The Children’s Alliance of Hawai`i offers the following resources for children and adolescent foster youth that focus on skill-building and enhancing self-esteem.  Their Enhancements program is offered on both Oahu and Kauai, while the rest of their programs are offered on Oahu only.

Enhancements
Designed to “enhance” the lives of our children, the Enhancements Program provides goods and direct services that will help them become stable, enrich their development, and restore the special experiences of childhood that may have been lost.

This program focuses on the child’s individual needs, offering support for school related functions, summer programs, music, dance, art lessons, and sports activities. The Children’s Alliance of Hawaii believes that celebrating birthdays, life milestones, and holidays is very important in order for the child to create new positive memories to offset the bad ones. We support this belief by providing all of our eligible children with special presents and opportunities to celebrate with those who are closest to them.

The Enhancements Program is available to sexually abused children and youth on Oahu and for abused and neglected children and youth on Kauai.

The following Special Projects offered by the Enhancements team are designed to perpetuate the joy of childhood, assist childrens’ feelings of inadequacy or being “less than” their peers due to the often tragic outcomes of disclosures of abuse.

• The Back to School Project is a summer project which provides new backpacks and school supplies to sexually abused children and their siblings. We work with Ready to Learn, local vendors and community groups to secure the needed supplies. Volunteers help put the packs together, including a special gift toy for each child.

• The Christmas Angel Project provides special holiday gifts to sexually abused children and their siblings, offering them an opportunity to experience the “joy of the holidays.”
H.E.A.R.T. (Healing Emotions with Art and Recreation Together)

This is a unique program offering elementary age children and adolescents the opportunity to express their emotions while having fun. It offers four six-week group sessions, each consisting of art therapy, expressive movement/music, outdoor adventure, and therapeutic horseback riding. These four therapeutic components have linkages to a variety of theoretical orientations for clinical intervention, including the psycho-social realm, symbolic imagery, body awareness, mastery and control, skill building, and practical problem solving. Each group of 10 to 12 youth meets once a week for a duration of six months.

H.E.A.R.T. provides experiences that address the social emotional needs of sex abuse victims based on the premise that these children can be “reached” through a hands-on experiential approach to intervention. The program is based on the premise that discharging feelings can reduce some of the intensity and overwhelming effects on behavior. The over arching goals of this program include increasing self esteem, developing a group that understands they are not alone in their struggle, and increase the youth’s ability to express their feelings and emotions. The H.E.A.R.T. program is the only program of its kind in the State of Hawaii.

HO’OMAKA (NewBeginnings) Teen Teaming designed to assist young adults and adolescents who are struggling with direction, life circumstances, and exhibiting symtoms of trauma from sexual abuse. Participants receive guidance from the staff.  Children from age 10 to youth age 22 are served.

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If you know a child or adolescent who is interested and who could benefit from one or more of these programs, call 599-2955.