Section A·Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, October 6, 2000
In from the cold
Katie Keenoy, St. Louis sophomore, left, studies inside Borders Book & Music, 700 New Hampshire St., with Joni Wilkening, Ulysses sophomore. The cold weather forced many people inside where they could keep warm. Photo by Craig Bennett/KANSAN
Big Brothers/Big Sisters recruits student volunteers
By Amber Huntzinger Special to the Kansan
An area volunteer program enables students to replace tests and papers with Barbie dolls and video games for a few hours a week.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Douglas County pairs adult volunteers with children ages 5 to 17.
"Right now, we need volunteers desperately," said Mary Beth Karlin, co-director. "Fifty kids are waiting, and we need to bring that list down."
The activities the volunteers and children do together vary from playing sports and shopping to playing computers and gardening, depending on their interests, Karlin said.
"We just want them to spend quality time together," she said.
E. J. Reed, a Topeka senior who volunteered as a Big Brother last year, went in-line skating and watched hockey games with his Little Brother.
"You get to interact on a personal level with someone you would have never met at KU." Reedy said, adding that he thought his Brother benefited from the interaction as well. "He got a lot of exposure to KU. He'd never really been up to campus, so he got to see a different world than he'd lived in."
Becky Price, co-director and volunteer, is matched with a girl she and her family call Kit Kat. During the summer, the Price family and KitKat go to McDonald's, the pool or just hang out together.
Karlin said some programs catered to students' schedules.
"We offer the First Friends program, which
BIG BROTHERS/BIG SISTERS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY
Volunteers must be 18 years old and willing to spend three to four hours each week with their Little Brother or Sister.
For more information, call 843-7359.
With more information, call 843-7359
is geared toward university students who may leave for the summer," Karlin said. "In order to utilize students, we ask for six months of their time."
Although a lapse may occur during the summer, the volunteers and kids often keep in touch, Karlm said.
The process of becoming a Big Brother or Sister starts with attending an information meeting at 5:15 p.m. each Tuesday and noon each Wednesday at the Big Brothers/Big Sisters office, 211 E. Eighth St.
Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and willing to spend a minimum of three to four hours with their brother or sister each week, Karlin said.
The children are either products of single parent homes, juvenile offenders or siblings of juvenile offenders, Karlin said. The group also has started pairing pregnant teens with female volunteers.
Price said that being a Big Sister was a good experience.
"It is a joy to see the basic skills Kit Katz gets out of the time we spend together." Price said. "I definitely recommend becoming a Big Brother or Sister to university students."
Rock Chalk's entertainment benefits more than spectators
By J.D. McKee
wrter@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
— Edited by Erin McDaniel
The Rock Chalk Revue is best known for its glitzy performances, but the true objective of the event is community service.
Mandy Pitler, community service coordinator and Wichita senior, said the purpose of Rock Chalk was for students to contribute to the community.
"It's a reminder of how important community service is and to give back to the host community while we're here." Pitler said.
Last year, Rock Chalk participants accumulated 28,113 hours of community service and raised $36,500 for the United Way of Douglas County. Pitler said the goals for this year were 35,000 hours of community service and $50,000.
Jo Bryant, executive director of the United Way of Douglas County, said the money went into their general fund and was then distributed according to need among the 29 service programs for which they help fund.
"We have an allocation process to decide what the need is for the community." Brvant said.
One of the programs that receives funds from the United Way is Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Douglas County. Becky Price, co-director of the program, said the group received about $40,000 a year from
the United Way, which accounts for about 20 percent of its funding.
price said that most of the money was used for overhead costs, such as utilities, rent and supplies because other funds couldn't be used for those things.
"So much money is allocated toward new programs just because that's what people like to fund." Price said.
Pitler said not many individuals volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters because of a one-year commitment but that there were other alternatives to individual volunteers.
Another group that benefits from Rock Chalk through the United Way is Women's Transitional Care Services, Inc. The Lawrence service provides a refuge for battered women and their children.
"Sometimes an entire group will sponsor a kid for a day who's been on the waiting list," she said.
Sarah Terwelp, executive director of WTCS, said much of the funding was used for basic operating services like office space, staff and utilities.
"We receive funds from the attorney general, but that's limited for direct service," Terwelp said. "That leaves all those things uncovered."
Pitler said the Rock Chalk Revue was open to the entire University. Those interested in volunteering should contact her at 864-4033.
- Edited by Sara Nutt
Social welfare state receive project grant for Web site
By Jason Krall
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
University of Kansas researchers are teaming up with a state agency to help child welfare managers make the transition to a new set of federal guidelines for adoption and placing children in foster homes.
The Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services and researchers and faculty in the School of Social Welfare received a $261,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The team began a three-year project this week to develop a Web site with information on the new rules and write a curriculum for youths going to foster care.
Since the Adoption and Safe Families Act was passed in 1997, it has taken child welfare agencies almost three years to reorganize and begin handling cases under the new guidelines.
The law is designed to allow managers in agencies such as the Department of Family and Children's Services to make the best decision for a particular child. It cuts out much of the red tape that has always been associated with the foster care and adoption processes, said Beth Roberts, program assistant and project manager for the Web site.
"For the first time in child welfare, the legislation reinforces best practice instead of meeting all these paperwork oblizations." she said.
The law's most significant change is that it is making foster care more of a short-term solution. In most cases, judges now are required to either return a child home or begin the adoption process after 12 months in a foster home.
"There's some evidence that states are achieving higher adoption rates since this legislation was enacted," said Tom McDonald, professor of social welfare. He also is working to develop the Web site.
Jamie Carter, Topeka sophomore, was adopted three days after she was born and said she was wary that the law could cause more children to be returned to abusive parents. Educating child welfare providers through efforts such as the KU project could help prevent that, she said.
"Sometimes the biological parents cannot be exactly what they seem to be," she said. "They can put on a good act to get their kids back."
The bulk of the grant, about $176,000,
will be used to develop the Web site.
Another $84,000 will be used toward
work on the curriculum.
The site also will offer information on counseling and parenting classes that can prevent problems of abuse or neglect so that a child never has to be placed in foster care, McDonald said.
"The idea is to keep them from having to go into placement at all," he said. "You try to provide services within the home, and when that's not possible, then go to adoption."
Edited by J. R. Mendoza
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