What does CAFETY do?
What services does CAFETY provide?
What kinds of activities does CAFETY do to meet its mission?
Why does CAFETY use the term “alumni/survivor” to describe folks with residential care experience as youth?
Who are the members of CAFETY?
What are the ‘qualifications’ to be considered an alumnus?
Why are allies included as members?
What makes CAFETY unique?
What expertise do CAFETY members have?
Why should I become a member of CAFETY?
Are all of the staff at CAFETY alumni?
What are CAFETY Chapters?
Where are your Chapters located and how can I get involved?
What does CAFETY do?
We do two things: Connect the community of residential treatment alumni/survivors together in order to be an extended family for one another, a source of support and information, and a network of people with a shared culture and experience; and we transform residential treatment care practice and policy. We do this by working with our allies to change the stigmas associated with residential placement and youth and/or mental, emotional, and behavioral challenges, work to identify and address barriers to community based care (a far less stigmatizing and more effective alternative to residential placement), and to identify the best things about residential care and make sure those things happen more often.
What services does CAFETY provide?
CAFETY primarily offers a network of members, allies, and organizations that join together in order to share a permanent community and to use our expertise to improve the lives of people in and from residential care. CAFETY is not a ‘service provider’ first and foremost, although we will occasional offer various types of support services to our members and volunteers. CAFETY recognizes the unique needs of residential treatment alumi/survivors and will occasionally run online trauma groups led by a qualified mental health professional. We also communicate regularly with parents or gaurdians seeking assistance in their community for their child and will make referrals to parent support groups. When contacted by youth who are identifying practices used against them as abusive within a residential setting, CAFETY will intervene by contacting Child Protective Services and the Disability Rights Network and help advocate for the resident. We track such cases as much as possible to help inform our advocacy efforts. When contacted by parents or service providers considering residential placement within a specific setting, we refer such inquiries to our alumni/survivors who have attended such a program and are able help families make educated decisions regarding a particular program by sharing their expetise within the specific program and types of interventions used.
What kinds of activities does CAFETY do to meet its mission?
First, we create opportunities for our members to participate in the national community. We do this by providing ways for members to interact directly—at events, through interactive sections of our website (coming soon!), through our Chapters, and through our support of other groups and organizations that convene former and current people in residential placement and our allies.
We also provide opportunities for our members to transform the residential care by supporting them as public speakers and trainers through our Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) and through ongoing conversations and the development of materials as we collect data through our Transparency Project. We are building both our agenda and our ability to effectively advocate change both in practice and policy. Our members are involved in advocacy efforts by working directly with administrators and professionals involved in youth serving agencies, educating legislators and care providers, and creating awareness with the general public about the needs of people in and from care. We share opportunities through the recruitment of members to get involved with board and volunteers positions in Systems of Care Initiatives or as Youth Advocates and council positions within Youth Councils.
Why does CAFETY use the term “alumni/survivor” to describe folks with residential care experience as youth?
CAFETY chooses to use the term ‘survivor’, because we understand that we have survived victimization and feel it is important to honor our trauma experience, strength and resiliance by naming our truth. We want to send a strong message to the public that an urgent need exists for change to prevent re-victimization of other youth. We understand that some young people may have not experience severe dehumnaization, but relate to the need for change and have effectively graduated from a residential treatment setting. As such, some preferance exists to identify as alumi. Both terms are ended to honor our experiences and accurately reflect the experience of our members.
How does CAFETY help youth in residential programs?
By bringing the expertise of all of our members together we help youth in residential programs in a number of ways. First, we decrease the stereotypes about residential care and the sense of alienation and otherness that so many current and former youth in care experience by being a visible group of role models and ‘success stories’. We make it possible for youth in care to imagine their own futures. Second, we improve the policies and practices that affect youth every day by educating mental health professionals and child serving agencies or organizations how to be more effective, by showing ways to identify programs of concern and promote approaches that support the strengths and talents of the young people in their care, by influencing the laws and program policies that dictate what happens to people in residential programs. Thirdly, we provide a permanent and validating extended family community for young people to join as they enter adulthood. Finally, when contacted by youth who are identifying practices used against them as abusive within a residential setting, CAFETY will intervene by contacting Child Protective Services and the Disability Rights Network and help advocate for the resident. We track such cases as much as possible to help inform our advocacy efforts. CAFETY is fortunate enough to have a significant number of mental helath professionals volunteer for CAFETY, some who are survivors/alumni themselves. Often these professional as well as suvivor/alumni advocates are availble to assist youth and families with sensemaking and transition from institutionalization.
