safety with their children.  All children are given a refrigerator magnet entitled, “6 Ways You May Be Touched That Give You the Right to Say “No!”, Get Away and Tell Someone,” to take home and share with parents and other family members.  These magnets give parents concise, consistent,  comfortable, non-threatening language to use with their children.  They help parents and care-givers make the topic of their child’s safety an on-going and developmentally appropriate conversation.

BLOGGER BIO

Dawn Reid began her relationship with Interface Children & Family Services as a volunteer in 2003 at the prompting of then Director of Volunteer Services, Judy Jenkins.  Judy had heard Dawn speak on childhood victimization for another organization.  In November 2006, after 15 years in the mortgage and banking industry, Dawn’s desire to make a difference led her to seek a staff position with Interface Children & Family Services.  In January 2007, Dawn came on staff with Interface as Program Manager of My Body Belongs to Me.  She now serves as the program’s outreach coordinator.

Shortly after joining the Interface staff, Dawn developed the “6 Ways You Might Be Touched That Give You the Right to Say ‘No!’, Get Away and Tell.” handout.  By using consistent and uniform language, children could easily understand, the handout encourages parents and teachers to make child sexual abuse prevention an ongoing conversation about safety.  Dawn was thrilled when the handout was FINALLY made into a magnet last year (a dream of hers).  Dawn also compiled a resource guide of reading resources for families.  All books on the guide have child sexual abuse prevention as their topic.  Many of the resource counselors at the schools MBBTM serves request this resource guide and distributes them to families throughout the school year. 

As a member of The Ventura County Partnership for Safe Families and Communities, Dawn serves on the organization’s Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Committee. She a survivor of childhood and adult trauma, Dawn is burdened with a passion for encouraging those affected by childhood sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and other family violence.

Dawn is married with 4 children (two biological, two step) ages 16 to 25.  Dubbed "best-est brownie baker" and "master gumbo maker," she enjoys cooking, gardening, cycling and has been an avid runner for almost 30 years.  She considers her title of “Mom” the most important and rewarding of all.

Spring is in the Air & "Strategies" is Helping Us Grow!

As spring draws near and flowers begin to bloom, there is no other time more appropriate to showcase a program of Interface Children & Family Services that helps strengthens organizations so they can support families and communities; it’s called Strategies Training & Technical Assistance.  Our Strategies team fulfills Interface’s mission of strengthening children, families, and communities to be safe, healthy, & thriving.  

Strategies is a nationally recognized, statewide alliance of professional trainers, organizational development coaches and facilitators united by a set of core values and strategic approaches.  They provide training, coaching, facilitation, curriculum development, and the practical application of research and best practices to programs, organizations, and networks that strengthen families and communities across our state. 

So you ask, "How is Strategies part of Interface Children & Family Services?" 

Strategies has three California offices in Butte, Orange, and of course, our own here in Camarillo.  While working closely as a statewide team, each one of Strategies' offices is also part of a separate nonprofit agency which, amongst other family strengthening programs, features one or more family resource centers.  This ensures that the solutions Strategies offers are not just academic; we are using them every day with tangible results.  For Ventura County, Strategies is embedded in the family work of Interface Children & Family Services, featuring our Santa Paula Family Resource Center, our Oxnard Family Resource Center, and more centers that are in the works! 

How does Interface’s Strategies team strengthen families?" 

 A few examples of the broad scope of work our Strategies team engages in are:

·         Offering highly interactive Cultural Competency training for family resource center workers in the Central Valley.

·         Leading a statewide dissemination of a research-proven program that better engages fathers in the lives of children at risk.

·         Coordinating service providers across the San Francisco Bay Area to strengthen families more effectively and comprehensively.

As you can see Interface’s Strategies team has a huge impact across the state.  Back here at home, our Strategies team are inspiring Interface’s programs to be amongst the most forward thinking and most effective in California!

Strategies Training & Technical Assistance is a program of Interface Children & Family Services in Ventura County.

Our Phones Are Ringing...

...off the hook! 

You may be surprised to learn that Interface Children & Family Services has been providing information & referral services for over 30 years but it has NEVER BEEN AS POWERFUL as it is now by simply dialing 2-1-1! 

I thought it would be nice to share with you examples of calls received by 2-1-1 Ventura County call specialists, in honor of their 6th anniversary celebration held at the beginning of this month and to highlight our just released 2010 Annual Community Report.   

  

An elderly woman we'll call Susan lives in Ventura and was referred to 2-1-1 by a social worker.  Susan called 2-1-1 for resources for her adult daughter who we'll call Jamie.  Jamie is autistic and Susan is concerned about how her daughter will cope if something happens to her mom.  Susan gained information about independent living resources so Jamie can learn to live on her own.  During a follow up call, Susan shared that she was able to connect with resources provided to her by 2-1-1.  Community Action will be able to help her with legal services and the Independent Living Resource Center is offering life skills training so Jamie can learn to be more self sufficient. Susan was happy and appreciative about receiving positive responses from the referral agencies and thanked 2-1-1 for their assistance.

  

A woman we'll call Judy lives in Fillmore and called 2-1-1 for rental assistance.  Judy explained that she receives housing assistance and had just passed her annual housing inspection when she received a notice from the bank.  She spoke with her landlord, who confirmed that the bank’s statement was true - she needed to vacate the premises.  Judy was confused about her housing options and whether her housing assistance would transfer to another home.  During a follow up call, Judy shared that, while she is still very angry about the situation, the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program through the Human Services Agency is helping her relocate and will help her with her deposit and rental assistance.  Judy thanked 2-1-1 for being helpful and patient when she called for assistance.

