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​Please scroll down to read our Unconditional Education blog posts.

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OUR UE MODEL AND SERVICES

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT: Kirkwood Early Childhood Center

5/31/2019

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Kirkwood Early Childhood Center is part of the Wu-Yee network of Head Start programs in San Francisco. Located in the heart of Hunter's Point, Kirkwood serves strong, resilient children and families from a diverse set of cultural backgrounds. The youngest child at Kirkwood is around 4 months old, and the oldest children are turning 5. Many Kirkwood families have limited access to resources and past/current trauma exposure. There is also a high percentage of children with disabilities at the site. 60% of one of the toddler classrooms is comprised of children with identified disabilities. Under the previous mental health model, a child had to be diagnosed with a disability in order to receive any type of care, and as we all know, that process can be lengthy and challenging at times.
 
Now, Seneca has the amazing opportunity to work with a dedicated team and co-design a supportive, tiered approach to early childhood mental health services. Our partners at the Primary School in East Palo Alto connected us with the Kirkwood team to identify areas of growth in culture and climate, tier 2/3 services, coordination of services, and family engagement. After interviewing all staff members through English and Cantonese focus groups, we worked together to create an Annual Implementation Plan. As part of this plan, the team built a menu of socio-emotional services that is geared towards the early childhood population. The Seneca clinician, Aditi Uttarwar (featured in the blog this week!), is currently providing parent workshops, coaching for teachers and Family Advocates, play groups, dyadic groups (parent:child pairs), individual/family therapy, and much more!
 
As the first early childhood implementation of the UE model, we definitely have our work cut out for us at Kirkwood. We are continuing to refine and adapt the model as we begin providing services on the ground. Luckily, we have a powerhouse team of early childhood educators, psychologists, and school administrators from Seneca, Wu-Yee, The Primary School, and other agencies working behind the scenes. Our hope is that other early childhood programs in the city will notice the powerful changes happening at Kirkwood and adopt similar, tiered approaches to mental health. Are you curious about our UE Munchkins in San Francisco? Reach out to Jonathan Barnett or the amazing Aditi Uttarwar to set up a visit!

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Blog Post Written by: Jonathan Barnett, Director of School Partnerships and Clinical Supervisor
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STAFF HIGHLIGHT:

5/31/2019

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Name: Aditi Uttarwar
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Position: Clinical Intervention Specialist/ Dance Movement Therapist


What led you to your current position? After grad school, I found a job working with children doing in home and in school services and found that it was not the right fit for me. I quit my job, stepped into the unknown and trusted that the right placement was going to surface itself to me. Sure enough, I interviewed with Jonathan and felt an immediate spark! And now I'm here! This job is a better fit than I could imagine for myself and it feels really wonderful to come to work every day!

Fun Fact/Quote: I love to dance and have been drawn into Poi dancing over the last 5 years. I have done a few performances but mostly enjoy going down to the beach and spinning my Poi with the sand under my feet.

What does your average day look like? I wake up at 5:30 in order to get ready and drive over to San Francisco from the East Bay to be at work by 8 am. I spend the first half of my day working with kiddos from the ages of 1-5 running groups, doing individual therapy, and classroom support. My second half of the day is typically meetings, teacher coaching, staff self-care, parent workshops, and sometimes classroom support. And within all that, I somehow manage to fit in documentation and catching up on emails!

Why do you do this work? This work combines many of my passions - dance, therapy, and children. Many of my own past wounds were healed through these three passions and working in this field feels incredibly fulfilling and where I feel I am meant to offer myself.

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Program Highlight: Recognizing Privilege

5/15/2019

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I wanted to share the essay “Privileged”. The article was written by NBA player Kyle Korver and caused quite a bit of controversy last month. It’s a great read and you’ll be glad that you did, but if you just don’t have the time, here are some points that impacted me:
  • It is an intensely personal essay from the perspective of a successful white man. It explores the privilege he's been granted as a such and how much it took for him to “get it”. He admits being unsympathetic for a long time. 
  • Kyle discusses his ability to opt in and out of tough conversations whereas people of color cannot.
  • Kyle Korver has tasked himself with becoming a "part of the solution" against racism and put forth some of his own efforts, including:
  • "I have to continue to educate myself on the history of racism in America."
  • "I have to listen. I'll say it again, because it's that important. I have to listen."
  • "I have to support leaders who see racial justice as fundamental -- as something that's at the heart of nearly every major issue in our country today."
  • "I have to do my best to recognize when to get out of the way -- in order to amplify the voices of marginalized groups that so often get lost."
While the essay is not the solution to all our problems, it is a great start! The article is extremely well written and what really got me is that you can tell the emotional turmoil he was having while writing it. Hopefully, this article creates a domino effect of self-awareness! 

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Blog Post Written by: Brenda Gonzalez, Manger of Educational Operations
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STAFF HIGHLIGHT: Cindy Mora

5/14/2019

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Name: Cindy Mora
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Position: All in! Program Assistant

What led you to your current position? I have a strong desire to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, and I know Seneca is the right place to keep exploring that possibility. 