Who are the members of CAFETY?
We have 3 categories of membership: Alumni/Survivor, Allies, and Organizations.
Alumni/Survivor: People who have spent time in residential placement.
Allies: Adults who have not spent time in residential placement, but who value the expertise of alumni/survivors and who want to join us to improve the lives of people in and from care.
Organizational Membership: Agencies, business or organizations that support CAFETY's mission and seek opportunities to engage the expertise of individuals with residential program experience. (Please note that CAFETY has a strict policy against accepting donations from organizations that provide residential services.)
What are the ‘qualifications’ to be considered an alumnus or survivor?
The only qualification is that you are a person who lived in a residential program.
Why are allies included as members?
We know that our allies have an expertise about residential care gained through their own experience, a passion for improving the lives of youth and alumni/survivors, and a respect for the voices of people in and from care. We also know that our allies frequently share the experience of feeling isolated, and that they need a community where they are valued and have opportunities to take action. Our allies often have information and resources that wouldn’t otherwise be available to us. By working together, we increase our knowledge and strength, we enhance our credibility, and we truly make a difference.
What makes CAFETY unique?
CAFETY is an organization specifically for people that have been placed in a residential program. No other organization represents solely the experience of this population of youth in residential care. This includes, for example, psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment center, therapeutic boarding school, wilderness program, therapuetic group home, juvenile detention center or religious program that targets youth experiencing emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges.
What expertise do CAFETY members have?
Our alumni members understand the mental health system/residential placement from the inside. This is a kind of expertise that can only be gained by having the experience of living in placement. This includes knowing what it feels like to be in residential care, the challenges of growing up away from our families of origin, the sense of being different from our peers and isolated from the world. It also includes insight into ways residential care and mental health care at large, can be changed to be more effective and nurturing. All of our members—alumni, allies, and organizations, have their own kind of expertise about residential care from their own experiences, whether it be placement in a religious program, wilderness camp, residential treatment center or a boot camp. CAFETY is a community that brings together these different kinds of expertise.
Why should I become a member of CAFETY?
Your membership in CAFETY makes your part of the permanent and vibrant community we are building together. You are part of the network of people with shared experience and deep expertise about residential care. Through CAFETY you can build your own extended network of support while using your experiences to make a difference. Through CAFETY you are able to connect with others, and have many opportunities to influence residential care practice and policy.
In addition, you receive a quarterly newsletter and periodic action alerts, have access to member’s only sections of our website (coming soon), are invited to participate in opportunities you’ve expressed interest in, and have access to the tools and supports that we are constantly developing.
Are all of the staff at CAFETY alumni?
Over 50% of CAFETY’s Board of Directors are alumni and they have charged us with finding the best qualified individuals to make the alumni voice heard. Sometimes that will be alumni. Sometimes it will be allies. The real work of Empowerment and Advocacy is done by our members. We facilitate this by hiring the most qualified and effective staff members available to create avenues for our members to join together and to create change.
What are CAFETY Chapters?
CAFETY Chapters are groups that exist for the purpose of connecting and transforming in their local communities. Chapters are the local operating units of Community Alliance for the Ethical Treatment of Youth. These groups have formed specifically to meet our mission in their states. Chapters receive a wide range of support, information, and materials in order to help them identify and achieve their goals.
Where are your Chapters located and how can I get involved?
In August 2008, we established our first official CAFETY Chapter located in California. We are in the process of establishing more chapters. You can get involved by becoming a member of CAFETY and letting us know that you want to be part of the chapter. If you don’t live in a state where a chapter already exists, maybe you’d like to work on starting one! We have open applications for chapters year round. Please contact us at 877.3.CAFETY or email CAFETY for more information. You can also contact us to learn about other organizing efforts in your area.
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