When you first meet Jason, you see a sweet, inquisitive 11-year-old. He’s got a great smile and is a real pleaser. He’s articulate, well-mannered and helpful. He loves dogs, enjoying time at the trampoline park and has a caring heart. Jason’s come a long way since coming to The Genesis Project in June 2022 after guardians he lived with for several years abandoned him at a children’s shelter.
Jason didn’t do well at school and made harmful threats to others, including himself. Diagnosed with Autism and living with its challenges, he felt alone and confused. To make matters worse, he has no family. His mother is deceased and his father, unable to care for him, relinquished parental rights. Jason has only a few contacts he’s able to call on outside of our campus.
Fortunately, a Genesis program called Campus Cares is helping to fill in the gap. Campus Cares was created to allow certain team members – chosen by the boy – to stand in as his temporary family until a new one is found. These new family members know the importance of building relationships to help a boy deal with the trauma he's experienced. Campus Cares gives one-on-one time that Jason craves.
“Relationships are key to our trauma-informed approach at Genesis,” said Andrew Hart, therapist. “Once trust is formed, we can dig deeper into what’s going on mentally and emotionally and then find approaches that help a child understand things better. Once that happens, we can help him manage his behavior in a way he embraces.”
Recently, Jason enjoyed personal time with a team member during an outing at Chuck E. Cheese. He’s excited to spend time soon with another team member at a local trampoline park.
A simple concept is making a big difference. Jason’s behavior is now a lot better; he doesn’t require the level of care and security provided at Genesis anymore. It won’t be long before he steps down to a lower level of care.
One goal of Genesis is to provide continuity of care when a child leaves our facility. The relationships formed with our caregivers will continue through phone calls or visits during Jason’s next placement, if he chooses. He’ll have someone he can call on to help get through the next phase, hopefully making the transition a little easier and better.
Campus Cares will continue to care after Jason moves on.
If you are interested in fostering or adopting Jason or other boys like him, please contact us at genesis@genesiskids.com.
Photo credit
Boy on trampoline
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