A man we'll call David lives in Oxnard and called 2-1-1 for rental assistance.  David explained that he was in a bind because his unemployment check was late.  He was frustrated and upset because he had fallen behind in the rent and was worried he wouldn't be able to keep his home.  During a follow up call, David explained that he received his unemployment check and he was able to pay his current rent and make payment arrangements for his back payments.  He had contacted Catholic Charities and although they did not have funds available at the time, they indicated that there would be funds available within the next few days that he could apply for to help pay his back payments. David was very appreciative, stating that his daughter would be able to visit for the summer since he was not going to lose his home.

An Oxnard woman we'll call Rosa contacted 2-1-1 after she and her two young children were evicted from their home.  Rosa explained that she is currently employed, but was not able to afford to pay her rent for the past three months because she only made enough money for food and other small bills.  Rosa was staying with the father of her children but was concerned that it was not a safe environment for them. The Call Specialist reviewed resources with Rosa and she was interested in referrals to agencies for help with housing and for her local Neighborhood for Learning (NfLs).  The Call Specialist encouraged Rosa to call back when she is ready for more assistance. 

These were just a few examples of the over 19,000 calls we receive each year.  2-1-1 provides information and referral services relating to counseling, domestic violence, employment, food assistance, health care, housing, legal assistance, senior services, services for children, substance abuse services, and so much more.  Be sure to tell all of your friends about 2-1-1 so they can "BE IN THE KNOW!"

2-1-1 Ventura County is a program of Interface Children & Family Services in partnership with United Way of Ventura County and First Five of Ventura County.  

For more information on ways you can support 2-1-1 Ventura County with a financial donation, please contact Marti DeLaO, Director of Fund Development at (805) 485-6114, x-641. 

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The Umbrella of Mental Health Services

Defining mental health services - now there is a challenge.  Ask the lady sitting in the cubicle next to you and she'll most likely say, "Those homeless men down by San Jon, the schizophrenics, and all those who have bipolar disorder and hear voices."  While there may be some truth to your work neighbor's words, mental health deserves a true definition for all those people unaware of the fact that ADD, ADHD, autism, anorexia, bulimia, and so many others are also mental illnesses.

According to NAMI, mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person's thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning.  Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder.  Mental illnesses can affect persons of any age, race, religion, or income.  They are not the result of personal weakness, lack of character or poor upbringing. They are treatable and most people diagnosed with a serious mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan.  In addition to medication treatment, psychosocial treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community services can also be components of a treatment plan and that assist with recovery.

Therefore, mental health services for an organization must be vast and comprehensive.  Interface is one of the leading providers of mental health services in Ventura County.  Programs such as the Triple P: Positive Parenting Program; Parent Child Interaction Therapy; Child Abuse Treatment; the Program to Evaluate and Treat Sexual Abuse; Victims of Crime - Surviving to Thriving; the Oxnard Youth Services Bureau; Solutions, Recovery Classroom; Juvenile Drug Court; Child/Youth/Family Focused Emotional Wellness; Early Interventions 0-5 Years - Social & Emotional Wellness; and the Intensive Parenting Treatment Program are examples of the umbrella of mental health services that Interface provides. 

I decided to sit down with Mental Health Director, Joelle Vessels, to learn more about her personal experience and what drives her to do the type of work that most people wouldn't be able to leave at the office.

Where & what did you do prior to joining Interface?

"As a Marriage Family Therapist since 1990, I had a private practice for 11 years providing mental health treatment services to adults, families and children, in addition to contracts providing treatment services in residential treatment centers, shelters, and academic settings.  I’ve provided individual, family and group therapy to children and adults affected by trauma, abuse and mental health issues, conducted community presentations, facilitated workshops and authored a relationship enhancement column for a community newspaper in San Bernardino.  Just prior to coming to Interface, I was a therapist at a non public school working with probation and high risk youth who were gang involved.  I really enjoyed watching my clients come to recognize their potential and begin setting steps to bring them out of poverty or illiteracy.  It was also extremely sad when comforting the parents and family members of a child killed by gang violence."

What made you decide to do the work you are doing?

"It’s kind of hard to put into words what leads someone on the path towards a particular profession like a mental health profession. I suppose it’s a number of personal experiences. I can say that I’ve valued every job I’ve had in this profession and am rewarded by the work. I had been a therapist for 10 years when my oldest son was diagnosed with schizophrenia.  Navigating the various systems was certainly less complicated because of my profession.  Reducing the stigma of mental illness is an underlying theme in why I stay in the work. The stigma experienced by an individual with a biological brain disorder impacts the decisions that individual makes about their day to day life, impacts their self-esteem, what contributions they make to life.  Yep, I’d like to make an impact there for sure."

Given all the challenges involved in the type of work you do, what makes you come to work everyday?

"Interface is doing comprehensive work in the community and I’m a believer in that.  I work for an agency whose mission, vision and values I can support.  And I really enjoy my staff – meeting with them and being a part of the work they are doing with their teams."

Thanks, Joelle, for your insight!  Learn more about the mental health programs Interface provides and be sure to educate your family, friends, and neighbors on mental illnesses because according to the National Institute of Mental Health, 57.7 million or 1 in 4 people in the United States are affected.   

Education For Action

After 35 years as a 501(c)3 nonprofit in Ventura County, Interface Children & Family Services' has a duty to provide the highest quality of services for children and families in our community.
  
Our goal is to educate our readers about the programs and services we provide, while spotlighting our Board of Directors, our donors, employees, volunteers, and most importantly, our success stories.
 
We hope each of you will be touched by the humility, strength, and passion of our many friends who make the work that we do possible.  Because for us, it is your generosity that makes us one of Ventura County's leading nonprofit agencies.

In the words of Herbert Spencer,  "The great aim of education is not knowledge but action."