Fun Fact/Quote? Dogs make everything better!

What does your average day look like? My day starts with prayer, a good cup of coffee, and ends with a good workout! 

Why do you do this work? I  choose to do this work because the populations we serve need caring,compassionate, and bilingual people who will understand them in every way.

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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: Unconditional Education from the Parent Perspective

5/8/2019

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​Every spring, as part of our continuous improvement efforts, staff from our All-in! program reach out to parents to gather their insights on the services their students receive. These phone calls are conducted with parents whose students receive individualized academic, behavioral, and clinical services. This year we spoke with over 100 parents from 22 of our school partnerships! Responses from our four quantitative questions are summarized below:


80% agreed that Seneca Staff were skillful and knowledgeable in their work with their child
78% felt well informed about what their child was working on and how they were progressing
82% felt that with Seneca services, they were supported in meeting the needs of their child
79% felt their child made progress as a result of their work with Seneca


Our program goal is to have 80% of parents agree with these statements. As the data demonstrates, we have hit the mark on two of these questions and have room to improve on our efforts to keep parents well informed about the services their student is receiving and to help parents to understand the progress their student is making. Over the summer, the leadership team will reflect on this feedback and brainstorm programmatic changes that will help us continue to improve in these areas.

In addition to these four questions where we ask for a simple “yes,” “no,” or “I don’t know” response, the survey includes two open ended questions that allow for parents to elaborate on what is going well and where we can do better in supporting their students. Responses help provide insight into the parent’s perspective of success and what is most important to them. Many parents commented on the progress and improvements they have witnessed in their student(s) as a result of the services they have received, and several parents shared appreciation for our communication and collaboration efforts.

Here are some highlights from our open-ended questions:
Student Progress“One of the things is his self-esteem and how he wants to spend more time with his friends. He used to spend a lot of time alone. Now he has more confidence and wants to spend time with his classmates.”

“My daughter stuttered before, and I can tell that she now takes more time to think about what she's going to say, and that's from the speech therapist. I see now that she voices that she's trying to say something if she is getting cut off by somebody. We play games at home, and she tells me how the speech therapist taught her to connect games to her speech.”

They pay attention to him, and talk and listen to him, and see how he is doing. I feel like he is doing well. He comes home calmer and happier, and it's easier to talk with him.

My son can open up more thanks to his therapist and I like the tools she brings in order to engage my child, for example he loves cars and they're building a car in session and that helps him open up to her.

She's more independent on some of her homework. She tries harder. I'm happy with the services that she gets.

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Communication and Collaboration
“I like the coordination team. I like how the parents, Seneca staff, and school staff come together to discuss service needs and the plan. That's been helpful, how they are structured and organized with follow-up. They're super responsive.”

“I like how they talk with me at home and how they explain what they're doing. I have a lot better communication with the school now.”

Our commitment to including families as partners in service delivery is felt by many of the parents we spoke to, and their appreciation for the work that you do to support the success of their students shone through in our conversations. While there is always room to grow and improve, we hope that these highlights demonstrate that your efforts at engagement are well received by parents, and that they truly value your partnership. As always, please feel free to email me (or comment below) with any ideas you have on how we can continue to improve our family engagement efforts!
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Blog Post Written by: Jenny Ventura, Director of Model Implementation and Assessment
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STAFF HIGHLIGHT: Brittany Allinger

5/8/2019

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Name: Brittany Allinger
Position: 
Bilingual Outpatient Clinician at Elmhurst Community Prep and Alliance Academy (Middle Schools)
 
What led you to your current position?
I was an intern with Seneca for 2 years before becoming full time. I entered my Master’s in Social Work program with the specific intention to work in schools, so my first year internship with SOAPS was a perfect fit. I loved the people I worked with and the level of support I received. In my second year I interned with All-In and I loved that too! Through both of these internships I discovered my love of working with middle and high-school students. When I graduated I knew I wanted to stay in a school based Seneca position, but I was struggling to decide between All-In or SOAPS. Luckily, they merged and I was fortunate enough to be offered a position with SOAPS that had everything I wanted.
 
Fun Fact/Quote?
I have three grandkids, and I’m also a DJ. Feel free to ask me questions about this in person!
 
What does your average day look like?
I arrive at school at 8am and spend a few minutes walking around to greet my co-workers and any early students. If I have time I get caught up on emails. I see kids individually throughout the school day, and when I’m not with them I engage in collateral conversations, offer in class support, and attend meetings such as IEPs, SSTs, and COST. In the later afternoons I spend time connecting with parents/caregivers and getting caught up on notes.  I try to leave between 4 and 4:30pm and most days I succeed J
 
Why do you do this work?
I love kids. I find them hilarious, ridiculous, brilliant, sweet, creative, and resilient beyond belief.  Also, I had a school counselor who was incredibly meaningful to me in high school, and she demonstrated unconditional positive regard towards me at a time when nobody else in my life had that to offer. I remember vividly how safe I felt in her office. I hope to provide a similar feeling of safety and trust to the students and schools I work for.  These two reasons combined bring meaning and joy to my days and that’s why I love what I do!

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